I was at a friend's house when his younger sister asked me why I went natural. I have never had anyone ask me why before, because I figured they knew once they had a few conversations with me. Anyway, the short version of what I said was: "I don't feel that need to hold my hair to the standards of European beauty. My hair is kinky, coily, nappy, and absolutely gorgeous." She somehow found this offensive, replying with: "I hate that word, nappy. No one's hair is nappy." I responded that, "MY hair is nappy and I take pride in it because I do not fear my heritage like some black women". She got pissed off and threw her plate down and walked out.
I have since earned the moniker of, That Militant Bitch that *insert friend's name* Hangs Out With. YES! *smirk*
After this exchange, I kind of sat back and was thinking back to when I first decided to go natural. During the beginning of my freshman year of college, I played with the idea of going natural for a while. I did my research and read books about black hair textures while still relaxing just the front of my hair because I loved my swoopy bang thing. Finally, I made the decision that I was going to do it. I actually was going to stop relaxing my hair and let it grow naturally!
I transitioned for a year with various updos, braids, and twists in order to allow my hair to grow a fully natural 4 inches. Conveniently, around the time my hair reached this length was when a noose was found on my campus and we had a TON of pride rallies. Shortly before the first rally/meeting, I finally decided to cut the relaxed ends off and allow my fro to fly. When I finished doing my hair and was walking out the door, I had never felt more free and happy. I had never felt more BEAUTIFUL.
I was going through some struggles with my identity for a while there and my decision to go natural really reinforced who I am and where I come from. From then on, I've been on a journey to know my roots. I refuse to allow myself to be one of those people who doesn't care to know their background. I put the money together to get my DNA tested in order to find out what area of Africa my family comes from. The results came back that the majority of my DNA is based in West Africa and Central America (obviously). Apparently, my father's side is from Ghana which makes me unspeakably happy because the tattoo I was drawing used a lot of their symbols.
My hair is a big source of pride for me because it represents my development and cultivation of self. It was the first step of my journey to knowing myself and being able to become the woman I am supposed to be. I have never put as much work into anything as I do my hair on a weekly basis and that is pretty interesting to me. Overall, I'm nappy because it makes me happy, baby!
