Hairitage -
By: Jaye.Brown -
 Few childhood memories are more vivid than that of sitting in the kitchen and listening to the sound of your own hair sizzle between the scorching teeth of a hot comb. The sight of “blue grease”, cloudy fumes of burnt hair and lovingly harsh commands like “hold still”, were enough to make you squirm, cry and swear off hair straightening forever.
But after the ordeal your hair stretched to unimaginable lengths and flowed like imported silk. Your reflection resembled a Jet Beauty of the Week and once again you were hooked! This is the rite of passage for girls everywhere.
At a tender age, straight hair becomes symbolic, signifying elegant maturity ushering you to womanhood; while, “kinky”, coily or curly hair becomes something to be cornrowed, pigtailed, Afro puffed or ornamented to death ala “knockers” and left behind with training wheels and Barbies. So back in 2005 when I informed my mother I was going natural, I was promptly met with a harsh side-eye and one exclaimed question, “are you crazy?”
On a deeper level straight hair, amongst our mothers, grand mothers and great grand’s, symbolizes social integration and acceptance. In essence, natural hair can be viewed as a liability. “How will you get a job?”, my mother asked, “do you remember what your hair is like?”, she continued. This, coming from a woman who gracefully rocked the largest afro known to mankind back in the 1970’s before chemicals were re-crowned king by the 80’s Jheri Curl. According to her, times were different and she couldn’t bare to see her qualified, college educated baby girl socially shunned because of her renegade ‘Fro.
Due to historical struggles and social implications, my transition seemed to wreak more havoc on mommy than me. So it meant the world to me when this past Christmas my mother ran her fingers through the coils of my Afro and told me it was really beautiful. Progress is a magnificent thang. What about you, did you have any harsh critics who have now become admirers? Share your story and celebrate your unique history.
Happy Black History Month.
February 1, 2010
 |
Subscribe to this comment's feed
Show/hide comments
Thanks and love to all