I was driving my good friend to her hair appointment and we chatted as we usually do about our hair. She was going to have her Malaysian (or was it Indian??) hair reinstalled. A style that you will see her wear 90% of the time. The 10% that she does not wear it is when she has taken it out and is on her way,within a day or so, to have it reinstalled. She was saying that the times in her life when her hair was thriving was when she was able to go to the salon on a regular basis. I had recently read The Science of Black Hair and since that time I was liberally sharing my new found knowledge of caring for our natural hair. To her and other basic naturals I know, I can't help to counter statements like that with, "You don't need someone else to take care of your hair!"
It was in that conversation that I realized I'm a part of a sub-culture of naturals- natural hair radicals. We're not natural simply because we've stopped chemically relaxing our hair and now it's gone "wild",but we have unlocked the mysteries of our strands, our lives nearly revolve around the care and nurturing of our coils.
We sub-culture naturals have our own language..."In 2009 I did a BC, for 6 months I wore a TWA before I could start doing twist outs. Now I'm at BSL. I'm wearing a second day twist out now and I maintain it with the pineapple method."
You make an immediate connection to the person who can understand that! You realize how far you've gone on the natural spectrum when the person you're talking to looks utterly confused at those sentences.
I went to LA's very first natural hair expo a couple of weeks ago. Being there was great. I walked up the the meeting place kind of proud, because I felt I belonged. I was with people I shared a community with. I embarked on a journey 4 years ago to discover my hair, my true God given hair, and on YouTube I found I wasn't the only one, and now I I'm at a gathering with this community celebrating our journey.
In the years to come, I wonder what history books will call us. We are a relatively small group who have demolished so many myths and barriers. Myths like, Afro/ kinky hair cannot grow to the waist, water dries hair out, the health of our hair is in the hands if our beautician and many more.
While the trend of being fully natural is on the rise I wonder how us naturals will be when we are in our senior years and can't devote the time and energy to maintaining our hair. Especially for those naturals with extremely long hair that is tedious to detangle, wash and twist. Will they continue that several hour routine at age 70?? What will happen? Only time will tell.
