A Song With An Afrikan Standard of Beauty
A Rasta Man was one of the first persons to question why I “relax the kinks” in my hair. I was at a lost for words and then I said ” Well to make it look smooth and groomed.” He broke into unbridled laughter and while I was happy to bring someone so much joy, the question lingered on my mind. Then I realized I had no idea what my natural hair even looked like because I received my first “perm” at 9, and from there it was a six week ritual of “touching up” the roots. I was told that my hair was “too much, ” “too thick” and “difficult to manage.” Throughout the years, I added “color processing” and then “weaves'” became normal for me. More After The Jump…
Now I proudly rock an Afro and I definitely get “negative” feedback from family members who think my hair needs serious taming. However, I feel great not having to worry about “scalp scabs” and my hair looking like it needs CPR from “relaxing” the kinks in it, with heat and relaxers. There is also more moisture without the added color and I always wandered about whose hair I was wearing when I rocked a “weave.”
It is so much easier to look the way you were born. Now, I consciously look up to my sisters who wear their Africanness proudly. They are not wearing some “Virgin Indian” hair or having black roots and blonde hair or trying to straighten the kinks with excessive heat and chemical processing. Even make up wise an artist once was trying to show me how to use highlighter to make my nose look straighter. It took me a long time to get to this point because a lot of these ideologies were engraved in my mind, from my upbringing and also the influence of popular forms of media like magazines, commercials and music videos etc. which emphasize a specific standard of beauty. Now I tend to be cautious about what I expose my mind to.
A regular on my playlist is Samory-I’s song “African Daughter” because the vocals are on point and the message is uplifting; the song embraces an African standard of beauty. Presented by Rory Stone Love of Black Dub Entertainment, the jazz production in conjunction to the sultry vocals is soothing to the soul. In the video, directed by Asha Fareye (Fareye Films), Samory-I is drawn like a moth to a flame to a beautiful natural beauty who sets his soul on fire.
Listen for the high notes….
Photographs that inspire me to be natural and stay natural. Love and Light
Hempress Sativa
Queen I-frica
Lauryn Hill
Jah9
Check Samory-I live at Dubwise on February 10, 2016.
Purchase Samory-I “African Daughter” pon iTunes
Follow @CharStarImani
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