I, like many black women have done it all to my hair. I’ve had perms, weaves, and braids, dye jobs, texturizers, home jobs, press and curls, finger waves, and last but not least “au naturale”. Part of me is ashamed to admit it, but I used to like the way my hair felt soft and it didn’t hurt to comb when it was relaxed. It was shiny and it swung and was still thick. However, it was relaxed and I, to a certain extent, felt like a sellout, a trader to the cause, a liar. (Maybe that last part borders on melodramatic but that’s how I felt.) When my aunt used to put my relaxer in, I wanted to yell for her to STOP!! I had made a mistake, she should just wash and curl it and I would work with it from there. As I sat waiting for the relaxer to take all I could think about was how long it would take before I had enough new growth so that I could go natural. I used to worry about what people would think of me if I decided to go natural, but now I attend the Mecca, the epitome of black hair pride, where it seems that if you aren’t natural, to a certain extent you are condemned. I’ve now accepted the fact that black hair is unique and that being highly textured, black hair is naturally more coarse, dense and brittle than other hair type. I hav

. . .
Not only do braids offer a multitude of different hairstyles that we can wear, but, in a way, braids also allow us to express and display a small (but very important) part of our African culture and heritage. After putting in a few curls, my hair was deemed presentable for school that week. My mother would wash my hair, comb through all the tangles and knots (without conditioner) and then let it air-dry. To get dreadlocks, one’s hair must be natural and he or she can either get them to form by twisting, braiding so that the hair stays and holds its form. Frankly, after all I put my hair through, I need to get down on my knees and thank God that I’m not bald and that I have any hair to go natural with!

. The person who came up with the idea of braiding synthetic hair into our natural hair was a genius. The kitchen was the battlefield, the hot comb was her weapon and the enemy was my kinky head.

I have been doing the synthetic braid thing now for about a year and a half. My mom tried to be as gentle and careful as possible, but there were still occasions when the comb might slip a little and leave a little burn on the back of my neck or near my temples or on the tips of my ears.

Though I myself am not ready to take the step to get dreadlocks, many people who have gone natural have decided to go for the gusto and put dreadlocks in their hair. However, having my hair natural does not mean that it has to stay in an afro. Both variations of this hairstyle allow me to return to my bushy natural look whenever I like. And if I flinched and or said, “Ouch!!” my mother would simply respond, “Rashelle, you know it takes pain to be beautiful.

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African American Hair

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