Archive for the ‘Disgrace’ Category

Dreadlock Ripped Out

Monday, January 25th, 2010

dreadlockspJordan Miles, an eighteen year old violinist of a jazz band and the orchestra at the Creative and Performing Arts High School in Pittsburgh, was walking to his grandmother’s house when three policemen decided to harass him. When he decided to run back to his mother’s house before they got to him, he slipped on the ice and found himself surrounded by them.

That’s when they started beating me, punching, kicking me, choking me.

They thought he may have been carrying a gun. His face was swollen and a dreadlock of his was ripped out of his head (that sounds rather painful). What they found after the beat him? A soda bottle, ya’ll.

I feel that my son was racially profiled. It’s a rough neighborhood; it was after dark. They assumed he was up to no good because he’s black. My son, he knows nothing about the streets at all. He’s had a very sheltered life, he’s very quiet, he doesn’t know police officers sit in cars and stalk people like that.

The police officers were reassigned (slap on the wrist like always). If these cops keep getting away with racial profiling, they’re going to continue to do it. What makes me angry about this was that this young man wasn’t even a trouble maker. Even when you have young black men trying to do right in a society that sees them as monsters half the time, they’re punished for no reason.

Here’s the source.

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Posted in Disgrace, Locs | 2 Comments »

Keep Your Hands Off My Child

Monday, December 14th, 2009

I’m sure many of you heard this story by now. Recently in Milwaukee, a teacher cut off the braid of one of her students. LaMya Cammon was sitting in her chair playing in her hair (as many little girls do). LaMya Her hairstyle consisted of braids adorned with beads so of course, it made a clinking sound.

The sound that the beads were making annoyed the teacher. The teacher instructed the little girl to stop, but the little girl kept at it. Rather than simply putting her in time out, and or writing a letter to her parent as a civilized teacher should have, the teacher called the little girl up to the front of the class, took a pair of scissors, and cut off one of the little girl’s braids. She then scolded her and sent the LaMya back to her desk as she cried and classmates laughed. Here were the little girl’s words:

I went to my desk and cried, and they was laughing. She threw it away, and she said, ‘Now what you gonna go home and say to your momma?‘ And I said, ‘That you cut off my hair.’

Many people were wondering if this teacher was a black or white woman, but in my opinion, this isn’t about race. It would be equally wrong whether she’s black, white, or alien. If “found guilty,” which she pretty much is, the teacher will be charged with a $175 fine.

The charges sound like a slap on the risk, given the situation. I’d say that she would have to pay the mother and the daughter $175 each, and be put in permanent timeout from teaching. In addition, I would make her reenact the whole scene. Only this time, she would be the one getting a lock of her hair cut off.

Don’t get me wrong; the hair will grow back. However, this should have never happened, and a person like this never should have gotten a job as a teacher. There’s no telling how many more similar stories like this would arise if she were allowed to keep teaching. Did you read the part where the teacher said, “Now what you gonna go home and say to your momma?” It was almost as if she were trying to rub it in her mothers face, or that she were asking for a fight. This woman clearly has some demons other than the situation at hand, that she needs to deal with.

If a teacher did this to my daughter, there would be problems. I would probably even make sure to get the teacher’s face all over the news (CNN included), so that anyone who’s in charge of hiring teachers knows not to let her teach at their school. I’m surprised they kept her anonymous thus far.

What would you have done if this were your child?

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Posted in Disgrace, Latest Controversy | 4 Comments »

A Perm in a Pill. WTF?

Thursday, December 10th, 2009

BRISBANE, Australia, Dec. 8 (UPI) — Researchers at Australia’s Queensland Institute of Medical Research said they have discovered the gene responsible for dictating the curliness of hair.

Researcher Professor Nick Martin said his team discovered variations in the trichohyalin gene, which was previously known to have a role in the development of hair follicles, are responsible for the curliness or straightness of hair, the Melbourne Herald-Sun reported Tuesday.

According to Martin:

Potentially we can now develop new treatments to make hair curlier or straighter, rather than treating the hair directly,” he said. “I will be discussing this with a major cosmetic company in Paris in January. [Read more here.]

I can’t even sit well with products that are strong enough to break my hair’s natural structure, so you could only imagine how I would feel about taking some mysterious pill that messes around with my genes. I’m trying to figure out why they’re developing pills on things that aren’t necessary to live a functional life, but aren’t developing pills that can help abnormalities in genes. You know…things that cause genetic disorders like cystic fibrosis, down syndrome, sickle-cell anemia, etc?

Next thing you’ll know, they’ll come out with something that changes hair color, eye color, and skin color with a pill. So much for influencing people to love their natural features, right?

I’m sure this will become a best seller if it were to be released though. Billions and billions are spent on women getting their hair straightened. I can also picture women going back and forth through hair types. Someone going from “4A hair pill” in April, to the “1A hair pill” in March and vice-versa. The sad thing about this is that it would probably cause all types of disorders and cancers for the person who takes the pill, along with any of their offspring born after the fact. I’m picturing recalls and people being sued.

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Posted in Disgrace | 1 Comment »

Chris Rock: Helping or Harming?

Tuesday, October 13th, 2009

I’ve heard good reviews in regards to this Chris Rock documentary and I learned that it’s mostly a comedy. The thing about comedies is that no matter how serious the topic is, if the comedian is funny enough, the viewers who didn’t take the topic seriously beforehand, probably will not take the issue seriously afterward.

In other words, opening up our eyes and combating the issue usually goes completely out of the window. It’s almost as if the documentary was mocking a black woman’s insecurity issues. The standardized black celebrity beauties show up to the preview with their hair styled in ways that pretty much prove the documentary’s point, they watch a documentary poking fun at our issues, they get a good laugh, and the go back home.

I also find it odd that Chris Rock’s wife wasn’t interviewed. Here’s a question for the day. Can we as mothers really teach our daughters that natural hair is beautiful when we wouldn’t be caught dead in our own?  Can you really instill values like these in your child without setting an example?   I know, I know. This is the part that drives comments like “Don’t worry about her hair! Look at her accomplishments!” instead of trying to come up with ways to help get rid of the issues that we have left. And of course, posts like mine only add to the problem because we’re all too stubborn to look at the bigger issue: little black girls feeling as if they’re not as beautiful.

Anyhow, I feel that this issue needs to be tackled by someone who has actually been on both sides of the fence: both relaxed and natural. Chris Rock is clearly on the outside looking in; those on the outside looking in may not take an issue as seriously as someone who’s actually lived it. I find it sad that he took this issue so lightly after the fact that it was supposedly inspired by his young daughter. Lets not get started on the type of airy responses that he gives when asked about the movie, further ruining chances for anyone to take it as seriously as they should. It gives me more reason to believe that he’s more in it for the money.

I’m sure there’s those who would say “Well, at least Chris Rock helped bring light to the issue.” To me, that light is very dim and he could be harming it more than he is helping it. For an issue that has negatively affected our community for over a century, this is not the time to be joking around. We just can’t afford it.

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Posted in Disgrace, Random | 3 Comments »

Discrimination in the Military

Wednesday, August 19th, 2009

Update 08/27/09: It was brought to my understanding that the main reason why locs aren’t allowed is because many of the sizes worn are too thick for head gear, so for the most part, it’s for more of a safety issue and safety should always come first. Also, while there has been discrimination towards those with natural afro hair in the military, not all naturals in the military have faced this type of discrimination and it’s not an overall representation of the military, but of certain military personnel.

For years, the military had no problem with showing the black people who serve them that they had a Locs problem with common, natural afro hairstyles. Black females in particular were given slack for wearing small, clean-cut afros. The ones who wear locs weren’t shown much mercy either, as many of them were forced to cut them off.

When coming across this blog, it was bought to my attention that the military is at it again. This is the message that was sent to her from one of her readers:

Greetings Sister Karen:

I am one of your biggest fans. I have been following your website and blog for months. Thank you for this great avenue for women of color to share their thoughts and celebrate their natural hair. I was hoping that you can share this link below to friends of your blog/website One of my close friends who is in the US Air Force is being forced to chop her locks and relax her hair. We are asking everyone we know to sign this petition and also send a letter to your state representatives. Here is a brief synopsis of the matter at hand. Please share with everyone you know. Thank you in advance for your support!

It has come to my attention that the United States Air Force has a regulation, AFI36-2903 DRESS AND PERSONAL APPEARANCE OF AIR FORCE PERSONNEL, which in part, discriminates against African-American women serving in the Air Force. The code was recently updated to include a bans on a common natural African-American hairstyle, which the Air Force has called “dreadlocks”. Female personnel with neat, clean, professional well-kept hair are being forced to choose between cutting their hair and treating it with chemicals to conform with this regulation which I feel unfairly and unnecessarily discriminates against African-Americans. The regulation itself does not define “dreadlocks”. This leaves women with hair that is in no means a distraction or a detriment to their duties, subject to disciplinary action.

Please pass this information along to as many people as possible. Also, if you’re a blogger, you can blog about it as well. We have voices; let the military hear it loud and clear. Afros and locs are apart of who we are. If we don’t speak out about it, they’re going to continue seeing our hair as some sort of an oddity, and it’s going to be hard for everyone to proudly rock their natural hair and serve in the military in peace. If they know that they can use you, and force you to alter yourself without having to worry about getting a backlash from it, they will keep doing it. Don’t allow it to go on without a fight.

If you have a strong love for your natural hair and you’re the type of person who refuses to change it for anyone other than yourself, it would be best not to join the military. It’s just not worth it. The military needs you more than you need them, and they should accept you for who you are.

Make sure the sign the petition by going here.

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Posted in Disgrace, Locs | 3 Comments »

Garnier Fructis Hates Afro Hair

Friday, July 17th, 2009

Naturals are offended by Dr. Miracles commercials, yet somehow, we allowed Garnier to slide past our radar, and continue to buy their products. BEAUTIFUL Afro Hair

Everybody knows how Garnier Fructis commercials go. They usually start out with a woman with a head full of hair (usually naturally straight hair) that’s either limp, or all over the place. It’s not the straightest in the world, but it’s easy to tell that this is damaged straight hair. There’s nothing offensive about that.

However, the commercial that I saw recently was far different. This time, it showed a white woman with an afro that would actually be considered well pampered amongst others, especially among naturals with a similar hair type. I honestly couldn’t find anything wrong with it. All I could do was laugh at their ignorance and think “Are they serious?”

And why does Garnier have to overexaggerate when it comes to showing straight hair at it’s “worse” by insulting people who have a natural texture that looks very similar? The average naturally straight-haired woman’s hair does not look like that when their hair is damaged, so why all the extra?

I couldn’t find the commercial that I saw, but in my search, I came across this video. In this particular commercial, they look down on both afros and locs. From what I can tell, this commercial was actually released last year, portraying afros and locs as “unkempt,” “dirty,” or what have you. And they compared our hair to dog hair, ya’ll! I have never seen this particular Garnier commercial in my circuit, so I may have missed it. It’s also in a different language, so it’s possibly shown in a country other than the United States.

I actually loved Garnier Fructis products. Not only were their products great for straight hair, they were great for curly and kinky hair as well (when it comes to simply moisturizing and adding sheen to the hair). I loved their curl cream (before it went off the market), along with their styling foam. I haven’t bought from them in a while, but after seeing these particular commercials, I sure as heck won’t be buying from them in the future, whether rich or poor. Unknowingly, we were supporting a company who looks down at our hair type. Guys, be careful who you buy from because some of that money will be used to make commercials such as these.

Shame on you, Garnier. I sincerely though you were better than that. I really did.

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Posted in Brands, Disgrace | 14 Comments »

How Free Are We Really?

Tuesday, July 7th, 2009

Lets say that you have low self-esteem due to being made feel guilty for who are. Tracee Ellis Ross To change this, you go through drastic measures to make yourself more “appealing.” You fit yourself into society’s box, but you still feel like shit. While you thought that it would give your self-esteem a boost, it doesn’t. It actually makes it worse.

You then decide to go against all the rules and let things flow. You went natural and through your journey, you began loving your hair and everything else that’s natural about yourself. You feel free. You’re minding your own business. Then someone or something decides to come along and give you a reason why you should change the very things about yourself that you actually love. They’re actually reminders of what had an influence on your low self-esteem in the past.

When I first went natural, my mother hated my hair. When it grew out and I experimented with different styles that made my coils loose, she loved it. It wasn’t until I began wearing my hair out unaltered that I realized that she only liked my hair when I wore them in twist-outs, which made my coils appear to be looser than what they actually were. When I don’t alter it, she constantly tries to get me to flat-iron it, wear my hair in twist-outs like I used to, or at least curl it up with rollers.

It’s almost as if she’s saying “Well since you’re not going to perm it, AT LEAST do something to it in a way that would make your coils appear looser than what they are.”

It makes me think about how naturals are portrayed in black magazines to fill in the “we-gave-you-one-little-ad-here-so-shut-your-mouth” quota. More than likely, if not flat ironed, the woman will have loose curls like Tracee Ellis Ross, Melanie Brown from the early Spice Girls days, or Tia and Tamera Mowry in their younger days. If the woman has really kinky hair, she will usually have a twa where her kinks aren’t as “offensive,” or this huge, massive fro (where the length makes up for the kinkiness of it).

The black community always want to talk about how black is so beautiful, but do we really feel that way as a whole? I beg to differ. They should rephrase their hypocrisy and change it to “black is beautiful as long as we turn a natural feature of ours into something that it’s not” or “as long as our natural features are of something that society would find to be more appealing” because this is the message that they’re sending.

If you want to know why some naturals are resorting to back to harmful chemicals because they hate their hair, will never be caught dead at their kinkiest, feel the need to straighten their hair for every job interview, or are getting depressed because their hair isn’t as big as an Erykah Badu afro wig, this is probably why. We are constantly pushed to give the illusion that our hair is something that it isn’t. If we don’t, we’re made to feel like we’re doing something wrong.

Don’t listen to them. You’re beautiful. Anyone who tries to get you to change anything that’s natural about yourself are obviously influenced by what’s going on in the world…which is pretty much stupid because what’s “cool” now may not be “cool” in the future. You don’t have to jump on bandwagons. If you do that, you be jumping on a new bandwagon every other month. Set your own beauty standard.

Being natural doesn’t automatically make you “free.” Some of us are still very much in prison. We need to learn how to appreciate and accept out hair in it’s raw form, no matter what it’s hair type or length. This same goes for any other part of ourselves.

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Posted in Disgrace | 4 Comments »

Re: Natural Hair Nazis

Monday, June 15th, 2009

Last week, Clutch Magazine had written an article called “Natural Nazi” and I can’t say that the article is false. It was a nice piece and there was much truth to it. Sure, you have your internet warriors, attacking people on their own personal cyber spaces. However, for every internet connection, there’s always a power button to turn it on or off. However, in real life, there is no button that you can turn on or off. (Well, there is a mental one that you can turn off, but it doesn’t keep it from being a reality.) In this post, I’m going to warn naturals about another group of people that dwell outside of the internet…the people in real life; they can be anywhere from your loved ones, friends, and the public.

Although natural hair is becoming more popular, it’s still looked down upon by many people. After you do the “big chop,” letting go of all your relaxed ends, there may be people who will start looking at you differently. Smiles may turn to frowns. Approval may turn into disapproval. Both loved ones and strangers may start cracking jokes on you to your face. You may be thrown into categories that you don’t even belong in. There are those who will claim that “hair isn’t that serious,” but if you open up your eyes, you will soon find that actions speak louder than words.

Here are a few things that women may hear while being natural from loved ones or strangers in person:

Your hair is NAPPY. You need a perm. -Random

Are you going to at least straighten it before you go to that job interview? -Mother

At least put some rollers in it or something! -Mother

Hahaha…look at her head! -Stranger

Are you trying to be like Erykah Badu now? -Random

You’re not going out with me with your hair looking like that. -Someone’s boyfriend or husband.

Do you think you’re blacker than me or something? -Corny joke by a loved one…

If you’re a sensitive person like I was, having people like this in your ear and face may make you feel bad. For some, it may reinstill the popular belief that something is wrong with their natural hair and that it needs to be tamed. You may start questioning whether or not this natural thing is for you. And for some, despite all of the problems that relaxers put them through (hair loss, health problems, going broke), those negative reactions may scare them into going right back to perming.

Don’t ever let anyone make you feel guilty for rocking what your creator had given to you. If anything, this is the one thing that no one has the right to judge you for. The work place shouldn’t have the right to judge you for wearing your natural afro because that’s what your hair does naturally. It’s not like you’re altering it out into a rainbow colored mohawk, which is unnatural. The reason why you may be getting negative reactions is because many aren’t used to it. They won’t get used to it until they see more of it to the point where it becomes to norm. Natural IS for everybody, otherwise it wouldn’t be there naturally.

Now on to the “natural nazi” issue. Let me get something straight. I hate the thought of having to cover up kinky hair because of it being more desirable. I feel that relaxers and excessive heat is harmful and cause huge self-esteem issues (on top of all the others that we have) when it comes to black women and our community. Some people would call me a “nappy militant” although I’m not as extreme as most.

However, I’m not going to walk up to someone and tell them how I think they should wear their hair. I feel that a person should do whatever they want with their hair. (Although in the past, I used to try and influence a few close friends to go natural, after they bought up the topic of hair.) I don’t think that everyone who relaxes their hair doesn’t love themselves, nor do I think that all naturals love themselves. Also, hair is NOT the thing that I’m looking at when it comes to wanting to get to know a person. I don’t dislike the person who uses the products; I dislike the product and the ignorance that some people have towards natural hair.

I’m not apart of the group of people who goes harassing people in their personal space for choosing to straighten or relax their hair. I’m apart of the group who will set a person straight (whether offline or off), when they start talking out of the side of their mouth about how I, or anyone else chooses to rock their natural because this is the root of the problem. I used to ALWAYS get negative reactions from my mother. When I finally started feeling good about myself, she always had something to say; at least until I started preaching. Now she knows not to say anything and her views on natural hair has changed. If I would have reacted to her comments by perming my hair, it would have allowed the ignorance towards natural hair to continue. If we continue to be so careless about this issue, those negative views on natural hair (that may drive one to think that there’s something wrong with them naturally), will continue and for some, their going natural will feel like they’re a drug addict going through withdrawal.

When a woman talks about how going natural helped her overcome self-esteem issues, or how she gets rude stares in public, or how she fears not being able to get a job for how she looks, there are those who are quick to say that “it’s not that serious.” When someone whines about how some random person leaves a rude message on her Fotki album for straightening her hair and how it hurt her feelings, some of the same people who said “it’s not that serious” are now saying “Those natural nazis!”

There are women being judged on a day to day basis in public just for being themselves. It’s sad how we’re so quick to spot out the “natural hair police” on the INTERNET and deem them “natural nazis” over something that’s so ridiculous. (Let me also say that the word “nazi” is a little extreme, whether it originated in the natural hair community or not.)

Then there’s those who blame their going back to relaxing their hair because of being turned off by other naturals. I don’t get it. I can understand how one may relax their hair to fit in with society and escape the negative views (although I don’t agree with it), but to do it because some random person on the internet turned you off? It doesn’t make any sense. Can someone open my eyes as to why it would make sense? (This is a genuine question.)

Let me tell you about the internet and personalities that dwell in it. The beauty about the internet is that you don’t have to take in everything that’s in it. If someone bashes you on a forum, you can always leave. If you don’t like the rude messages left by a random person on your Fotki album, you can delete it. These people are of no significance to you, so why even take what they say to heart? Nobody should have to put up with this, but just be thankful that these are just random people behind a computer with nothing else better to do (judging you on an altered look), and not your mother, father, sister, brother, or husband humiliating you to your face about your natural appearance.

There are far more people being discouraged from going natural due to people making them feel “ugly” natural, than there are people making them feel “guilty” for straightening their hair. Naturals are put down far more. If I walked into a standard black salon with my kinky hair, the first thing that the stylist would probably try to do is perm or straighten it. But even after all that, one thing I would never refer to them as is a “relaxer NAZI.” That’s just disrespectful and uncalled for.

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Posted in Disgrace | 4 Comments »