ST Y L E
hair rather than focusing on the
two gold Olympic medals she won.
People are bashing sports reporter
Pam Oliver for having a bad hair
day, a little girl named Tiana Parker crying because she was forced to
move schools because her beautiful
locks were unacceptable, and most
recently the negativity towards Beyoncé not “fixing” her daughter
Blue Ivy’s hair. We take a step forward, and two steps back.
All these events made me reflect on
my own experience with my hair.
I was always forced to press my
hair because my natural hair wasn’t
“tamable” or “presentable” enough
in the eyes of my own mother as
well as society. Every time I found
myself wearing my natural hair, I
would often times get questioned
regarding why my hair wasn’t fixed.
What hurt me most was the fact
that a majority of these comments
that were made about my hair, just
like Blue Ivy’s, Gabby Douglass’,
Pam Oliver’s and many Black women, came from other Black women
themselves.
I have always been fascinated with
my natural hair; however, for a long
time I became too afraid to express
that because I began internalizing
everyone else’s hatred for it. It was
a long time before I came to grips
with my natural hair after experiencing such negativity. When I finally decided to transition back to
natural, it was the best day of my
life. I really felt free and for the first
time I felt proud. It was at that moment that I decided that I would
no longer adhere to European
standards. A year later I decided to
lock my hair and every time I look
in the mirror, the only regret I have
is not doing this sooner.
My hair journey has really taught
me patience, as well as not letting
fear stop you from doing what you
feel is best for you. Most importantly I have learned to take pride
in everything that makes me…me,
including the dead skin that grows
from my hair because after all that’s
all that hair is.
Not all Black women may feel the
way I do. That’s fine. Perhaps relaxed, pressed or weaved hair are
an expression of pride just as my
locks are an expression of my pride.
You should be able to wear your
hair however you please as long
as it makes you feel beautiful and
empowered. The problem comes
when others are bashed for wearing those styles that make them
feel pride. We as a community really need to work on the pervasiveness of self-hate especially when
it comes to our hair. The things
we internalize can be a choice. By
bashing a two-year-old for the way
her hair is styled goes to show that
hating Black hair starts at a young
age. That within itself has got to
stop. We as a society continuously
brag about how we have come such
a long way, yet when we see someone whose hair is not “presentable”
because we are not relaxed, we demand that it be fixed disregarding
the fact that wild and natural may
be their fixation and that they may
be more relaxed when natural.
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