You probably clicked on my note to see some sick obscenity of a piece. Ya’ll know that’s NOT what I’s be’s bout! Lol. This is all about my hair, yes my relaxer-free hair, my naked hair.
Soo this natural hair thing better be that serious. I’ve been “natural” aka relaxer free on and off for the past 4 years maybe?? Or may be more. But whatever that’s not the point of this note.
I must admit, I’m a youtube junkie. On youtube there are tons, I mean TONS of African American women (and other races) who have let go the relaxer and decided to go out butt naked. hehe. So recently I was going through some Facebook pictures and I started to notice a lot of my friends “going natural”. Now, it started to hit home: a lot of women are opting out of the “creamy crack”. Man, I don’t know if it was that “Good Hair” movie, my Chris Rock, or Solange Knowles’s drastic hair cut, but whatever it is, it better be THAT serious, for er’body to be starting to do it, LAWD! lol.
This brings my to why I decided to “let go” of the perm. First off I’ve ALWAYS loved BIG hair. Ya’ll remember my Oprah hair, lol? I loved it! As a littler girl, I remember running around the house screaming, “Mommy, do you like my Afro?!?!”. Now, let’s fast-forward to middle school. I must admit, I was utterly obsessed with Lauren Hill and her whole vibe—emphasis on the natural hair. Yes, people you can thank Lauren Hill for my initial drive to go “naked”, lol. Now, let’s hop n skip to high school. At my high school, if you were “different”, consider yourself ostracized, like you had leprosy or something. So yea, cutting off all my hair and going with the “asa lama lakum” look wasn’t definitely detrimental my rep (as if I had any, lol!) Skip over to college….College…COLLEGE! Whoo! Talk about my gateway to freedom! I had a few conversations with my girl Nicole and #POW summer 06’ it was all gone…Let the ostracizing begin! I thought it was cool, apparently friends and family didn’t think the same. It was rough, I mean rough. It’s hard when people think you’re Brittany Spears kind of crazy because you cut off all your locs. To me, it was JUST HAIR..it grows back.
And grow back it did. I loved every moment, every stare, every comment, everything! I felt empowered, I felt like a new person; I was able to express myself the way I truly wanted to. :: Sigh :: those were the days! I stayed relaxer-free for approximately 21 months. Unfortunately, I fell prey to the “creamy crack” and relaxed my hair. It had to be the stupidest decision I had ever mad in my life. The only reason why I relaxed my hair was becasue I didn’t want to look a hot ghetto mess for my Birthday and I was too cheap to pay someone to style it for me. So yea, I did what I knew best, I permed it.
I only stayed permed up for about a year, maybe longer. And then here came the weed-whacker again, lol. May 2009 I cut it all off again because I missed my fro and I desperately needed a confidence boost at the time. Now, I’m 16 months in, I think, lol and I don’t plan on turning back. At least not for now. : ) To be honest with you, I love my hair in both states, I think I like the perm-free better though. It is in that state where I am most confident, where I am the best me I can be. I love it and I wouldn’t have it any other way.
I’ve heard people say, “This natural hair thing is fad..” Well, it’s not a fad for everybody, especially not for me. It’s been a deep desire of mine for a while and for me to buzz cut twice just reassures me that I love the natural me. Dude, like, I’m naked, and loving it! : )
~Jay
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