Wed, Oct 7, 2009
It has taken me my entire life for me to come to an understanding with my hair…the care of it, the feel of it, the look of it. I finally get it. All of that was attacked tonight by the comment of one ignorant stranger.
I was taking a class with women that have natural beautiful hair. My hair has a perm in it. This “man” had been watching us from outside for a long time spooking us out. Finally, he came in to say to me, in front of everyone, “Sister, once you get that perm out of your hair, you will be straight. You look strange amongst everyone else”. A strong silence gripped the entire room. My eyes flashed with tears because of the problems that it has always presented. All of the dancers shared their compassion for his bizarre actions. Alas, I didn’t feel better until I got home and wrote this; my response to to this statement.
One of the wonderful things about being me is that, I can change my hair into just about anything. Braids today, long hair tomorrow, short hair next week, maybe a ponytail after that. Anything is possible because of the versatility that is available to me. I have had natural hair before and will again…when the mood strikes me…not because it will allow me to fit into someone’s particular view of what I should or should not be.
This attitude is reflected in my clothes as well as my jewelry. I wore shells and jeans to work today. Tomorrow, I may be a pink professional princess…the next day, perhaps a chocolate model. Who knows, its always a fabulous adventure doing the self expression thing.
I have always marched to the beat of my own drum. I see no reason why that should change now. Did the comment offend me? Yes, it struck a nerve. I was quite surprised by this stranger whom wasn’t going to grace the cover of EBONY anytime soon. How dare he have the audacity to say such a thing to me only to vanish once he was verbally assaulted by the other women in my defense.
I am not perfect but one thing that I have always known is that I am beautiful no matter how I style myself. My slumber was sound that night because of my belief in me: I AM GORGEOUS!
Inshallah