The trials for Black women though, is weighted in our historical confidence in our colour, as well as to our physical attributes and "failings". Our beauty is tied up in a hierarchy of concepts that start with how we value our African features at the foundation.
Grooming takes time and copious amounts of money but before we go spend hard earned cash at the hairdressers, first, we must stop falling into that evil corrosive trap set for us (and unfortunately maintained by us). The trap rooted in a colonial concept of divide and conquer. We must stop resorting to knee jerk reactions about good hair or bad hair when really, its not about the hair, its about perception and self-belief.
Fundamentally, I think Black women playing with their hair is part of our survival tool kit as much as an innate inclination to adorn. Any judgments made, is the person who doing the judging's business, not yours. Let them get on with it.
Know thy “SELF" and DO YOUR THANGListen to BBC commissioned docu-poem by Zena Edwards
Hey Z
ReplyDeleteI need to send you my poem all about hair. It's inspired by the hairstyles Samuel L Jackson wears in his films but weaves in my own history with hair and a wider history too. I've been told that it's political without being in your face. You might be interested to read it.