Now You C Me (Part 3)

I’m touching on another side effect which again ties in neatly to something in the news this week. It’s all about my crowning glory! I was born with a hairstyle similar to Mr T whilst my twin brother had a full on ‘fro! Thankfully it picked up but it wasn’t the easiest to manage.

I had the standard black girl corn rows and if I was lucky, on special occasions the hot comb came out and I’d pray I’d get away without a singed ear or forehead as I inhaled the aroma of Blue Magic and burning hair – ahhhh, the good old days!

My mum wouldn’t allow me to ‘put na damn chemical’ in my hair so as I got older extensions were the next best thing. All the while I was praying for the day I could get a hit of the creamy crack!

For me it was the miracle I was looking for. It was about being able to run a comb through my hair without flinching and looking more Mary. J than Macy Gray! I was half asleep then but I’ve been awake for a while now.👀

I stopped relaxing my hair 17 years ago when I first fell pregnant and never looked back. (It’s actually quite easy to not miss the burns, scabs and breakage!) I’m not a vain person at all, but I believe I look better with hair and definitely feel more comfortable with it.

I’d toyed with the idea of growing locs for a while and then finally decided I was going to do it. The transition wasn’t the easiest but I knew it would be worth it, and it was! It was a labour of love. They were my babies, I loved them, nurtured them as I did my girls and watched them grow then finally, FINALLY I truly understood the beauty to be found in my natural hair.

I understood what it was my mum was trying to preserve, and I’m trying my damnedest to instil it in my girls too. Our hair is amazing and versatile and there are so many ways to go with it naturally.

I know many are not comfortable with that and I get it – it took me a while too, so I still hold out hope for some of you; yet I also understand there are the diehard weavers and creamy-crackheads (No lye!) Your choice is your choice and I respect that, it is YOUR head after all.

Chemotherapy didn’t leave me much of a choice with what to do with my hair. I was fortunate enough not to lose all of it, but it thinned so much that my locks started falling out so I decided to cut them off, partly to save me the heartache of watching them drop off and partly so I didn’t end up looking like Predator!

Now I know for some this is no big deal; it’s only hair, it’ll grow back, you can rock it short or wrap it up – it’s all good!, but for many women like myself it is a big deal when it’s not something you’d ever planned.

Thankfully, underneath the crochet braids it is slowly growing back and I hope to have a strong enough base in the future to grow my babies back again. For now I’m just appreciating every ‘nap’ that comes around because I know how strong and mighty it could grow.

As I said before, it’s our own personal choice what we do with our hair, and even though I would love my sisters to embrace their naturalness we are entitled to do with it what we please. It’s amazing though that you still find some people losing their jobs because they choose to wear an Afro or have locs as they are seen as ‘unprofessional’ and not quite European enough.

Until hair has the ability to go out and earn money itself, you’ll get what you get! Thankfully no one ever questioned my hair at work as they would have been told all about themselves in no uncertain terms – like I’m gonna tell these “sisters” who had the audacity to take it upon themselves to air their opinion and disrespect two beautiful, amazingly talented OLYMPIANS.

With all that’s happening to us in the world right now we should be building each other up, not tearing each other down yet, time after time some of us just can’t help ourselves.

We need as many positive role models we can get and these ladies are doing us proud, yet you would rather focus on the “model” aspect and bitch about their hair instead of delighting in the fact they are repping us hard!

Your decision to flick your Brazilian weave or straighten out your edges is your business. It’s your choice to submit to the “good hair” mentality from back in the day – more power to you, but I beg you please, keep your small minded, shallow, petty, trifling comments to yourself. Who the Hell are you to diss a sister, especially for keeping it real?

Unless you can offer some professional evidence on how slicking down their hair can aerodynamically improve their performance STFU! In fact, take a fucking seat and rest your fingers Keyboard Queens, because these Real Queens have already left your arses fast asleep at the starting line, and are literally ahead of you by leaps and bounds – ‘edges’ and all! #JustSaying.

Gabby Douglas and Simone Biles I salute you my sistas✊🏾Brush their shit off like chalk dust and keep on winning!

R.I.P to the many innocent lives taken this week.

Congratulations to all the athletes out there doing their countries proud.