With the plight of Tessica Brown -the Tik Tok influencer who used Gorilla Glue on her scalp and had to go to the hospital to have it removed- making national headlines in recent weeks, the discussion surrounding Black hair has never been more prevalent. But beyond styling choices and the challenges of managing natural black hair, there’s a much larger cultural discussion to be had.

Hairtage: Tangles Twisted & Black, an online speaker series from Cypress College, aims to go deeper, exploring how black hair represents history and identity, and how the popularity of Westernized Black hair styles can suggest a denial of that cultural identity and pride. Curated by Nzuji De Magalhaes, these complex issues will be discussed in depth by a group of artists and thinkers including Cedric Adams (Feb. 17), Sharon Barnes (Feb. 25), Janet E. Dandridge (March 2), Regina Herod (March 9), Magalhaes (March 16) and Kimberly Morris (March 25).