by Shana Seifert
When I see a black girl or woman walking down the street flaunting her natural hair, I try to give her a shout out. I Love seeing it, I really do, no matter how it’s styled! Recently I saw a family of four and they all had locs. I approached the mother and thanked her for being an example of natural beauty and instilling it in her children before they could even walk and talk. It was gorgeous to see, especially since I do not see nearly enough natural hair gracing and blessing our streets, schools, businesses, or places of worship.
Speaking of places of worship, one thing I think quite a bit about is why the Almighty Creator decided to give one race of people a hair texture completely different from all others. It is a mystery that I may never solve but I do know there is a type of power and magic in the answer. The question has always intrigued me because I am a firm believer that anything unique is something of great value. In fact, I am such a firm believer that there is power in our natural roots that if we collectively decided to “go natural” tomorrow, we would shatter illusions, re-member and re-claim ancient knowledge and thus power, and cause a significant change in the economy.
Another reason I believe there is power and magic in our natural hair is because there is a multi-billion dollar “beauty and entertainment” industry trying to convince me that there isn’t. Those industries seem to work tirelessly to convince me that in order for me to be considered beautiful and to be successful in any business, my natural hair must be hidden or altered chemically. Technically and theoretically speaking, there is only one authority on my beauty and that’s me. The only authority on your beauty is you. I think there is nothing outside of us that can decide our beauty especially on a characteristic that we are born with. Second, natural hair affects business, really??? Are there stock market crashes caused by afros and twists that I don’t know about? As for people in business who makes decisions based on someone’s hair texture, it says A LOT more about them than it does about the textured hair individual. I think someone has to have a “special brand” of personal issues if they consider black natural hair “the enemy”. The question is not, “Who is telling you your natural hair is not beautiful?” The real question is, “Why would you believe them?”
Natural black hair is worthy of time, energy, attention, conversation, and money. I’m telling you, there is power in it.
About the writer
“Shana Seifert, world traveler and explorer, has been a natural hair advocate for most of her life. She locs, she styles, she maintains and entertains. With a genuine interest in hearing your story, she shares her own with warmth and humour. Shana is excited to be part of the Ottawa/Gatineau scene, and she’s looking forward to hearing from you at: [email protected] and/or www.shana-b-seifert.com.