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Monday 19th July 2010

Monday morning Afro inspiration

So, now that I've begun my quest to put down the creamy crack and transition towards natural tresses, I have noticed the varying views and opinions as to what my journey inevitably means.

I attempted a bantu knot set and twist out the other day and had quite successful results. People were quite impressed with the effect it had upon my usually relatively straight strands. But the very different look produced did also raise a number of questions. Questions like "why"? And will that mean you have an afro? There was also quite an interesting question about the relevance and purpose of the afro within a historical context. The first two questions were pretty easy to answer. If you read my earlier posts, it's quite clear that my journey is about healthy tresses as well as a specific style choice, but, the latter question demanded more thought.

Consider the era: the civil rights movement, which aimed to achieve equality for all citizens of America, had gained considerable momentum. With equal rights comes a need for equal acceptance of cultural differences and it is at this time with the rise in the pro black movement. And, with artists like James Brown singing lyrics like “say it loud I’m Black and I’m proud” the Black public begin to embrace their own symbols of blackness and beauty, and in turn shy away from the euro-centric ideals of beauty. And so the afro becomes a statement of not only black beauty but of strength and resistance. That's a lot for a mere hairstyle wouldn’t you agree?