Black Womens Hair in Black Culture

In my Black Feminist Theory class today we discussed how oppressive the white elite system is to our Black Culture. Especially in regards to womens' hair. Black women reach a crosspoint where they have to decide whether to add chemicals to their hair to make it more "manageable" or to leave it in its' natural state. This was a very controversial discussion because some young black women, in the class, had their hair relaxed while others were rocking it all natural. How were we suppose to determine which hairstyle is more genuine and unique to our "BLACK CULTURE?" We could barely agree on what our BLACK CULTURE was. There was no right or wrong answer....just a lot whole lot of different viewpoints.

 I am personally in the process of growing my hair out of it's "permed state" and let me say, it's been a difficult yet fulfilling journey. I feel less stress about having to save money to "relax" my hair. I feel even less stressed about "needing money" to add hair to my own hair (also known as weaving it up). My hair was not built to handle all of this stress. And I should not subject my hair to this torture any longer. I have been braiding and re-braiding my hair for the past 6 months or so. And it's been...a journey. But I am learning to appreciate what I once thought was a curse: My nice thick hair!

In this stage of my life where I am turning 20 this year, I am realizing more about what makes me happy, without the external factors HUGELY AFFECTING MY DECISIONS. I am happy with my hair. It's rough sometimes, using the word ROUGH loosely, but it's mine. I own it. And I should determine what I want do to it. Not what I should do to it because of the field that I want to go into after I graduate. Isn't going to an ALL WHITE private college enough torture for me?


PS. All thanks goes to Britney for braiding my hair tonight :)