Whyyyyyyyyyyy are these sold out?!

Check back here periodically to see when they're back in stock.

I wish I could have been a part of this all the time.

We're fighting the same fight, but it seems so...diluted. My opponents are invisible, as is my army. My artillery is made of scholarship, of words, numbers, and history, whereas theirs was physical, involving bodies, marches, and when the occasion called for it, guns. I want the feeling that my militancy is part of something larger.

But I digress. 

Kathleen Cleaver of the Black Panter Party answers the ubiquitous question of "why" Black people wear their hair naturally:

"I got 99 problems, but a perm ain't one!"

I'm kind of in love with the "Shit __________ Say" videos, and this is definitely among my favorites. I'm familiar with SOOOOOO many of these struggles, haha.

Natural Hair as a Statement

Lyrna, Vogue.It contributor and Editor of Lurve Magazine, in an interview with Natural Belle

One of the questions I get asked most often about my hair (after how do I get it to curl like that, to which I always have to answer, sorry, honey, that's just my curl pattern) is whether I feel like I'm making some kind of statement by wearing my hair in its natural state. At first this question used to offend me. Like, damn, can't a sista do something for her damn self without everyone trying to attach some larger meaning to it? (Side note: I now understand why my friends with tattoos sometimes get mad when people ask what the tats "mean," which I myself am guilty of. Oops. #gottadobetter) 


So once upon a time, I would have cosigned Lyrna's statement. I still appreciate the sentiment, but in the time between when I first embraced my natural texture and now, I've come to realize that every. little. fucking. thing. in our lives is political. Feminism said it first, but there's absolutely no separating the personal from the political. In my humble opinion, there is very little (if anything) I can do as a Black woman that isn't making some sort of statement in the face of a larger society that still actively tries to stereotype us in every imaginable way. No matter who we are, what social categories we fall in, or what exact boxes other people try to shove us in, choosing to be fully and openly ourselves rather than bending and squishing and silencing ourselves to fit whatever is "in" in the moment is making a statement. We pick our clothes, accessories, and hairstyles for a reason, even if that reason is just I like this/think I look good with this; as Facebook has taught us, "liking" something can be an incredibly powerful social tool. 

But I like imagining a world in which we don't have to see our choices as political, a world where style is just style for everyone, regardless of race, gender, sexuality, etc. That would mean that we as members of the human race have come to see all social categories as capable of all the variation imaginable, and that choosing to do things that run counter to dominant society would no longer be stigmatized. Being free to understand our choices simply as choices would require the end of marginalization, fetishization, and the questioning of authenticity. And what a beautiful world that would be. 

But until then, yes, my hair is a statement. So is my style, the music I like, the way I carry myself, my vocabulary, and basically every other stylized choice I make. The statement I'm making? Bitch, who gon check me?! Here I am fucking up your schemas. Deal with it.    

Gorgeous:

Reblogged from 18° 15' N, 77° 30' W

A conversation with my little brother:

who is 16, after he learned my Twitter handle:
 

W: Your Twitter name is @SuchanAFROholic?!?

Me: Yeah...so it matches my blog.

W: You have a BLOG?! My sister is a ...blogger?

Me: Yup! It'll be my two year blogging anniversary next week! 

W: *looks at me quizzically* You've changed a lot since you started wearing your hair like that. (By "like that" he means in its 3c/4a kinky-curly natural texture, rather than fighting losing battles with flat irons and humidity on the daily.)

Me: This is me. I just finally started letting it show. 

In my next life

I want dreds. Everything about this woman is ON. POINT.

Reblogged from As far as i'm concerned...

 

Look Ma, I got my hair cut!

Soooo...confession time. I accidentally kinda sorta hadn't gotten a trim in about 2 years. Hair fail, I know. 

But like, I felt like any salon I went to, unless it was specifically a natural hair salon, was going to be all, 'we have to straighten your hair to cut it,' and y'all know I don't play that. So I just didn't cut my hair. And I wasn't really worried about it.

But then last Friday, the Princeton Association of Black Women had a "Black is Beautiful" hair event at--get this--THE BLACK OWNED AND OPERATED HAIR SALON THAT IS LEGITIMATELY A TWO MINUTE WALK OFF CAMPUS AND HAS SOMEHOW EXISTED THERE FOR THE PAST FIVE YEARS WITHOUT ME KNOWING ABOUT IT. THE FUCK?! I wasn't sure they would be natural-friendly, but the event was free and promised goodies, so I RSVP'ed. 

And I'm glad I did, because we each wound up getting free consultations by the hair professionals at the salon. Mine was from Mr. Godfrey Fitzgerald (these are bougie black people) himself, and he basically told me that I had a great head of hair and that he was impressed with my overall regimen, but that I was in dire need of a trim. He was surprised my hair was as healthy as it is given how long it had been. 

And then they told us they were doing a 2-for-1 special in the month of December, so if we came in with a friend at the same time, we could get both of our heads done for the price of one. You know I was so quick to hop on that train that (after confirming that I could get my hair cut without having to put heat on it), I made my appointment with a girl I met THAT night at the event, haha.

So our appointment was for THE GODDAMN CRACK OF DAWN 9 o clock this morning, and after re-asserting the fact that I was not going to have heat put on my head (in my I will walk right up out this bougie-ass salon voice), I got my hair shampooed (small cringe), conditioned, combed out with three different combs (including one that was approaching fine-toothed. I was impressed.), and then the scissors appeared. She combed small sections of my hair at a time with the almost-fine-toothed comb, following the teeth with her fingers, and when she got to the straggly ends, snip snip went the scissors. It had been so long since I'd had a trim that I was dying a little inside with every snip, but I tried to be strong. I knew it was for the best. [I told her that and she said a little more could stand to be cut, but she didn't want to make it too short. *GULP*]

Anyway, she gets through combing and snipping the whole thing, then goes, okay, let me fluff this up as big as possible so we can start shaping. And she basically combs all my curls out into a huge legitimate afro, and then begins snipping to form a perfect circle. And I mean PERFECT, y'all. Check this ish out:

The name's Thunda...Afro Thunda.

LOOK AT THE PERFECTION OF THAT CIRCLE!!! IT'S THE SEVENTIES UP IN HERE Y'ALL!!!

The nerd in me wants to find the circumference of this ish.

Then I wet it and it curled right back up, no worries:

And thennnn, since I had an interview today, I concocted a little professional style. I did a side-part reminiscent of my straight-haired days, then loosely rolled the sides back and bobby-pinned the shit out of the back so it kind of all laid flat and then poked out again below my ears:

Tell me that ain't professional, I dare you.

(Interview went well-ish, even though it's for a job I'm 98% sure I don't want. I advanced to the next round and now they want me to do shit. Ugh.)

Anyway, that's the story of my haircut! Princeton ladies, I officially highly recommend Godfrey Fitzgerald's salon on Witherspoon Street. My only complaint is that I have noticed a little bit of flakiness near my roots this evening, but any interaction with shampoo tends to dry my hair out like nobody's business, so I'ma DC in the morning and I think everything will be good.

Style crush

Reblogged from Fuck Yeah Curls Curls Curls

The hair--sometimes I miss the volume my hair had when I wasn't spoiling it with organic stuff. The jewelry--most bangles are too small for my man-sized hands. The bow! I have decided I want to start playing with scarves.

If I wasn't taking the GRE next Friday

this is totally where I would be. Anyone in the NY/NJ/CT/maybe even PA area who is looking for something to do next Friday, DO THIS:

Are You America’s Next Top Naturalista?
Seeking women of color, aged 18-50, to flaunt their fierce, fabulous tresses at our natural hair photo shoot. We’re looking for natural hair styles from TWAs, Faux Hawks and Wash & Go’s to long, lovely locs and everything in between. Straight heads should come on down too! All shapes and sizes, and every luscious color of the spectrum from French Vanilla to the richest Ebony are welcome. We want you and your gorgeous mane to help spark a natural hair revolution! Selected models will work with our glam team for professional quality digital photos.
DATE: Friday September 16, 2011
TIME: 4pm-8pm
PLACE:
Simple Studios
134 West 29th Street
New York, NY 10001
Please be on time, and bring a current photo of yourself to leave with our team. Models must be available for 9/18/11 photo shoot.
Media inquiries contact: Kasey Woods – kasey@papermedianyc.com

Thanks to Mae of Natural Chica for the info!!

I'm gonna let her hair speak for itself.

Reblogged from As far as i'm concerned...

Pi Nappa Kappa: A Sorority I'll Pledge

So I've been watching very quietly over the past few weeks as basically every single Black female blogger I read has talked about whether or not people should feel some kinda way about the new Pi Nappa Kappa, a Greek organization for Black women and men with natural hair. I've heard that it's pointless. I've heard that it makes a mockery of the extant Black sororities and fraternities. I've heard that it might be setting naturals up for exploitation or trying to scam people. I've heard people rail against the "Natural Hair Nazis" that obviously must be behind this group. I've heard women who "went natural before it was cool to go natural" talk about why we don't need groups like this. I've heard people talk about how we don't need more things to divide our people. I've heard people crack jokes about what their pledging process must be like. 

To make a long story short, I thought I'd heard it all. And as a person who generally supports Greek organizations (as long as they have their shit together), but had never really considered joining one, I thought I was perfectly content to read what lots of other people had to say about the organization without really weighing in. 

But today, Thank God I'm Natural did something none of the other blogs I'd read about the subject did: explained the sorority in its own words, rather than making assumptions, and posted the organization's pledge. 

"Anifowoshe’s sorority is different from traditional Pan-Hellenic sororities of fraternities in the sense, there isn’t a pledge process, a probate, and members won’t be performing at any step shows. All one has to do if they’re interested in becoming a member of the sorority is place their electronic signature on the organization’s pledge document, which reads:

As a member of the Pi Nappa Kappa Natural Hair Sorority, I pledge that:

1. I am a smart, special, valuable person!

2. I respect myself and I respect others.

3. My words and actions are kind and honest.

4. I will respect the dignity and essential worth of all individuals.

5.I will promote the diversity of opinions, ideas, hairstyles and backgrounds which is the lifeblood of the sorority.

6. I will promote a culture of respect throughout the natural hair community.

7. I will not tolerate bigotry, discrimination, violence, or intimidation of any kind.

8. I will practice personal integrity and expect it from others.

9. I will always be proud of my natural-born hair.

10. I accept only my best in all I do.

I am Proud to be ME!"

I'm pretty sure that pledge basically embodies my unwritten manifesto. Okay, maybe I wouldn't have put the virtues of naturalista-dom so highly if I was writing my own manifesto, but promoting diversity and respect for all things would have been there. There is nothing on this list that I don't try to already do in my daily life. 

So, to recap: they're not trying to be like traditional Greek organizations, there is no pledging process, they're promoting really good goals... The only strong counterarguments I see are the dividing-our-people/Natural Nazis arguments, and honestly, those things aren't new, people.  They certainly shouldn't be exacerbated, and I'd hate to see this become another #teamlightskin v. #teamdarkskin, because that shit is just the hottest of messes. But numbers 7 and 8 on the pledge lead me to hope it won't be, and I think there has to be a way for people who have something in common to celebrate that commonality without necessarily putting down people who don't have that in common. This is really just a subset of Black culture, when you think about it, and a lot of us can't go to our mommas to talk about ACV washes or the benefits of henna (don't worry if you don't know what I'm talking about); I don't think creating another space where we can do that is necessarily an affront to the rest of you. 

I'm going to sign the pledge.  

Her hair is hawt.

Reblogged from 18° 15' N, 77° 30' W

Also, if I ever take a picture half this sexy, I will consider it a major life accomplishment.

I do actually sleep on my hair on airplanes, but this vid is still hilarious

"I'm not going to straighten my hair for special occasions or for job interviews or on a date. That's not how I feel like I put my best face forward. This *gestures to curls* is who I am. This is how I look best."

Preach, sistagirl, PREACH.

Look at this cuteness!

Reblogged from Curly and Young

Oh yes, I will need to experiment with ways to achieve this. (I guess I could just ask her...)

Sometimes men I will never meet make me happy:

"How do you feel about women rockin natural hair?
L: There’s nothing like a woman who can look good being exactly who she is." --Reblogged from UrbanBushBabes

Sometimes I really want to experiment with stretching my hair

I need to find a method that wouldn't disrupt my natural curl pattern though...my hair wasn't as shrunken when I did the twist-out, but I didn't like the way the twists interacted with my curls...

Anyway, this is gorgeous and if I could ever find a way to emulate, my life would rock:

Reblogged from Currently Obsessed with...

Also that necklace. WANT.

I bought a fedora about a month ago

And I haven't worn it yet, though I have pondered the various styles I can put the fro into that would support it. It has this really cool "elasti-fit" band on the inside that keeps it on my head, even through moving and nodding vigorously. Anyway, when I do eventually wear it, my life would be awesome if I could look as fly as her:

Reblogged from 18° 15' N, 77° 30' W

Oh, or as fly as this vlogger I just discovered courtesy of Pretty is something you're born with:

Transitions.

So my good friend L big chopped. And she looks GORGEOUS. And she said what I've heard so many other women say: that she feels so free! And anyway, every time someone I actually know [either in real life or on a blog I follow] big chops, I'm a little bit...*struggles to find an appropriate word*. Somewhere between remorseful and jealous. I got my first relaxer before second grade, courtesy of my mom not wanting to "deal with" my hair for school pictures while she had two babies to take care of. Part of me wishes I hadn't learned that the ingredients in chemical relaxers can eat through soda cans at such an early age--13--and declared myself relaxer-free then [with one small slip back to relaxer-hood when I was 14 in Detroit with my father. Hair was a struggle with no women in the house to help me...]. I guess it would be appropriate to say I was a ridiculously long-term transitioner. I wore my hair heat pressed from that very last "diet" relaxer at 14 until I was 19, with some small periods of wearing my hair out in its naturally curly state in between [read: in the summer or when I was feeling lazy]. Starting the summer after my junior year of high school, I had the world's most amazing hairdresser, who worked miracles on my hair without using any sort of chemical relaxer. She told me that I had so much hair and such good hair that if I ever put chemicals in it again, she would never speak to me again. With her, I got regular trims with my straightened hair, because my split ends were RIDICULOUS, and my senior year of high school, I even got layers, which got rid of more and more of the hair that had been relaxed. 
Then towards the end of my freshman year at Princeton, I washed my hair one afternoon and then didn't want to begin the HOURSSSS long process of straightening, and decided to go lay outside in the sun on the beautiful day for a little while before I got started. Then I fell asleep and my friend A came over and woke me up to compliment me on my hair, and I remembered that I was outside in public with my hair in its natural texture and freaked out. I gathered my stuff up and rushed back inside, where my roommates similarly marveled at my hair (and the two White ones asked lots of awkward questions...). I realized I would miss dinner if I started the straightening process then, so I had to go to dinner with my hair curly. More compliments. I was intrigued by people liking it, and decided the straightening process could be foregone for a little while...which turned into about 8 months, until my mom demanded that I straighten it before meeting her new boyfriend, and I caved and wore it straight again for another 3 months or so, before I realized that I wasn't straightening it for myself, and that wasn't cool. So I made a resolution last January to never put heat on my hair again. And I love it. And everyone knows that story, I know, but sometimes I wish it had all been more INTENTIONAL, you know? I'm such a natural-hair advocate, but I feel kind of like I wasn't as brave with the whole thing because I had technically BEEN natural for sooooooo long before I decided to GO natural. 
I'm pretty sure that all my hair that had ever experienced relaxer was gone before I ever embraced my natural texture as something to be desired. I never had to go through the dual texture/lack-of-length combo shocker. I never awkwardly had two different textures to deal with as I was transitioning--my relaxers never "took" like other people's did; even with a relaxer in, if my hair came within inches of a drop of water it was back to poofing and curling. So I can commiserate about heat damage, or finding the right oil, or the benefits of co-washing and when shampoo is absolutely necessary. I can talk about styling and what products are healthy and what ingredients to avoid. I could write a BOOK about tangles/knots. But I can't talk about curl definition, because my hair is just curly [thank you years of racial integration and the fact that I don't really know wtf I am that produced this hair] and I don't have to work very hard to define my curls. And I can't speak to the particular challenges of big-chopping, but sometimes I really wish I could. I really wish I could have felt as intensely revolutionary as that must feel. Although people still saw my choice to stop straightening as revolutionary... Idk. Maybe this doesn't make any sense. I have so much love and respect and admiration for my fellow naturalistas who rock TWAs. If I had known what big-chopping was when I was 13, I would have joined you. Now, I will just close my eyes and nod in deference when I see you, because my stumbled-upon fro and I don't feel worthy.  

---

It has come to my attention that some people don't know what big-chopping it. It's the act of cutting off all of one's relaxed--chemically straightened--hair and leaving a very small amount of natural hair, commonly referred to as a TWA or teeny weeny afro. Here is an example:

Some random internet woman.

What does one wear a denim shirt with?

This is also obviously a hairgasm:

Reblogged from Pretty is Something You're Born With