Black girl, tell them how real it is. Tell them that the strands you display are legit as the color of your skin. Adding insult to injury, or is your skin color wrong too? The voice of society when society isn’t physically talking. The voice of our naturally straight-haired friends when they’re not physically talking… Actually, it’s the voice in our head complaining about how non-accepting you are. Complaining about the tangled coils you must endure every day to look presentable to your peers. Don’t sit in the sun too long you might get too dark; black girls don’t tan.
Back to the wall, fingers tangled in your tresses. Beginning to yank, and yank away at the disapproval. I take pride in that Lye filled relaxer. Relaxing from the stress of taming and twisting. Shoot! You need a break…right? A break from stress, a break from the looks, hell…even a break from yourself is worth the Lye. Right? Lye to cover up the truth. It worked for OJ.
But, is that really what you believe? Do you really believe that your natural beauty is stressful and deserves to be stripped away with chemicals? Or, maybe you want to embrace who you are, and the stress isn’t dealing with your hair. Maybe, it’s the stress of fitting in. If you were on a deserted island just you and dark folks, would you let your hair down, then? Would you not care about what others may say, because y’all look alike?
Sitting on the bus the black girl to your right is immersed in her natural beauty. Thick fro, thick eyebrows, glowing brown skin. You envy the stresslessness that is exuding from her aura. How does she not care? Do others treat her the same way they treat me? How is she so strong? How can that black girl just let down her hair?
I hope you all enjoyed this one. I decided to break away from the typical writing style I’ve been using on my posts, and go more towards making you think about the choices we make as black women.
Want to discuss? Leave your comments and let’s talk about it.
Peace & Love