The article describes the story behind this photograph of a young black boy touching President Obama's hair to know if "my hair is just like yours". When asked what he wants to be when he grows up, the little boy in the photograph (then 5, now 8) replied that he would be very happy to be Presdient of the United States. “Or a test pilot.” :)
This is the second time hair has come up on this blog (the first time can be found in the March 28th post Normal.). Just about every other time I visit my friend Shikindra and her black family, someone is getting their hair done (or just had it done). And the other day I spoke to a white friend of mine who described her newly-liberated state after her daughter's hair was cut short and she didn't have to war against tangles any more. Now that I'm thinkin of it, in A Raisin in the Sun, (info about the play here and here) there's a discussion regarding the natural state of a black woman's hair. I'm beginning to think that hair is kind of a big deal...
Anyone out there have any thoughts about how our hair is connected to our sense of self? I'd love your thoughts! Please post in the comments section or (if you're friends with me on Facebook) you can comment on my wall, too.
Hair in the black community is about as important as Sampson's hair was to him, though for very different reasons. Not to be long winded but hair has become a symbol of status. Alluding to ethnic background and lineage. "Good Hair" is a term that mos often refers to a person who's hair is fine, soft, and long. The "whiter" the hair, or more Caucasian in appearance the "better". So for most of us, that means we buy it, perm (as in to straighten/relax) gel it down and spritz it up. The quest is for beauty, and we spend our entire lives on said journey. For the deviant (those who go natural) we are usually referred to as rebels, and unprofessional. My mom went through the roof when I said I was "locking up" (taking my natural hair and twisting them into permanent ropes, aka dreadlocks). She was worried about my getting a job in white America, about my career and future. She's right to worry. No one in professional America looks like Bob Marley, period. Fortunately, I work radio :)
ReplyDeleteI have said much, and yet nothing I bet you didn't already know so I'll be quiet. At the end of the day, one of my favorite moments growing up was when my mom braided my hair. She would say as she brushed my short gnarled tresses, "Your hair is so beautiful and thick" My soul needed to hear that I was beautiful. So what the girls on the magazines and relaxer boxes, and on tv didn't look anything like me. My momma said my hair was pretty. That was all I needed. #happynappy
Crystal,
DeleteThanks for your comments! "I work radio" made me burst out laughing. :) I also so identify with a soul that needs to hear that she is beautiful. I never let my mom braid my hair. Now, of course, I wish I had.
Thanks for your insight into the importance of hair in the black community -- and the lack of natural or "locked up" hair in the professional white world. There is much to learn.