I just wanted to say that this blog entry was offensive from beginning to end - including the picture. Not every black woman fries, dyes, and lays to the side. Many women embrace natural hair styles and natural hair salons and products can be found in towns with less than 2% black people in them across this country. Even if that were not the case, using Don Imus' disparaging comment to open a conversation on black hair reinforces the idea that Imus was not being offensive but actually reiterating comments gleamed from the black community as he and his supporters have come to claim. It negates a history of convincing black women that our hair is ugly or problematic as part of a general disparaging of blackness in this country (N. America). Finally, it ignores a longstanding tradition of employment practices that equates natural black hair with "unkempt" and unprofessional. If we expand this historical critique to the Americas, you will find current laws that say girls cannot braid their hair in schools or that natural braided her is not acceptable in professional positions.

So in answer to your question: when it comes to social change start at the root, ie racism in history and the dehumanization of black people starting with the colonialism and the slave trade, then take a good look in the mirror and make sure the lye has not seeped right down into your head, burning any brain cells located there, before you write another article please.

Making hair a political statement is another way to divide ourselves. Believe me hair, never determined in a racist mind our treatment. The divide between the nappy and the straight is enforcing our own colorism; for that leads to the question, is one black person with naturally straight hair not authentic enough? When my hair was natural, I thought the same as when I permed. I feel I have a right to use whatever chemical or color. To me it is the same as deciding what accessories I might wear or makeup.

One thing, that natural look was not always a care free as many would think, especially when we were all wearing 10 inch Afros. My perfect carefree summer cut is 1 inch long. No hair, if I had the nerve:)

I find it interesting to listen to women talk about their hair, their relationship to their hair, how much time and money is spent on it etc. I am a Black woman who has always felt there is a connection between the way we, Blacks, value ourselves and the way society treats us. Using that same logic, I think the way we feel about our hair is a reflection of how we embrace our authentic self (as opposed to embracing the self that is imposed on us by the images we're bombarded with daily).

I love the comment, "when it comes to social change, where do we start--at the root or the tips?" That was profound!! Our hair and the way we treat it can be a metaphor for the treatment of Black people throughout the world. I was going to say the treatment of Black Diaspora but changed my mind because the following story came to mind.

About six months ago my Mother took a trip to Kenya and Tanzania. My mother was born in 1938. In the sixties, when James Brown was singing "Say it Loud, I'm Black and I'm Proud", she was more into the Supremes with their socially acceptable coifs. Don't get me wrong, I loved them both. But hair and it's straightness was something that was often emphasized in our home. Being "light skinned" was also important although it was rare that anyone in the family actually came out and said it that way. You were more like ly to hear disparaging words about someone who they'd describe as being "real dark with nappy hair" as if that was code for something. During my teen years I wore a Fro. My mother was not happy and let me know it. She and I have rarely seen eye-to-eye on racial matters. I don't avoid the topic but it's not something we discuss very much.

Back to the story. My mother went to Kenya taking along her electric straightening comb only to discover that the transformer she brought with her would not work in Kenya. So she couldn't use the comb but more important to her, she couldn't straighten her hair!!! This was a very big deal. It was extremely hot and she did not have a perm. She briefly considered staying in her room for the entire 10 day excursion. Then she thought, "hey, I'm in Africa. My natural hair should be okay here." So, later that afternoon after she had taken a brief tour of the city and visited an open market, she telephoned me. She said, "Sharon, you're not going to believe this but I have the nappiest hair in Africa!!"..

Turns out, every woman she saw, and she says she saw hundreds, wore synthetic hair (wigs or braids). She talked about one young girl, perhaps 18-19yrs old who had won a scholarship to a college in the United States. My mother was so impressed that this young woman was going to the U.S. withnot knowing anyone here. She told me that she gave the girl her phone number. But then my mother told me, "she (the young girl) even had braids made of bright red synthetic hair!

I did laugh when my mother told me she had the nappiest hair in Africa but underneath I felt some sadness. We, as Black women and especially as American Black Women, must redefine beauty. The impact is global.

Sharon

This is interesting, and timely, given the Don Imus remarks that were taken overboard by the media.

I wear my hair the way I do for 2 reasons:
1. I need a job
2. Tender-headed.

No other reasons, as I can look in the mirror and the black image reminds me daily of my African heritage. Since I have been on the planet, it has always been "too black" or "not black enough" in the so-called "black community".

As with "Killadelphia" as Field Negro so eloquently put it, they need to check their lunatic behavior and stop blaming someone else for the conditions of the black community in the U.S. Recent article about the black male that killed 6 of his family members, then went on a shopping spree speaks volumes.

That was the FUNNIEST picture! I laughed for like 10 minutes. I am nappy headed, but not a ho. The steamy summer days are not my enemy. I have my back-up styles in case of rain or moist air. . I go to yoga 3 times a seek and sweat and I stil look cute. And no, I have NO Indian in my family. Black people need to relax (pardon the pun) about this hair business. When I stopped relaxing my hair it was the BIGGEST deal (ooooohhh I'll NEVER get a man...), but I didn't START dating until I was nappy headed (again). And if I don't have a man now, it's because my personality and attitude are piss poor, not because my head looks like a black version of the rug in your photo. I realize that now that I accept my hair, I am able to accept other people's hair too. Not all whites or Asians or whomever have the same hair (i.e, "good"). They are frying and, dyeing and laying to the side too. It's all one big SHAME.

interesting story Sharon. your mom is right on about africa's hair issues. in senegal, you'll be hard-pressed to find an afro. weave is the way.
and thanks for all of your comments.
It bothers me sometimes cause it seems we'll never be able to let hair go. but to me it stands as one of the few tangible and mirrors of cultural change

India might sing "I am not my hair," but like it or not, everything about us (Black women) is political, even our hair. I started wearing my hair locked seven years ago. Truth be told, originally, it was not a political decision on my part. But believe me, the world around me took it personally. I was just tired of wasting my entire Saturdays in the beauty salon, handing over too many of my hard earned duckets for a hair style I couldn't really afford and in the end, never really came out quite right.

My grandmother had a fit. My mother was tight lipped but clearly unhappy with my choice. The brother-doorman at my previous job stopped flirting with me in the morning. My old boss looked at me sideways, but dared not say anything to me. And everybody told me to that I'd better get a new (read more European-friendly) look if I was ever going to get a new job. Luckily they were wrong. So it was interesting to notice how a personal decision drew so much fire and ended up policitizing my hair journey in the end.

I've worn my hair in every possible conceivable way imagined from the 1970's feathered flip, the 80's juicy curl, corn rolls, braids, extensions, short naturals and even a brief stint with wigs. But nothing has seemed to get people going like my locks. So like it or not they are a political statement, just like my big hips and brown skin. I wake up every day (thank God) a Black woman in the U.S., and from the moment I turn on the morning news I'm under attack. Racist #12318797, Imus calls some sisters nappy-headed and I have deal with the fall out.

But you know the sweet part of that equation is that they have deal with me too. Because this nappy sister is front and center and all up your American pie and Kool aid. So yes going nappy is a political statement, like being Black (or a person of color in general) is in the center of the political frey. So jump out in front of it, define yourself, before they define you and deal with it!

By the way, I'm not thrilled with the photo either.

I am most appreciative for Malena Amusa allowing me to express my hair thoughts on this site.

There has to be dialog about our hair. We have serious issues and it's no point in trying to hide it under a weave, wig, rug, etc....

Some of us are proud of our kinkiness. However, many of us are not. All I want to do is open up dialog....

God gave us this type of hair for a reason. No other race has this texture!

More of us need to find the treasure in our kinks....

Tammy & Anonymous: Don't take the photo too seriously -- it's a joke....

Sharon: Loved your story. This only reinforces my belief that African-Americans are the trailblazers for the African Diaspora.
Others look to us for direction....

Hathor: Sure you can wear your hair anyway, but are we going to continue to be Imitators or Creators?

Karen,
We create with words and actions, not our hair or skin color. We waste to much time defining the authentic black.
"God gave us this type of hair for a reason. No other race has this texture!"
That very statement you made tells me that genetics, that flip of the coin, defines blackness to you. All black people do not have the same type of hair, even siblings from the same parents will be different. What makes me black is my African ancestry and the perceptions and treatment from white America?
For the record, no one imitated me when I wore my natural in high school. I just washed and braided my hair sometimes. I never hid my nappy hair when I was one of two blacks in an all white dorm either in the early 60's. I never sneaked around to wash my hair and let it air dry.
As I said our treatment was never defined by our pressed or permed hair. It didn't stop those young women from getting beat by police, Bloody Sunday.

All those women with dyed, pressed or permed hair help change society.

It is the words and actions!

Hathot:

I hear what you are saying about Blacks not being defined by their hair -- And people don't look at your hair texture before violence is perpetrated.

However, Black woman have gone buck wild with the hair weave. The fake hair syndrome has gotten out of hand. The hair that many woman put on their head doesn't even look real.

Isn't a person who is constantly hiding her naturalness a self-negation
of who she really is?

Shouldn't we be affirming our Afrcian ancestry instead of rejecting it.

I disagree with India.Arie...
You are Your Hair.

Karen,
"Isn't a person who is constantly hiding her naturalness a self-negation of who she really is?"

I think that if this were the case then all who wore there hair natural during the sixties would have had an impact. Self confidence and respect for oneself comes from being given the tools to dismiss the negative. It has as lot to do with your family. Dignity has to be instilled as your birthright.

I wonder what would have happened if Ms. Tanzania had become Miss Universe.

Blah...blah...blah...we should have a right (as individuals) to decide how to style our hair like we decide which religion to practice and who to love. It's a personal choice not a political debate! I do not wear weaves/braids but I do switch between relaxed and natural every blue moon. For the last decade - I wore natural hair. My hair was described as "good" or healthy but I had the hardest time managing the coils the longer it grew. So I relaxed my hair to make grooming easier - not to be white or socially acceptable. Again - my hair is described as "good" or healthy even in the relaxed state. The point: I take care of what I have been blessed with. So what if I want to wear it up or down, flipped or tucked, straight or curled, short or long. Listen - I am determined as a black woman to be as free as the next person. Therefore - I refuse to let other people define me or get upset when they try.