Afro picks

Volume-building combs

Afro picks are wide-toothed combs designed for styling and maintaining Afro-textured hair.

The teeth are long and widely spaced to detangle tightly coiled hair without breakage.

Many feature a handle with a raised fist—a symbol of Black pride from the 1960s and 70s when the natural hair movement flourished alongside civil rights activism: She kept an Afro pick in her back pocket.

tool

comb

Toothed grooming implement

teethEnamel-covered chewing structures
handlePart for gripping
plasticCapable of being molded

metal · wooden · detangle · grooming · lift · scalp · styling · accessory · prongs · volumize

hairstyle

texture

Surface tactile quality

kinkyTightly coiled or unconventional
coilsConnected loops of material
curlsSpiraling hair sections

volume · natural · shrinkage · detangle · protective style · twists · cornrows · frohawk · tapered · nappy

era

funk

Depression or groove music

discoSeventies dance music
blaxploitationSeventies Black action cinema
seventies1970-1979 period

Motown · platform shoes · bell-bottoms · soul · Pam Grier · Jackson 5 · retro · vintage

pride

black power

Force linked to darkness

civil rightsGuaranteed individual legal protections
cultural identityBelonging through shared traditions
pan-AfricanismMovement for African unity

Afrocentrism · heritage · empowerment · soul · ancestry · Malcolm X · Marcus Garvey · Angela Davis · fist · self-expression

Opposites

tooth spacing/density

Afro picksnit combs

Fine-toothed pest extractors

hair texture suitability

Afro picksdetangling brushes

Hair tools for knots

styling function

Afro picksflat irons

Heated hair-smoothing tools

pressing combs

Family

pick, picks, picked, picking, picker, pickers, African, Africa

Familiarity: Top 500,000
Profile: Timeless · Concrete · Everyday, not technical · Rated G