I was at work earlier this week and I had a discussion with a very nice man from Ethiopia and a lovely lady that I love to death, she is a sweet heart. We started talking about natural hair and how I love it and that as Africans and of the African diaspora we need to embrace our natural beauty and not be so consumed with relaxing our hair. I also noted that many women have no idea what their texture is. Case in point, a few weeks ago I was at work walking to the cafe and this younger lady came up to me and was like "oh your hair, wow you have curls? It's natural? ... what did you put in it?" Now I am sure that if she chose to stop wearing weave and relaxing her hair she too could achieve my curly hair-do which by the way was styled with Kinky Curly Curling Custard. Any who, back to the discussion this week, the man agreed with me and said the more natural the better and he also noted that make up is not attractive to him, but if a women does wear make up it should be as natural and minimal as possible, I agreed. The woman on the other hand said that she needs to relax her hair because without it she feels she looks 'hard' and that straight hair makes her look fresh and radiant. Of course I was like "no you can wear your natural hair and look good." Than she pulled out a picture from her wallet from the 1970s or 80s and showed us a picture of her teeny weeny afro and than she went on to say "that was the style back than, but things changed, you'll feel the same way too." Where do I start folks ... First, I told her that my mom also rocked that style too which was hotness in the 70s to mid 80s. I also told her that me wearing my hair natural is me and that I don't want to relax my hair for nothing, I love my natural hair. She looked at me as if to say "okay." A few days later she remarked to me plainly that "natural hair just doesn't look good on me." Lord, where do I start, all I could do was say her name in amazement and I just left it alone. We were at work so I didn't want to get into it with her.
I love this woman but this is crazy, how can your own hair not look good? This is a clear example of the many generations, decades and years of conditioning that black is not beautiful, I exclaim that Black IS beautiful, and imma rock these kinks to let all y'all know I'm PROUD!!!!!!
*visit redbubble.com for more info on the image above, it is available in a T-shirt print
3 comments:
Amen Nu Kynk, When will we let go of the mentality that our hair is something to hide.
I've been natural just a little over a year and i'm currently fascinated with all thing relating to natural hair and natural hair care.
Natural hair care it all products and techniques used for styling.
I was told all my life how nappy and coarse my hair was and was bombarded with hair grease and straightening combs up until the teenage perm. It's really sad that our parents were not taught to care for our hair the way their elders cared for theirs..
My mom, aunts, cousins and grandmother all had nice hair and i was the nappy headed one in the bunch.
Now my natural hair is freaking gorgeous and my curls still amaze me.
Come by and visit my blog sometime at http://kinkyrhonnie.blogspot.com.
@Kinky Rhonnie
I know I had the same experiences... I'm going to your blog right now ....:)
Yes! Please continue to encourage this sista. I'm from Philly but I live in LA now, and its hard because its all about the butt-length weaves out here. But I'm a warrior and I am steadfast in my love for my natural hair. Just keep being an example to her, and when she says she won't look good, just reassure that she will.
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