A Former LA Inmate, a Devout Rastafarian, Earns SCOTUS Hearing about Dreadlocks

According to CNN, “the Supreme Court agreed Monday to take up the case of a Rastafarian man seeking to sue prison officials in Louisiana who cut off his dreadlocks while he was incarcerated.” While an inmate, Damon Landor, a devout Rastafarian, pleaded to prison guards not to cut his hair. They sheared his dreadlocks. In 2020 he chose to sue the prison, protesting the haircut on the grounds of religion freedom.

A bit of AI research about dreadlocks in Rastafarianism tells us that “dreadlocks are seen as a sacred marker of devotion to Jah (God)” and Dreadlocks symbolize the Lion of Judah, an important figure in Rastafarian belief representing strength, majesty, and the lineage of Haile Selassie I, the Ethiopian emperor revered as the messiah.”

According to CNN, about Landor’s dreadlocks, he had taken a vow “years earlier” not to shave his dreadlocks.

As a biracial Black man, I can barely relate to the politics of Black hair or hair styles. I’ve never dealt with having kinky hair. With wavy hair, I can “pass” for being Middle Eastern or North African. The cultural, even religious, drama about dreadlocks is beyond me.

My hair is something that I put little thought to. I put coconut oil in and brush it. Landor’s Supreme Court case piques my curiosity. Many Black Americans wear relaxed hair in order to have “good hair”. Even with the Crown Act, much of the American business world implicitly expects Black Americans to wear straightened hair. Hair is a major matter among Black Americans so that comedian Chris Rock made a documentary “Good Hair” in 2009. It examined the ways and reasons why proud Black Americans nonetheless might value and wear relaxed hair.

I’ve never heard anybody talk about the spirituality of Black hair. When the matter of a haircut is or becomes a matter of faith, a fascinating conversation can come. Having wavy hair, I haven’t spoken with my Black friends about kinky hair. And I haven’t discussed the politics of Black hair, or the common, European grooming standards of American business with Black friends.

I don’t know what it is to be devoutly anything. I shouldn’t comment on the significance of Mr. Landor’s Rastafarian piety and the affirmation, which a Supreme Court case confers on his plea. Nonetheless, the matter and lawsuit are fascinating.