A Black Woman & Her Hair

This weekend I fully intended on posting up some deep or insightful shit. I mean we have a Black President-Elect....It's only right. Unfortunately, all I can focus on is my throbbing head. I'm convinced that nothing awakes the spirit like a fresh hairstyle and an eyebrow wax. While I wasn't feelin' the $15 for my wax, I did get my locks tightened and styled. Whew honey! My head hurts like nobody's business.

Last night as I debated whether to deal with the pain of these braids or just say fuck it and take the chance on getting in contact with my loctician to have her redo them...I thought, I must be stupid. A white woman would never endure such pain for a hairstyle. But then again, I'm not white.

While feeling the wrinkles in my scalp caused by a determined stylist, I thought about what Black women go through for our hair. Here's a list of nutty things we do:

• We get burned and singed by pressing combs
• Every Black women who has ever used a curling iron has sported the forehead burn complete with swooped bang to cover
  
• That sensational burning feeling only a relaxer can give
  
• Trying to comb out your hair after braids is no fun & quite painful
• Braids...I need not say more
• Ponytails so tight our eyes turn chinky
• Those metal clips used when re twisting locks provide a less than desirable feeling
• Pretty Sleeping
  
• Avoid rain like cats and run from it like roaches
• Plastic grocery sacks under swim caps for extra protection
• Tight sew-ins, yanking to get that needle through the braid
• Cricks/Knots in our necks from holding them at angels as we get styled

If you can't identify with at least 5 things in this list, then honey, you just don't have the stuff Ethnic hair is made of! We go through all this pain and struggle just for a flyy hairstyle that others marvel at. Our hair is as much of a work of art as any painting by Picasso. There's nothing like the satisfaction of hearing another woman say, "Your stylist got down on your hair girl!" or having a White woman marvel at the genius that is Ethnic Hair.

So yea, my shit is throbbing. So far I've had 4 Tylenols, 2 Asprins, and countless spritzes of Braid Spray. You gotta do what you gotta do to maintain a certain level of flyyness. I'm willing to pay my dues just like the Black Women before me did. I know that when I walk through that door at work tommorow all eyes will be on me. Haters eat your hearts out!!!...(that post is coming very soon)

Why My Hair Holds Power

My dreadlocks hold power...well maybe not power exactly, but deffinantly wisdom!

The way I see it: These oh so brilliant thoughts of mine have to go somewhere. I figure they grow right through my scalp and out through my hair. My hair holds onto them for safe keeping. My thoughts make my hair resilient and strong. Since my hair is locked, none of it falls out, EVER! Meaning I get to hold onto my thoughts, making me wise. My dreadlocks are not just a flyy style that I love to rock (Cuz i'm happy to be nappy!). These locks of mine are oh so divine and they make me so very wise.

Nappy Edges: "The roots of your hair / what turns back when we sweat, run, make love, dance, get afraid, get happy: the tell-tale signs of living." - Ntozake Shange