I used to wear dreadlocks, I tried weaves, wigs, but there is nothing better than having my natural hair out!
My natural hair journey started with a big chop.
Interestingly, my mother got very upset when I did it. For her, long straight hair has always been the best option. I can’t blame her as she is from a generation who heard from day one that straighter was better.
I don’t expect her to change her mindset now.
I used to hate seeing my own reflection in the mirror, but it changed when I started to look at my face on different lights.
I progressively started to like my eyes, my lips, my hair and then me, fully.
I learned to love my hair myself! The media didn't play any role in this acceptance process.
When you see a dark skinned girl somewhere, she is most likely wearing a straight wig/weave.
However, the very few times you see black people with their natural hair on TV, they have lighter skin!
We tend to think that we’ve come a long way but we really didn’t! As long as the light skin-curly hair combo is seen as the only accepted black option for TV screens we will continue to struggle with representation.
Blackness in itself is diverse and our hair is a clear representation of that, it’s versatile! Why are we only seeing one type of black women and black hair in the media then?