After the incidents involving Kanye West and Taylor Swift at the VMAs and Serena Williams at the US Open, I have noticed how some people have called Kanye “the n-word” and said he should be lynched and how some have called Serena “an angry black woman.” Also, I read one comment that said how Kanye makes the rest of us (i.e. Black people) look bad. While I do agree that what both Kanye and Serena did were rude and inexcusable, but at the end of the day, they are human like everyone else. Some of the responses that I have seen as a result of these two events have been just as or even more despicable as the outbursts. Why can’t people just see this as isolated events in which two human beings were acting foolish instead of bringing race into it and once again stereotyping the black race.
The constant uses of the “n-word” to say how stupid Kanye was at the VMAs was ridiculous. Several people claimed that there is a difference between black people and n***ers. What? This is why I believe in the importance of studying history. The “n-word” was created as a word to describe black people in general as being stupid. It was not used as a word to say one black person is stupid, it was a word used against all black people. Now, it feels as if it is a behavior-based usage of the word, meaning that if a black person acts wrongly, he or she is a n***er, but if he or she behaves, he or she is black again. Why do you need to disrespect someone because he disrespected someone else. What made these comments worse were how some people said he needed to be lynched and even be lynched by the KKK. Seriously?! Those comments irked me because it reminded me of Emmett Till, who was rude in whistling at a white woman, but did he deserve to be beaten and murdered for it? No! I know what Kanye did was wrong, but people are acting as if they never did wrong in their life. Also, why do you have to resort to such drastic, violent and racially insensitive words for something that should be forgivable. Maybe Kanye is racist, I do not know, and he is annoying with this being his third outburst, but people have no right to stoop to his level and call him a n***ger if he is. Moreover, stop acting as if he committed the worst crime in the world!
This also applies to Serena Williams angry outburst at a judge during the US Open. Serena was inappropriate in that moment but people need to understand that this was a big game for her and she was under a lot of stress; in addition to that, the judge was wrong in his call. Basically, she just got heated in a tense moment and that was it. Her behavior that day does not define her as a person and anyone of any race would have been angry if the judge made the wrong call. Besides Serena was given a fine and did apologize for what she said. Why is it when a black person behaves in a certain way, the behavior represents the person as a whole or the race he or she is as if other races do not act like that sometimes too? Why is it that our behavior is so heavily looked down upon as if we are not human too? When Joe Wilson interrupted the President of the United States and called him a liar, there was not as big of an uproar and it took a longer before they decided to punish him for it. Wilson may not have jumped up on the podium where Obama was speaking or used profanity, but what he did was rude just the same. Some have called it passion, however, the same could have been said for Kanye and Serena (considering that a lot of people were thinking what they were thinking). As for Serena, how many athletes have had tirades during games (e.g. John Mcenroe). She was just another who momentarily lost her self-control. That is it! Yet I did not hear racial slurs and stereotypes used against others as I have heard with Kanye and Serena.
In the end, I have forgiven both Kanye and Serena (and even Joe Wilson), and when both of these incidents happened, I did not, nor did people I know, go to the extreme of using their race as a reason why they were acting like that or using their behavior in those two moments to decide if they are a n***ger or an “angry black woman.” Also, I do not see their behavior as a reflection on me. I should not have to feel embarrassed because Kanye and Serena are the same race as me. I am an individual and I expect to be seen as such just as I see everyone else like that. For example, most serial killers are white people and all of the members of the KKK are white, but that does not mean that I see all white people as murderers or racists. It would be stupid to think so. Therefore, I expect the same treatment by other people. Yes, what Kanye and Serena did were wrong and Taylor Swift and the judge did not deserve disrespect, but if anyone of them were of any other race, it would still have been just as wrong. Look past race and just see them as human beings who do make stupid mistakes just like everyone else. So, stop with the racial slurs and move on to more important issues!
I am in a love affair with my Hair
But I use to be in a relationship with Cream
He would abuse me, damage my self-esteem
The man was not even good enough to stay
So every few weeks he’d come, then go away
Why did I ever fall for Mr. Silky and Smooth
I got use to him, without him I couldn’t move
Still he wasn’t my friend, in it for the money
And when he left, once again I felt ugly
Yet my Hair, always there, said he was the one
So, I had to tell Cream that I was finally done
I am in a love affair with my Hair
Yes, my Hair is often unruly and wild
He’s not type to sit down and be mild
Every now and again, I do look at him
And say, “What is wrong with you?
Why don’t you do what I tell you to do?”
He replies because I am like you
And I have always liked being free
So don’t lie to yourself, girl, and
Especially, don’t give that lye to me
My Hair, I know, he is the truth
So, I let him rise up, I say “do you”
I am in a love affair with my Hair
I love to feel him, rub him down in oil
Love it when he wraps me in his coils
He keeps me warm because he so wooly
Ignores when others stare because he’s kinky
And when he’s feeling a little too dry
I give tender loving care and with him I try
I remember I was forced to keep him a secret
But now we’re out in the open, so I don’t forget
How every day I wake up feeling like a Queen
And I don’t care anymore for that guy Cream
Because…
I am in a love affair with my Hair
When did it become uncool
To think for oneself
Everybody wants to be
Like everyone else
The old saying is now true
You jump off the bridge
Then I’ll do it too
Because I want to fit in
I want to belong
Even if I am right
And the rest are wrong
Just say go and I’ll say ok
I’ll accept anything
You have to say
Does it defy my values
Does it defy my reason
Maybe, but if feels right
Even if only for a season
I am just gonna sit back
Since I am not too strong
To stand-up and act
I’ll join in the mob mentality
Things will still change
Even with my complacency
Anyways we all walk around
Behaving like drones
Act like we are one
But really are alone
If we realized, found out
We’re all walking about
Thinking everyone’s into it
When no one is at all
Just a bunch of us
Copying each other’s falls
Maybe I should stand-up
I should stop being weak
Decide to learn, to think
Have the courage to speak
To say, I am not everyone else
I am me, I am myself.
Are you lighter or darker than a paper bag? I know I am darker than one. Well, this has been a supposed skin tester for the black community for decades. If you were lighter than the paper bag, you were considered better, but if you were darker, you were not good enough. This tester and continous others in our race goes back to the days of slavery, when the house slave versus the field slave dichotomy started. What some black people do not realize is that when the words “house” and “field” are removed, the word “slave” still remains. Even if they were able to get in the house, they still were not free and still treated like a slave. All of us were victims. In the eyes of the racists, all of us were still “n***ers.” Emmett Till was light-skinned and he was still murdered for whistling at a white woman and Rosa Parks was light-skinned and she was still sent to the back of the bus. Just as the fake “Willie Lynch” letter mentions, the tactic of using skin tone to was meant to divide us as a people and to keep us weak, but after slavery, we still kept dividing except this time by our own hands. We constantly attack each other; lighter African Americans call darker ones “tar-baby,” “you pretty (or handsome) for a dark-skinned person,” “mandingos or hos” (dumb muscular guys and over-sexual women), “jigaboos,” “ghetto,” “loud” and “too black,” while darker African-Americans call lighter ones, “whitey,” “light bright, damn near white,” “high-yellow,” red-boned,” “uppity,” “wannabes,” “think they all-that,” “must be mixed or biracial” and “not black enough.” With these terms, black people are showing themselves to be no better than the oppressors who discriminated against us!
However, we do need to acknowledge that a lot of the division stems from somewhere and on several instances from our own people. Everywhere I witness this conscious and subconscious thinking of many African-Americans and the effects of it. We have lost that idea of “Black is Beautiful” and “Say It Loud, I’m Black and I’m Proud” includes all African-Americans, not just light-skinned African Americans. Our media shows it, from the leading ladies in Hip-Hop and RandB music videos (usually bi-racial, light-skinned African American or of another race) to the mouths of the actual artists (Yung Berg and his comment on how he does not do “dark butts, Lil Wayne mentioning how they like lighter-skinned females in lyrics) to who gets the most face-time on magazines, shows, movies and other medium (usually lighter-skinned African-Americans). For example in our pop culture, who are the women are most promoted – Tyra, Beyonce, Halle Berry, Alicia Keys, Rihanna and other lighter-skinned beauties. But do we see darker-skinned beauties, like India Arie, Angela Bassett, Gabrielle Union, promoted as much? One of the only dark-skinned females who is promoted a lot is Naomi Campbell, but mostly for her bad behavior. For music videos with darker leading ladies, I have to go to reggae artists (Tarrus Riley, Gyptian, Richie Spice, Buju Banton) and a few neo-soul artists are the only ones to show their appreciation for African women of all skin tones. In lists for the top beauties, very few, if any, dark-skinned beauties make the lists or are high on the lists. Even worst, magazines sometimes airbrush photographs of African-American women to have their skin appear lighter, although some are already light-skinned. Other incidents have included: 1) parties offering lighter-skinned women free admission (reminiscent of the fraternities, sororities and social clubs that admitted people who were lighter than a paper bag), 2) thinking darker-skinned black men are only good for sexual and criminal activities (and other stereotypes of black people), 3) casting calls for only lighter-skinned people in photo shoots or commercials, 4) a lot of white and lighter-skinned black dolls, but few darker-skinned black dolls (and with natural black hair), 5) in some workplaces, lighter-skinned blacks discriminating against darker-skinned blacks (Applebee’s incident:http://www.workplaceanswers.com/News/EEOC-Settles-Color-Bias-Suit;-Dark-Skinned-African38.aspx), 6) treating skin color like a trend (light-skin is in and dark-skin is out), 7) not befriending someone or teasing someone because their skin tone is different from you, 8) lighter-skinned people having to prove that they are black enough and the list goes on.
These constant negative reinforcements are not helping. Black people look different and we need a greater representation of that range. More and more darker-skinned African-Americans are using skin bleach creams and skin whiteners to try to make their skin lighter, foregoing realizing the dangerous effects of using these products just to achieve a standard of beauty. Go to a local store in any black neighborhood and one of the products listed are skin whitening creams. Some mothers even put these creams on their own children! In our world, some are actually believing that lighter-skinned is automatically more beautiful, no matter what the female actually looks like (she could actually be ugly and some will still say she is more beautiful than a dark-skinned woman). “You’re pretty to be so dark” just reinforces the idea that some people think dark skin and the features that usually accompany it are naturally ugly and that is not true; there is more than one type of beauty. Unattractive and attractive people exist in every color. Stop using skin tone to define beauty! The sad problem is that this notion has spread worldwide, from countries in Latin America and the Carribean (which is leading to the Latin Americanization of America) to countries to countries in Asia (India has a big market in skin lightener creams) to countries in Africa. Skin bleaching is now a billion dollar business and many people feel as if they have to do this in order to get ahead in life, even if it kills them, and commercials (see them below) and other media encourage this practice.
Why have we internalized the hate that has been put on us? It is foolish of us to perpetuate an idea that was not even ours to begin with and was done against us. There is enough hatred in the world, why do we have to be so divisive and increase that hatred. Outside forces should not determine how we feel about each other and ourselves. If you are lighter-skinned person who gets better treatment at times, you should not let that be a reason for you to feel better than a darker-skinned person. As for darker-skinned person, you should not let how others feel about you determine how you feel about yourself and try to gain confidence in yourself. That is their thinking, but it does not have to be yours. We need to have more acceptance of ourselves and the full range we have in skin tones as a whole before we can get any acceptance from any place else. It is up to us, not the media, to break the cycle of self-hatred. In order to be stronger, we need to come together as people and support one another! Let us stop the cycle!
Colorism in the Black Community
Skin Whitening Commercials:
Skin Bleaching in Jamaica:
Read the creator, Reginald Bullock’s statement on vimeo: http://www.vimeo.com/3686946 and here:
This video was created to inspire young at-risk African-Americans not to fall prey to some of the problems they face in society.
This video should not to be used to divide people (Black and White).
This video should not be used to criticize all aspects of hip-hop culture.
This video should not be used to degrade the millions of children that do not have the proper educational resources offered in their community.
This video should not be used to scare Black youth into a position of change.
This video should not be used to allow the rest of society to escape from their responsibility, to reach back and help with financial & academic support.
If used properly, this video will allow our youth to see some of the horrific conditions that our ancestors fought through and some of the horrific conditions we face today.
All Americans should be upset at the alarming homicide rate in many cities.
Many have asked “Why should I care?”…but can you imagine, the first person to find a cure for cancer, could be living in one of these areas, that we are afraid to reach out and help.
The use of the voice “Master of Darkness” represents the abstract concept of evil.
A War For Your Soul-Birmingham version from Erisai Films on Vimeo.
How many times have I heard someone say that and “I am not racist, I voted for Barack Obama,” or any other line similar to those two. One of the worst phrases regarding race that was ever created is the term “color blindness.” Unless someone is actually blind, there is no way that one cannot see what color another person is. I cannot actually go up to someone of another race and say “I have no idea what your skin color is,” because it is most likely obvious. We use skin color to describe everybody in so many situations that it would be impossible to say that. Yes, people often use it to say that they are not racist, but to me that term just refers to another kind of racism. Our society is so focused on race and pretends that it is not at the same time.
In our society color blindness does not equal color acceptance. It is a type racism that allows you to ignore or be oblivious to actual problems of race, refuse to have honest discussions about race, and be way too politically correct (it is about respect, not oversensitivity). Moreover, the “colorblind” term allows our culture to be more of a melting pot than a salad bowl. What do I mean by that? A melting pot means that I have to blend in and dilute my own individual characteristics and culture to the point that they are hardly recognizable; on the other hand, a salad bowl would be people coming together, still keeping their own individual characteristics and culture and would still be acceptable to mainstream society. However, our society expects you to fit perfectly into the mainstream mold and when you do not, you are punished or ostracized. It is not like seeing any color, it is a form of whitewashing (for lack of a better word).
Instead of honestly talking about the issues of race, such as not all races are on an equal level (despite many thinking this way and feeling that we are in a post-racial society), and that most of the problems in our society stem from the residual effects of a systematic social racist structure not individual flaws within a race, we like to tip-toe around it and do all we can to avoid it. James Baldwin said “Not everything that is faced can be changed, but nothing can be changed until it is faced.” Admitting our racial/cultural prejudices and stereotypes and recognizing the social problems that still exist would help us to move on.
Eduardo Bonilla-Silva, a sociology professor, stated how racism still exist minus slavery and Jim Crow laws and with civil rights legislation: 1) the increasingly covert nature of racial discourse and practices, 2) the avoidance of racial terminology and the ever-growing claim by whites that they experience “reverse racism,” 3) the invisibility of most mechanisms to produce racial inequality, 4) incorporation of “safe minorities” to signify the non-racialism of the polity or the racial agenda in the discussion of political matters avoids direct racial references, and 5) the re-articulation of some racial practices characteristic of Jim Crow period of race relations. Avoidance of saying the race or skin color of a person in front of them (I have stupidly done that before) or taking some sort of racial terminology out of context and saying it is racist (e.g. a guy used the world “tribal” to describe indigenous people and they hounded him) are two examples. The claim of “reverse racism” is incorrect because if you are in the privileged group, you do not have a racial system that is meant to keep you down and racism usually refers to a structured system. Yes, any race can face prejudice or discrimination, but most of what minorities do are reactionary prejudices and discrimination. “Safe minorities” are those who look less menacing to mainstream society, i.e. I would not be one of them, especially with my darker skin, my locs and with most of what I am saying now. Other examples are how politicians often do not have in-depth talks about race, most times it is superficial, how there is an informal segregation that exist in housing and neighborhoods and how many schools are still segregated and minority schools are often inadequate.
These days, racism is hard to see. Immediately, we label things as being racist that are not really racist but just the truth at times and things that are racist we label as just another normal thing. I feel we jump to conclusions way too fast and do not think the situation through. Some people explain the cause as an economic, education and any other reason besides thinking about or wanting to think of underlying reason of race. Yes, I would love for everybody to be equal, but in the real world, not the abstract world, not everyone is on the same footing (that is for those who think affirmative action is “reverse racism”). Some of us need a little boost to get to the same level (but that does not mean one should act like a victim), while others tend to forget or pretend to forget the past and current discrimination and its effects, as if they are actually blind!
As far as racism goes, we have come along way since the days of slavery, Jim Crow laws and other overt forms of discrimination. However, the day when true color acceptance has yet to come. When we get to the day that we can look at people, notice their physical and cultural features that define race and ethnicity and not have any stereotype or expectation attached to it, it will be nice, but probably far into the future. What we can do now is, according to Bonilla-Silva, “make visible what remains invisible” and take the dust out from underneath the rug. We are all humans, but we are all different, too, and the “colorblind” ideology implies that everyone is the same, which we are not. Until we realize that and come together as people with both sides working hard and keeping it in mind to achieve it, we will not get the change we hoped for. Yes, it will hurt and it will not be easy, but that is the only way. We are all part of the problem and we all need to be part of the solution.
No longer will you be the reason
That I hide the real me
Why should I, Just to satisfy
Your ignorance, your stupidity
Why should I hold my head down
While you hold your head up
Laugh in my face and tell me
What I have I can’t love
See the flaw is within you
It does not rest in me
If beauty you cannot find
I’ll just shake my head in pity
If you say I am pretty
For a dark-skinned girl
I say, yeah I am pretty
Because I am that girl
You do not like
My skin, nose and hips
See ugly in my
Hair, cheeks and lips
I see nothing wrong with me
Nothing to change and you
You might see differently
But that’s your view
Through my view, you are
The one to be blamed
My reply will always be
I am not ashamed…
If you know me well enough, you would know how that I find categories, labels and generalizations of any kind irritating. I know it makes our lives a little simpler, but it also can prevent us from getting to know somebody, treating people on an individual basis, coming together as a people and letting some people be if they do not fit into a specific category. Although there are so many exceptions to the rules of these categories, labels and generalizations, we still judge someone if they do not fit into it or act accordingly. All of it creates greater confusion and greater divide. This is my first topic for this post and I will be covering racial categories and labels.
The first set of categories that I do not like are “races.” Does anybody actually know what “race” means anymore? First, it was based on physical differences, then they have added on cultural differences, now people are adding on personality differences. I get that we do look different, but those differences are just phenotypes from genes that are not even hugely significant and make up less than 1% of all of our genes. So, I see “races” as a way to divide humans on a physical or superficial basis and give meaning to something that should not have an overly important meaning. In addition to that, many of the terms for races are misnomers. In the past, a term for African-Americans was “colored,” which is funny because everybody in the world has color to their skin, even “white” people. Now, why do I put quotes around “white?” Well, “white” people are not really white; they range from peach-colored to pink to very light pink. I knew this from the time I was young when I used a peach crayon to draw “white” people not a white crayon. As for “black” people, we are not really black either, we are brown-skinned (sorry to all the people who call themselves brown). Even the darkest “black” person is brown, just dark brown like the color of my eyes or my hair, which from far away looks black. The same goes for other races, for example, using yellow to describe Asians, when in reality they are more beige-colored. Actually, our range of colors have a similar base to one another: brown, red, tan, beige, peach, pink, etc.
Furthermore, other racial terms, most often used in America, such as African-American, Caucasian-American, European-American, Asian-American, Hispanic-American and Middle Eastern, are confusing too. What if you were born in African, you are not “black” and you come here, are you an African-American? No, the government would consider you of European descent. However, what if your family has not been in Europe for centuries? The same goes for if you are of another “race” born in another continent. Asian-American often is used as a term to describe someone who looks typical Asian, which probably means someone from China, Japan, Korea, Vietnam, etc. Still people forget that Indian and Middle Eastern people are Asian too. Also, the term Middle Eastern did not seem to matter to most people until after the events of 9/11 and the Iraq war (most people though they were white, or Indian). The Hispanic group is the strangest racial group, considering it is not a race, but an cultural/language group, closer to an ethnicity. Ever wanted to know what Caucasian meant? It actually came from the area “Caucasus,” a southeastern European region, including Georgia, Russia, Armenia and Azerbaijan, and has now come to be incorrectly used for anybody who is “white” and of “European” descent, although it should be used for anybody who is has that skin color phenotype. Caucasian also is part of the earlier, generalized descriptions of race, which were Caucasian/Caucasoid, Mongoloid, Malayan/Oceanians, Ethiopian/Africanoid, and American (Blumenbach).
This leads me into my discussion of the term biracial. How often have you heard that a bi/multiracial kid feel out of place or that they do not fit into any racial group perfectly? As if someone whose immediate family is the same race is better than a biracial person. What I’ve notice is that barely anyone is completely, 100% one “race.” Almost everyone, especially in our world, has some mix of races (or a similar gene) within them. I always notice how one person who says they are not biracial can look identical to someone who is biracial, so it has to be in their lineage somewhere. From what I can tell, very few people, unless you live in a homogenous society, is pure anything.
Now, onto racial phrases that I personally cannot stand. Phrases like “afrocentric,” “ethnic,” “exotic,” “too black,” “acting white,” and “acting black” are said without any though about how ignorant it sounds. Terms like “afrocentric,” “ethnic,” and “exotic” always gives me a feeling of being the “other,” “an alien,” “strange,” “an exhibition,” or “animal/pet-like.” Why is it if I am wearing my hair naturally, or wearing and doing something that is related to the African culture that I lost, it is all of a sudden “afrocentric,” as if everything I am doing is related to African culture. Also, non-white races are often labeled as “exotic” or “ethnic.” The word “exotic” reminds me of the safari or jungle; it makes me think of wild animals. When someone says it, I want to say “I was born here in America; I am not from some far away land” or “I am not an animal!” “Exotic” also represents to me an over-sexualized image of a person and not seeing them as a regular human just like you. Next, “ethnic” makes me laugh because it is derived from ethnicity, but some people make it seem that “white” people are the default race and have no ethnicity at all, but they do! The other phrases reinforce the idea that some people think culture and physical appearance are the same. “Too Black” is often used by some black people to tell another black person that they are not hiding enough of their physical features or cultural traits of being “black.” But what does not makes sense to me is how am I any less or more “black,” no matter what I do, I am always going to have this skin color with my kinky hair, big nose, big lips and other features related to being “black,” unless I change it drastically. So, my reply will always be, “Well, I am Black! Why should I have to compromise who I am naturally in order to make someone else feel more comfortable?” Finally, “acting black” and “acting white” are ridiculous phrases because someone’s race or mainstream culture/ethnicity does not determine how they will be as an individual person. Yes, I speak proper English and I am educated, but that does not mean that I am “acting white.” Stop implying that a “black” person cannot be educated nor speak proper English. The same goes for anybody else that embodies a different culture than one that is usually expected to have because of their looks. No one said that any culture belongs to a specific racial group; sometimes people grow up in an environment or society that is different than the norm.
In the end, it would be hard to change any of this, especially when government continues to enforce race categories for census and as long as racism exist. But maybe one day, as time goes on, things will change and more people will open their eyes. It has happened before and it might happen again.
Life would probably be easier if we could say that what he have on top of our heads is just hair or just a “hairstyle.” However, it is not as the constant debate in the African-American community of “Good Hair vs. Bad Hair” rages on. Some people try to be oblivious to the fact that our hair is just as important to us as our whole bodies. Here is a list of my reasons why:
1 ) As India Arie said, “I am not my hair,” meaning that one should not judge me based on how he or she wears his or her hair. Still, we do it, using hair to describe everything from someone’s political views to socioeconomic background.
2 ) The hair care business is a billion dollar industry — why would someone pay hundreds and even thousands of dollars for hair if they did not care about it?
3 ) Some people with certain hairstyles are fired, not hired, not promoted, forced to change their hair, or seen as intimidating and distracting at work (most of the time the hairstyles are not even inherently distracting or intimidating).
4 ) In the black community, some parents start relaxing their daughters’ hair at very young ages. One mother started relaxing her daughter’s hair at the age of three!
5 ) Some little girls already know the feeling of not liking their natural hair. Either they are constantly teased by other kids, have their family tell them that their hair is “bad hair” or grow up in a community that does not celebrate natural hair.
6 ) Observation: As some actresses and singers become more famous, they might go from a natural hair look to a more mainstream “glamorous” look (straight, shiny, long), although having one’s own natural hair texture can be just as glamorous.
7) If someone changes their hair, it immediately comes under scrutiny. Just look at what happened when Solange Knowles recently did the big chop ( a common natural hair transition when a black woman cuts off all of her relaxed hair) Instead she was criticized as doing a “Britney” move and called insane!
8 ) Other races do not know much about our actual hair texture or our hair care regiments or terms that we use when our hair is straightened or in its natural form. For Then many African-Americans become defensive and secretive when asked about it. (FYI: Do not touch our hair unless you ask first!)
9 ) Today, some women are willing to admit that they wear weaves or straighten their hair, but will refuse to go back to their natural texture.
10 ) Several women, including famous women, who get relaxers, straighten with a hot comb or iron and/or wear weaves, want to wear their hair in its natural, but do not have the courage to do it.
11 ) The media and some men seem to idolize straight hair over kinky hair and long hair over short hair on women.
12 ) Many cultures and religions believe that hair is related to spirituality, and also has a cultural and social significance as well as aesthetic importance (e.g. The Bible’s Samson: His hair was cut off and he lost all of his strength).
13 ) Despite obvious damage to one’s hair because of harsh chemical products, some people are willing to harm their hair and themselves for the sake of beauty.
14 ) Women who have gone natural have felt a greater sense of self-love, self-acceptance and living a more natural state of mind and lifestyle. I am not saying that if someone has natural hair, that she is better, more self-loving, blacker than someone else, but it is that one part of themselves that they are willing to recognize as their own and love as their own.
15 ) A lot of women feel trapped by having their hair in a relaxer — they cannot swim, workout or be in the rain without risking turning back to their natural hair texture.
16 ) Hair is more than an accessory. I doubt any other accessory that we have needs to be cut off or pulled out to take it off and no other accessory is hard to put back on once taken off. Despite what some think, our hair is an extension of us; it is not another accessory that we wear but a part of who we are, just as much as our head, our mouths, our hearts, our brains and the rest of our body. It is funny that we do not treat it as such.
And the list goes on… As more and more women are going back to their natural hair texture, some are waiting for big name celebrities to start to movement while others are waiting for a grassroots movement. I say, do it for you. Waiting around for someone else to do it will never get anyone anywhere, so do it for yourself. Part of the reason I went natural was to be an example to and educate the older generations, my peers and younger generation that it can be done and also be beautiful. I just hope others will gain the courage to join me in loving ourselves completely the way we are. Peace and love.
…This is the power of true art; it brings us closer to all that we have ever felt and experienced, the things which we seem to hide so well from each other; when we reflect on art, we get to understand ourselves and each other a little better. It brings us closer to our humanity…