Michelle Obama, White Privilege & the Miss Millie Syndrome
The Miss Millie Syndrome is what happens when our White brothers & sisters take offense when Black people act “uppity”. Michelle Obama stomped all over that sense of entitlement when she refused to back down from a heckler. What can the rest of us take from this situation?
Wash n Go? Or Wash n No?
Should you “Wash n Go” if you have Type 4 hair? Or is this a style just for wavy/curly girls? How do you prepare your hair if you choose to wear a Wash n Go? What types of expectations should you set?
India Arie’s Album Cover: It’s Bigger than Just Her
The controversy surrounding India Arie is bigger than her lighter skin on an album cover and personal choices. It says a lot more about where we are as a community – and where we are not.
Please Stop Telling Me I Have “Good” Hair
After a conversation w/ a fellow natural head, I realized that many of us are prisoners to our hair “type.” This often means we don’t allow ourselves to appreciate the versatility and dynamic nature of Black hair. This video includes a mini-hair demo just to show how a 4C head can take on many different looks. (Video is a little choppy – but you get the picture!)
Dark Skin & Bad Hair, Light Skin & Good Hair
Hair Talk Part 2: This segment discusses the preferences for light skin and “good” hair. I also take a look at the history that underlies this belief system and discuss how that history impacts Black women today.
The Jheri Curl & Me: Follow the Drip
The following video was taken from a speaking engagement at Sabine’s Natural Hair Salon in Bedford Stuyvesant Brooklyn on January 20, 2013. This section is an excerpt from the book entitled “Follow the Drip.” Enjoy!
Why This Project?
As you know by now, this blog/project tends to focus more on exploring the thoughts, politics and the history or rationales that underline the way many Black people feel about our hair type and skin color (Though there will definitely be some hair care tips in here too!).
Well, the project started pretty organically and sprang out of some random events that I couldn’t have planned if I wanted to. I thought about writing it all down and sharing my reasons in a blog post. But I recently gave a talk at Sabines Hallway Natural Hair Salon in Bed Stuy, Brooklyn (and had a great time!) that sort of explained a lot of what motivated me to take this particular angle. This segment of the talk describes the motivations for this project. I’ll share more of the talk in later posts. Enjoy!