that good hair

          "I mean Marilyn she's quite nice, 
           but why the pretty icons always all white?"
                                    -That's My B Jay Z & Kanye

i often grumble and complain about the unapologetic ubiquity of blonde beauty in the media. I use this term, blonde beauty, beyond its literal capacity to term the limited sense of conventional beauty, upholding hegemony. As we flip through our tv stations and thumb through our magazines, we are flooded with images of slender frames, flowing hair, and prescriptive beauty.

We all feed into it, myself included. My criticism of blonde beauty is not to say what is right, but instead to ask why is it right. In my own life, i've wrestled with the politics of beauty, particularly as it pertains to hair. My hair, as for many women, plays an important part in the development of my image. As a black woman, the politics of hair have become a cultural rite of passage.

i can remember cowering into myself, sitting in a hot shame because my hair didn't drop down immediately after pulling it from a bun like the white girls. i remember trying to shake jokes from my embarrassment among the girls in the locker room who had never seen such a thing. i can remember worshipping the relaxer and singing the just for me hook as I waited for my kinks to lay straight in my living room, daydreaming up outfits to wear with my fresh perm.  i can remember hating my naps, dreading the return of the kink as new growth inevitably emerged.

my natural hair journey is no coincidence.

And while others may scoff at the seeming vapidity of tv personalities like Tyra Banks for her antics, I admire her public campaign against these forces, which can have powerful consequences on our psychological state. I admire her push against convention.

I'm leaving you with my hair inspirations for today.
I'm inspired by others who celebrate themselves and choose to be.

HeyFranHey &
Black Girl with Long Hair





Ciao

Why I Started Teaching: Too Important to Fail

Ebony Online | African American Magazine

Watch the full episode. See more Tavis Smiley.

Good Eats

I've been reading this book for years, not because I'm a slow reader, but because I don't want to finish. Its insight is spot on and empowering:

It is play, not properness, that is the central artery, the core,
the brain stem of creative life. The impulse to play is an instinct. No play, no creative life. Be good, no creative life. Sit still, no creative life. Speak, think, act only demurely, little creative juice. Any group, society, institution, or organization that encourages women to revile the eccentric; to be suspicious of the new and unusual; to avoid the fervent, the vital, the innovative; to impersonalize the personal, is asking for a culture of dead women (251)

this quote is woven deeply into the blood that keeps me honest.

back on The Roof

Everything about Mariah Carey's The Roof changed my thinking.

 a transformative collision at the very least. 

its lyrics changed the way I thought about writing, about poetry. It reshifted my  love imagination, the way I prepared to dream.

     fantastical. And its whimsical dark mien changed the way I approached fashion, 

                      and the way I heard hip hop. 

It nudged me, pushing me to dream. It told me it was okay to close my eyes and indulge;
ignore the advisory from others against frivolity. Whispering just listen, just daydream.




           I painted my fingernails and toenails the color of burgundy and bought my imitation Sergio Valente jeans. . . I flipped my fluffy, relaxed hair in the mirror and sang each chord with a Rita Dove-like conviction, swaying like a blind pianist caught in a tune...

Vitamin Water

ruts often come with their fair share of moans, groans, and grunts. I've decided to pull myself out of my own with a little writing, music, and art.

today I am a little scatterbrained. After cleaning the apartment from top to bottom, walking around the city in my brand new boots, and dipping and diving into bookmarked books, I am here.

 books i'm currently reading: The  Memory of Love, and The Story of Beautiful Girl. I'm excited because it's been a while since I've had a good snuggle buddy.

this month's (October) Ebony Magazine also has me feeling inspired.

I am in love with its new look and new energy. With rousing style focus, informative political topics, and relevant recommendations from books to new documentaries on Dark Girls and skin tone discrimination, its makeover is invigorating. While I do not care for the cover, the meat proves worthwhile.

Lastly, who doesn't need a little JJ every once in a while? I love the aesthetic of this video, especially accompanied with the vintage vibe of joni mitchell.

Ciao