Tell me why?
Several days ago, someone that I knew, in a moment of absent mindedness touched my hair. They didn't ask to touch it, actually said "Oh you know someone is going to try and touch it", and ran their fingers all through it. Since I was in a state of shock and a moment of contemplation, I said "that I didn't mind". I figured it was a learning experience. But inside, I did mind. Why did they do it?
I felt a twinge of anger. I wanted to go back in time and tell them STOP! I wanted to tell them how they were messing up my regimen, how I had already detangled my hair, that my hair was dry and should not be touch in fear of breakage, and on and on and on. But I just didn't. I looked in the mirror, looked at the unique beauty of my hair and realized...Dang, I want to run my hands and touch it too. And I did. And it was good.
Almost everyone has hair. Long hair, short hair, brown hair, long hair, but not everyone has "black hair". Some would call it kinky, others frizzy, and the worst adjective I can think of is..nappy. I actually had someone call my hair nappy once. It wasn't tangled. It wasn't a mess. It was actually cut in a short stylish Ivy Lee or Big Chop style. It was clean, well groomed, and to the point, but it was nappy in their eyes. But what is it about our hair that makes people fawn over it like some mysterious artifact from some unknown land?
Ivy Lee/ Big Chop
Well, our hair in it's natural state is different. It grows differently. Most cultures are follically gifted with straight thick, wavy tamed, or long curly hair, but black hair is different, Instead of growing down and long, it grows around and out. Our curls, if dry and depending on the grade of hair, has the look of a fiery halo with a mind of its own. When moisture is added to natural hair, the curls become define and supple. It looks odd to some and feels strange to other. A male friend of mind likened my hair once to lamb's wool. He had never been near a lamb or sheared one for that matter, but that's what he said it was like.
More black women are choosing natural!
Our hair is a cultural enigma for others. We are the primary culture who finds it the norm to chemically alter our hair at normal intervals. Who hasn't been told by their beautician that they had to get a touch up (relaxer) in two to four weeks? We use a chemical that actually can burn and create sores on our scalp (protectant oil or grease used with it) in order to straighten our hair. Somewhere, we have been lead to believe that we have to assimilate in order to be deemed beautiful by societal standards. That the only way to have long hair is to have relaxers. We have lost some of our ancestors techniques on what they used to make their hair grow. We, somewhere as a people...became lost.
Most of my friends are used to seeing my hair trimmed in a short pixie cut. They had a hard time seeing me as natural. But when I became natural, everyone wanted to touch it. Seriously, I felt..you never wanted to touch it before..why now? I was told because seeing an African American female with their natural hair is just so unusual. Although I am seeing a sudden shift of women going natural, women with relaxers are still prevalent.
So, here is a note to the people who want to "touch someone's natural hair"...
It is not a show piece to be eyed, patted, and gawked at. It is hair. The only thing about our hair is that touching it but not knowing how to do so properly can damage natural hair. Natural hair in its dry fragile state is susceptible to breakage, hence why we have to keep it oiled and moisturized. Also, it would probably be best to ask the person before hand if you can touch it. They may have certain chemicals, oils, or hair products in their hair at the time to shampoo out later as part of their hair regimen. Your hand may come out oily or wet. Don't assume.
Hair Regimen
Biotin
Multi-vitamin
Castor Oil
Lusti's Organic Olive Oil hair spray
Lusti's Organic Gel
Happy Ash Wednesday-Peace of Christ
