Why is it that a Black woman wearing her hair in its natural state is a shock or a political statement? Who decided this? The natural hair of any Black woman is not a fad or a movement or a political stance. It is just simply her hair. Our hair is glorious. The only statement we are making is that we love our hair in its natural state. My statement today about my hair may be drastically different tomorrow. That is the great thing about our natural hair: it has great versatility. There is nothing militant about it.
I am NOT my hair. Neither is any other Black woman who wears their hair in its natural state. Other women of different nationalities don't have to deal with this. Their hair is culturally and widely accepted as the norm. So, that automatically makes the hair of Black women "unacceptable" and "not normal." I am not solely defined by it. It is mine to do what I please with. If I want to wear it bone straight or kinky or curly or coily or in an afro, I will. My hair does not need to be the topic of discussion, especially outside my community. It is hair, simple and plain. I am not making a statement. I made a choice to stop relaxing my hair for myself. I didn't discuss it with anyone before hand. I just made a choice and stuck with it. It's
No, my hair does not mean I'm militant. Nor does it make me political. I'm not making a statement. My hair doesn't make me a feminist or a Black Panther or a revolutionary. My beliefs would make me those things. It's just my hair. It is not wrong or unnatural. It is the hair that grows naturally from my scalp. This is the hair that God gave me. I no longer believe that I have to succumb to the acceptance of the way the world believes that my hair should look, feel, or be. That is a very Westernized idea of what is normal Black hair. I am normal by my standards. Also, so is my glorious natural hair! It's my hair, maybe it's the rest of the world that needs to relax.
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