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Why I Went Natural
Around the time of the ball dropping in Times Square I set aside time to review. Review the past year, and develop a plan for the next year.
It seems like 2011 just flew by! For much of it, I feel like I was auto pilot, the details seem blurry. Our multi-tasking, social media, smart phones, tablets, gadgets, tv and whatever distractions from faith, friends and family. In 2012, I want to slow down and be a little more present. I started 2011 by sharing tips to achieve your Resolution.
2011’s Buzz was natural hair’s popularity and come back!!
The number of black women who say they do not use products to chemically relax or straighten their hair jumped to 36% in 2011, up from 26% in 2010, according to a report by Mintel, a consumer spending and market research firm. Sales of relaxer kits dropped by 17% between 2006 and 2011, according to Mintel. [1]
Those who follow natural hair can’t be surprised.
Even Dr. Drew touched on the topic of natural hair!
Inspiration • Legends • Scene • Natural Hair Supporters • herStory • Transition • Contributor • Why I Went Natural • Product Junkie • Finds • Boadcast • Web Links •
By Terez Howard
When I stopped submitting to the acceptable norm of straightening my hair back in 2006, I vigorously researched what I was going to do with my hair in its natural state. I discovered a plethora of natural hair styles that could try on my short hair, which shrunk to the shortest length I’ve ever worn.
Then there were locs
Naïve as I was, I thought locs were unnatural. I thought the manipulation used to maintain them was contrary to allowing hair to stand up freely in its natural state. And, you couldn’t comb your hair?! I had to comb my hair, so I thought.
Ms. Tanene Jackson is the owner and operator of Locs of Soul, and the founder of Natural Hair & Wellness Expo June 18, 2011 - Mobile, AL. She shares with us…
“How to Stay Natural”
How to Stay Natural
Self Love and Preservation
“How to Stay Natural”…. Okay, most of you are wondering, “Who is this trying to tell me how to stay natural? I got this!” Well you probably do. BUT! Not without issue. I have been natural for 19 – 20 years (wearing locs for 13 yrs). In this time I have seen natural hair come, go, re-vamp, re-energize, and re-store itself. I have seen the lawsuits around the country via the news; the self-esteem issues of women rise and fall, the politics of “good” vs. “bad” hair, the negative connotations and uber affirmations.
The “sistahood” seems like a club that you automatically become indoctrinated to when you start transitioning from relaxed to natural. The key is you have to follow through with your journey to be an “official” member. With that being said, let us not forget the conscious level of everyone is not the same. Many women transition as a rite of passage to self-awareness, others for the style, while others are due to health issues. Seeing women look like ourselves, presenting confidence and reassurance, hopefully will give you insight to what you want and strive to be as a woman – a natural woman. At the end of the day we realize that we are just as beautiful if not more beautiful naturally.
Inspiration • Napp-trepreneur • herStory • Contributor • Why I Went Natural • Random Thoughts • Just Sayin' • Finds • Web Links •
I had the pleasure of co-planning a natural hair gathering with Kenyata and Malaka . Can you belive we had over 80+ people show up for hair fellowship? Read more about her story…
I am not my hair.
Corny, right? But honestly I’ve never been the person who put too much thought into hair. In fact I often refer to it as a completely separate entity. I, Malaka, spent an hour curling her hair only for her hair to decide that it rather be flipped. Go figure. I give a huge deal of credit to my mother for me and my sister’s attitude toward our hair. It was always “just hair” nothing that was super serious. I watched my mom over the years go from jheri curled to long and relaxed to short and relaxed to all of a sudden one day it was just gone. She went to her stylist at the time and demanded that it all be cut off. I was sort of taken back by it. Though it was “just hair” that would grow back should she want it to it was gone. All of her features that seemed small and delicate before were now big and while still beautiful it was…different. I was in middle school at the time and I remember telling a friend that I would “NEVER cut all my hair off like that.” And for the most part I didn’t. I, like my mother went from one crazy hairstyle to the next. Long and stick straight, shaggy cuts, blunt bobs, cherry cola red (I fought hard for that one in middle school) and I would tell everyone who asked why I did whatever to it that it was just hair, it’ll grow back if it doesn’t I’ll just go buy some. It always grew back thank God.
Then after high school and one semester away in college I got sick. The doctors didn’t really know what was going on but I was in pain and I was stressed and my hair that I didn’t pay much attention to started falling out. Doctor after doctor test after test for almost 2 years and finally an answer, I have Fibromyalgia. Fibromy-what?! I got all the books and websites and everything I could find and wow yeah that was me. I had an answer but now what? Oh here are some pills and the insomnia that’ll ease up eventually and the near constant pain you should try exercising that’ll help. Yeah…I can barely get out bed and you want me to do what?
My hair texture is dry and curly, when I was younger my mom would use African Pride and of course my hair was healthy and long. Low and behold when I got the privilege of doing my own hair I broke it all off. Using everything from Pink Moisture and World of curls I was greasy as hell, like that soul glow commercial from, “Coming back to America”!
Then when I started working I save up enough money to start getting my hair straighten and colored every two weeks, but that was a waste of money for me as my scarf I use to wrap my hair with always gave me migraines and my hair curled up the same day from taking a shower.
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