Hello Everyone! I just had to come here and vent because I know everyone here can provide much support. So here is the story. I just passed out spring pictures of my 11 year old daughter to my family. Well, my grandmother gets hers and her exact words are, "Oh no Hope, you should be so ashamed of yourself letting her take a picture like this." I ask her what does she mean and she proceeds to tell me, "well just look at her hair, it's so nappy!" My jaw dropped. I could not believe it! I am so glad my daughter was not standing there because I have worked so hard making sure that she is proud of her natural hair and the style she wore for that picture was a style she did all on her own. She was so proud of it and I was happy for her.
I am so so so so pissed off because my family is the type that uses the phrases "good hair" "bad hair" and it just irks me to the core! Recently my cousin's wife who has a baby girl saw some moisturizer I put in my 2 year old's hair. She stated, "oh I use that same stuff in my hair but not in Natalia's hair because she has good hair." CAN YOU BELIEVE IT!! So was she trying to say my 2 year old has "bad hair"? My daughter's hair is very healthy and no where near being "bad hair." We need to stop this cycle of giving our young black women the impression that their beautiful natural hair is not wonderful and is something bad!
Before this incident I made the decision that I was going to go natural. As a child I had beautiful natural hair and my mom put a relaxer in it and from age of 9 I have always had relaxed hair. Now that this has happened I am now very determined to go natural. I want to be a role model for my daughters and not only tell them how beautiful their hair is but walk the talk. I just don't know how to get rid of this anger that is inside of me now. I don't think I have been this mad in sooooo long. I think this was just the final straw. Below is the school pic my grandma received and other pics of my daughter's hair. The last was my hair that they considered nappy enough that they just had to put a perm in it. The cycle must stop!
So sticking to my mission I have started my YouTube channel and posted my first video. I really want to help others learn how to care for their hair whether it is natural, relaxed, or texlaxed. I think YouTube will really help me and doing this. And I will for sure be using this blog as well. So enjoy the ride everyone and any advice is appreciated!
