Art

My drawing is improving. That is to say, it’s a few steps up from my usual stick figures. I was thinking about an oppressive practice to which free and enslaved Black women were subjected in colonial Louisiana beginning in 1786. Apparently, they were too gorgeous, giving the white women a run for their money in attracting and keeping the attention of husbands and accumulating wealth. Even though the laws governing slavery were, supposedly, not in force, to make the social hierarchy clear for all to see, Governor Esteban Miro enacted the Tignon Law which forced free and enslaved women of color to cover their hear with a tignon (madras headscarf) to maintain modesty and curb the supposedly excessive economic wealth and alluring beauty of Black women. Of course, Black women ran with it, beautifying the tignons into art pieces. Enforcement of the The Tignon Law stopped around 1803 when the US gained control of the territory through the Louisiana Purchase. Take that, Miro!