Before I fully dive into the post, I want to give a little background on my personal experience with my hair that I think other black people have experienced as well. I’ve talked about this in an old post that I wrote about two years ago, but growing up I didn’t like my hair at all. I used to wish I had hair that was closer to a white person’s hair texture. I kept my hair straight growing up and even had moments in middle school where people thought my hair was naturally straight. They even said that I had white people’s hair because it was always straight and my hair has always been long.
It wasn’t until maybe my junior, possibly my senior, year of high school that I had moments where I wore my hair curly. However, these were simply just moments, and those moments never lasted long or came very often. I believe that this is where the journey of me at least accepting my hair in another state other than straight began. Fast forward to around freshman year of college and I decided that I wanted my hair to look just as long and down my back with curls as it is straightened. I haven’t straightened my hair since.
Learning to love your hair as a black person, especially a black woman, can be a very hard and long journey. With eurocentric features being seen as the standard of beauty growing up, it becomes easy to grow up hating your black hair. It’s sad and that shouldn’t be the case because black hair is so beautiful! Black people, listen to me:
Love your black hair!
Our hair is everything and means more than just strands on our heads. Our hair is beautiful because it’s so versatile! It can be straight, curly, braided, put in a thousand styles, etc.
Our hair is pure MAGIC.
From one view, it can look like our hair stops at our shoulders or even shorter than that. The moment you stretch it out or straighten it, it could go all the way down to the top of our butts (shrinkage can be a curse).
Our hair tells a STORY.
There are so many stories of the history of braids. Braids were used for so many things from being used to store food to being used as a map to freedom. Non-black people have wondered why it can be offensive when they wear braids like cornrows and call them something other than cornrows, it’s because they mean something more than just some style. This is our history.
I’m still learning to love my hair even today, but I have learned to appreciate every coil I see on my head. I shake my hair with pride and yes, I do wear wigs, but I do it for even more versatility and to continue to protect what’s mines.
If you needed a reminder: here’s your reminder to love your kinky, coily, curly hair. Don’t love it because you think it’s the right thing to do or because I’m telling you to, love it because it’s just so damn beautiful!
I love my hair because it’s a reflection of my soul. It’s dense, it’s kinky, it’s soft, it’s textured, it’s difficult, it’s easy and it’s fun. That’s why I love my hair.
tracee ellis ross
The crazy thing about hair is we always want what we don’t have. I’m “blessed” with naturally curly hair but I didn’t always see it as a blessing. When I was younger, I would blow dry it to try to make it straight. I don’t think we had straighteners in those days. As I got older, I decided to embrace the curls. These days, I scrunch and go. It’s very freeing.
The best thing to do is embrace them! And I’m sure it’s a lot more freeing! Thanks for reading and commenting Michelle ♥
I used to be obsessed with length because my hair was long-ish. Now I’m focused on keeping it healthy and learning how to style it in different natural hairstyles. Though I like my hair strengthened, I’m learning that I look just as beautiful in its natural state. Thanks for sharing! Also I know you’ve had your website for a year now. Did you buy your domain name once you created your site or did you purchase your blog name when your posts were primarily on WordPress? Thank you for the clarification in advance.
I still need to learn how to do different styles myself, but I struggle following even the most simple Youtube videos lol. I’m glad that you were able to learn that love! I’m not 100% sure I understand what you’re asking, but I’ve had my blog for almost 3 years, and I’ve been self-hosted for a year now. When I went self-hosted, I purchased the domain name at the same time. I hope I was able to answer your question love ♥
I love this post. It’s only as we become older that we realise that what we have is magical. Black hair is amazing, I now appreciate mine so much. But teach those younger to love their too.
It’s so important to teach the younger generation to love their hair! They have to know from the beginning that their hair is beautiful and nothing is wrong with it. It’s so crucial, especially if they’re met with situations like being bullied. Thank you so much for reading and commenting ♥
loved this read! when i was a baby / toddler I had Shirley Temple hair (very curly like ringlets) and i always hated it because it was hard to manage as i got holder, where i would straighten it all the time. now, i wear it different ways but embrace the curl more often. you are so right, we need to love ourselves & our hair.
I’m so glad you’ve learned to embrace it! It’s definitely important ♥
I totally obsessed with my hair, as it’s get healthier and longer, the more obsessed I get. Black hair is really beautiful, it’s sad we were taught to hate it, it’s so special and unique. Loved this post!
Same here! I really get excited about my curls now every time I have a good curl day lol. I hope that in the future the case is different. Things are changing now than how they were in the past, and there is more representation, so I’m hoping for a better future! Thank you for reading and commenting ♥
It wasn’t until recently that I saw how much stigma can be around kinky hair which is a shame because if you just look at them, they’re tiny curls! Like, why wouldn’t we see them as cute and adorable? Well, I guess I know why 👀 but still! Nice post!
Sadly, there is a lot of stigmas, and it’s just crazy. I’m hoping for a better future as more and more representation is being shown in the media. Thank you for reading and commenting ♥
I completely agree that we should embrace ALL hair types! I think that people should be free to wear their hair however they want — straight, curly, whatever. It is annoying when I see people who are black or half/part black not wearing their natural hair but instead opting for straight hair because society says that some that is ‘better’. I see people like Meagan Markle for example opting for straight hair and not showing her natural beautiful hair that she was born with. Natural hair is always the way to go, no matter what it looks like or how it is styled.
I agree! Natural hair is so beautiful and I just think that, being a black woman, we should wear our hair anyway we want without judgment. We should love our natural hair, but also not get comments on days we choose to wear it straight or in wigs. We just want to live lol.