The Patrice Rushen / Waajeed Issue

Patrice Rushen is a perfect Wax Poetics cover artist. She's loved by jazz heads for her early Prestige albums; she's still played by dance-floor DJs for her late-'70s jams; she gets the nod from crate diggers for those millions of samples; and most importantly, she continues to get spins on Black radio, especially her biggest hit, the enduring "Forget Me Nots."

But while I was chatting with writer Chris Williams, who interviewed Ms. Rushen for this issue, I was reminded of another auspicious reason. Chris remarked what great timing it was having Patrice on the cover while another important Black woman with braids was in the news-and being subjected to white gaze-Supreme Court justice nominee Judge Ketanji Brown Jackson. "She's at the peak of her career and wearing a similar hairstyle as Rushen was," Chris said. Even though I had been utterly immersed in creating this issue, and this cover, and I had seen several op-ed pieces about "the importance of Judge Jackson's hair," I hadn't considered the parallels right in front of my face. "When Patrice released Straight from the Heart in 1982, she was at the top of her game too," he continued. "She was proudly rocking her braids with colorful beads and cowrie shells-fully embracing her womanhood and Blackness, just like Judge Jackson."

He didn't have to remind me that both women had to navigate their way through male-dominated industries. Just like Brazilian singer-songwriter Joyce, who finally had enough of Brazil's misogynistic music industry and told her label to shove off, which left her blacklisted by the major labels. So she started her own. And by never letting anyone dictate her art, she finally found her audience by embracing indie labels outside her country, and is now acknowledged globally as one of Brazil's legendary voices.

I'm writing this on the night of the Grammys, where the music industry tries to hold onto their relevance, but the reality is that technology has forever changed the landscape, and DYI techniques of recording and distribution that were novel in the early days of Detroit techno are now commonplace, if more high- tech at times. And Detroit is having a renaissance. While the city continues to have its struggles, it's still a confluence of talent, with musicians who are following in the footsteps of the founders. And generations of local legends-like Carl Craig, Mike Banks, and Waajeed- are willing to help and champion this next wave. Women DJ/producers like Rimarkable, LadyMonix, and Minx show us the power of perseverance and the entrepreneurial spirit.

Chicago-born singer-songwriter and multi-instrumentalist KeiyaA found that spirit within herself when she produced and released her debut album. In this issue's "Cover Story"-our regular look into how cover art influences musicians- she notes how seeing Grace Jones on an album cover provided her with a powerful representation of a Black woman. Jones, a model-turned-musician, wore her hair natural, often shaving her head to different degrees.

This is the current zeitgeist, with the face of the documentary Good Hair in the news for the wrong reason, ironically. And after numerous high- profile episodes of young Black students being forced to cut their dreads or sent home for wearing braids, the U.S. House passed the CROWN Act, which intends to stop such discrimination based on hair textures and hairstyles. And so I call up Chris Williams again to continue our conversation. "It's 2022, and Black people still need to have laws passed to affirm our humanity," he tells me. "Black people have worn our hair in a plethora of styles for several millennia. But Black women face hair discrimination at a higher rate due to structural and institutional racism."

Why is representation important? "It matters when you see someone from your community changing the world through their genius and actions," he says. "It gives you not just pride but inspiration. But representation goes beyond seeing someone famous; it can also be seeing someone you admire in your neighborhood, school, or job, and wanting to emulate their example." Chris concludes that representation is humanity. "Black women, men, and children deserve a world where life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness is a tangible reality."

Representation is powerful. And it's not just important for the underrepresented. It's a necessity of real progress to force the majority to face what they might not understand. Sometimes, we all need reminding.