My hair…
is a prisoner lost in time, looking for an identity. Stuck in a time where people regard it as an attribute meant for slaves.
It is an ugly-duckling of its generation (The so-called,”slave-hair/Bad Hair”)because to the world, “Good–hair” means curls and waves and Bad-hair means you look like a slave.
My hair is an ‘innocent-black-representation of my DNA‘, that has to go through life unseen,unheard, and unwanted. [Because of the many stereotypes, the world has against people with nappy hair]
My hair is my gift from nature, and my last reminder of my roots, my people and my race. It is a part of me that, I usually only celebrate during black history month, even though I will like to wear it more often without having random feedback.
My hair is a prisoner yearning to be free of the stereotypes held against its kind. [nappy hair]. My hair is that kinky black wooly mass of fibre, that I proudly wear on my head.
However,
My hair isn’t me...
“I am not my Hair.”– India Arie.
I am a different person, who just happens to be blessed with the burden and intense pleasure of carrying this beautiful crown,[on my head].
This crown that together with my “black skin, forms a badge of national greatness… not a badge of shame. “-Marcus Garvey
I am a different person. A different mass of life. A person whose personality most likely wont’t match the first perception you got from looking at me.[Because of the stereotypes society has attributed to people having my hair]
I am a different Individual that will like to see others[with nappy hair] appreciate themselves more.
-Be it our women who are told, or made to believe that they can’t be beautiful or accepted in natural hair. (And as such, they have to get a weave or a wig).
Or the men who are told they can only look presentable when they have short hair.
I am a different entity, with a dream of one day inviting you to celebrate “afrovember” the next time you celebrate “movember“.
So that we can [maybe] raise awareness of the fact that nappy-hair-matters. That it is not a thing to be scorned at. I mean, think about it:How long will it take, till we see a black female senator or first lady,for example, wear her hair in a natural way.? Or in a way that isn’t considered to be politically correct?
“As potentially half of the public face of America, Ms. Obama in locks or cornrows would be a bit too ‘in your face,’ even with her Harvard degree and her attorney status,” says Arizona State University English Professor Neal A. Lester, who studies African-American literature and culture and has written about black hair issues.
Mainstream America considers styles that reflect the European aesthetic more acceptable and less likely to offend. Hairstyles with African roots don’t get the same respect. To say someone has a nappy head is considered an insult, and the word “nappy,” which merely describes the kinky texture of hair, is practically considered a profanity. In polite circles, the word is euphemistically referred to as “natural.”
(Extract from a Magazine called Naturally curly.)
So let my hair type,hair choice and texture not fool you, into thinking I am the person, world-stereotypes have attributed to my hair. On the other hand, let my personality charm you into realizing that I am not my hair. Let it “un-teach” you what society has inadvertently taught you to think about nappy hair.
Let my personality, and behavior make you understand that even if I keep my hair short like a South African beauty,or locked Like Bob Marley, I am not my hair.
I am just a person fed up, with how society treats my hair as a second class commodity. A person who wants to be loved, appreciated, admired, and understood.(Regardless of what my hair looks like.) A person who believes that he has much more to offer to the world, in spite of how I choose to wear my hair.
To conclude…
let my hair-type,hair-choice and texture not fool you. Because the truth is, its not what’s on your head- that matters, its what’s underneath [it] that does.
So next time, you look at me
…
Remember, I am not my Hair.
Neither am I your expectations. I am just the soul that lives within.
…
Verberile 