Good Hair

I know I'm so late, but I just watched Chris Rock's documentary, Good Hair. I've made it my business to be conscious about the issues plaguing the African American community, but his documentary really brought some things to my attention. Sheesh, I really don't know where to start with this.....

Okay, let's talk about the little girls getting relaxers at four years old. I'm not going to be all snooty and look down on them and their parents, but what is going on in the minds of our women for us to think that it's okay to possibly permanently damage the hair follicles of our kids for straight hair? What I also found fascinating was the demonstration with chemical found in relaxers: it was able to burn through an aluminum can! When a drop was placed on a piece of chicken, it burned through to the "white meat" within minutes! I was stunned. I mean, I got relaxers all the way up until September of 2007, but I probably never would have done so if I had known how dangerous it was. It's shocking to know what some of us will go through for a "lye".

And then the whole weave industry. African Americans are 12% of the population and are 80% of the people who purchase weave?! Wow. It was so astonishing  to hear that some of the women were paying so much money for their hair weaves that they were on payment plans! There is so much to be said about the psychological state of African American women just from that fact alone. Some women even said that they feel "more beautiful" when they have weave, hence them spending so much money on it. As an ex-weave wearer myself, I could totally relate to how they felt. I felt that what I had was not enough. It's like I wanted to compete with the girls on BET with the bodies and the flowing long hair (which was also weave). But that's when I was sick. Why do our women feel incomplete without someone else's hair on their head? Or better yet, why is natural hair still looked down upon? Fancy me, if you will. (Oh, and don't forget to subscribe!)