http://www.empowernetwork.com/lovelyandartisanal/ I'll file this post under Natural Hair..."Is Your Natural Hair Torture?" And this comes up after having a brief exchange today with a friend back East on Facebook. She posted a picture of some Afro Artwork that triggered this topic. This is the picture that triggered a remark from me today. It was shared from a natural hair page and I can see the humor. I wanted to have a conversation about the words that are connected to such imagery. Not in a spirit of debate but in understanding why we have these trigger or buzz words so tied to our early memories and are set in our minds. It is a great time to be alive in many ways and one in particular is the freedom and liberty many people have found in understanding their natural hair and making peace with the texture. This newly found and appreciated freedom has come through many sources. We've seen celebrated people such as Beyonce's sister Solange boldly take a stand to wear natural hair. Another celebrated source of valuable natural hair information goes by the handle "Naptural85" and many of my friends love her. She shares her journey and life with those that follow her. She is stunningly beautiful as well, inside and out which comes through strongly from her brand. And one of my favorite natural hair Afro Fashionistas would be Julia Sarr Jamois! She is the "It Girl" of rocking the Afro and doing it with such verve. I truly love to see her style and the combination of fashion. Truly exciting. She exudes that freedom! And I just found out about Prince sporting a new natural hair Afro this past weekend. I had to look it up and was quite tickled to see it. I remember him back in the 80s and he came onto the scene with a big afro. This will forever be a memory of him for many who have followed his career over the years. It's nice to see him return to his "roots"! And I'll be keeping my eye on the Purple One's Afro natural hair. Back to the issue of torture though. I mentioned today that many of these references come from our families and what they did to attach meaning to hair textures. I know for me, my Mother would lament over doing my hair. And I detected a real sense of displeasure with my natural hair texture. She doesn't share my same natural hair texture. I grew to resent my natural hair texture. Not to come down hard on her but that is just something that has been learned and passed down but now it comes to a stop with us! As I've stated before, I am now loving my natural hair. I have worn an Afro for the past year and am learning so much about my natural hair texture and what products work for me. It has been a trial and error search for the right products because like us, our hair is very individual and sometimes requires certain cocktails and combinations of products. Many of us have discovered the power and freedom of making up our own homemade products for our natural hair. And this is all because of the power of the internet and the new freedom and love for our natural hair.

• published: 18 Oct 2013
• views: 28