HAIR RAISIN’ FOR SISTAHS

YOUR HAIR IS YOUR PRIDE

By Damali- Founder, Artistic Director and Principal; Natural HAIRart Ghana [07/08/2017]

We ought to be taking responsibility for all that is naturally ours.

And that includes our natural hair.

A significant aspect of our cultural aesthetic has to do with our own hair which enables us to express an undying love for who we are and what we strive to become.

For the sistahs of African descent, the call has gone out to love our natural hair in all its majesty and diversity- to always be proud of our crown.

We are a diverse group and there will never be enough words to describe all of the beauty of our people just like the beauty of others.

But after a long journey of self-denial and destruction during which we have coveted and adopted Brazilian, Indian, Malaysian, Colombian and lately Indonesian hair, we were certainly not in a good place.

Believe that!

But it must be said that we do have choices – an inalienable right.

We should never attempt to enforce a unitary beauty and hair standard.

Whether we go nappy – cut short, locked, twisted; or straightened; it is empowering to make a choice.

And we shall leave it at that.

We do not have the guile nor time to debate whether simply wearing our hair in its own natural state is or can become a complex and politicised act.

That debate is largely for those who can decipher the following statement,

“(Hair relaxers) serve to counterpoliticize the signifier of ethnic and racial devalorization and challenge definitions of blackness as defined by hegemonic culture”

What was that?

We fought (and still continue to) with a remarkable intensity for equality in our workplaces and homes; we have also fought for fair trade and a greener society.

But then we turn around and adopt synthetic hair for ourselves, plastic pampers for the tots and plastic bags for everything from food to money.

No shade, but one of our giant countries spends USD7bn annually on buying hair.

Can you imagine how much we as a continent spend? And the diaspora?

There appears to be some consistency here though.

We neglect our natural resources- diamonds, oil, gold, timber, lakes, wildlife ……..and of course, our hair.

Are we missing something here?

Perhaps we are dissatisfied and this may partly be due to our men warriors; no shade…….

I’m just sayin’.

They appear to have an affinity for cascading straight hair…..I’m just saying….maybe, Just Becky with the Gud Hair Syndrome.

Happily, it appears that we are now ready to turn the corner by leaving out the chemical straightening, coloring and those benighted, bed nest, itch and pimple producing, expensive, short or cascading weaves, wigs and hair pieces.

We seem ready to be real;

to sport our natural hair,

well groomed and coiffed in its own unique way as proud, resilient African women.

As Nu Bein’ Sistahs.