Afro State of Mind:
Memories of a Nappy Headed Black Girl
Afro State of Mind is available now
Click here to grab your e-book: Afro State of Mind: Memories of a Nappy Headed Black Girl
Excerpt: Chapter 1
A Nappy Headed Black Girl Discovers the Nappiness Problem
…My young sense of cultural pride was battered by consistent exposure to images that said White women were the beautiful women, White people were the beautiful people and their hair was beautiful hair. I loved reading about my history, but when it came to how I looked—I still wanted “good” hair more than anything else.
I yearned for it.
My hair was thick and classically nappy. The sheer density of it posed a regular challenge for my mother and I hated having to sit still long enough for her to comb it. We had epic battles as I constantly complained and did my best to endure what I considered to be head pulling, brain bleeding torture.
I hated everything from rinsing out the shampoo to detangling and combing out the knots. Combing my hair was a constant struggle and that struggle rarely ended without tears of frustration. As I got older, my hairstyles had two basic tracks: it was either pressed with a hot comb or braided into elaborate cornrow designs.
Getting my hair pressed on Saturday night in time for church on Sunday was always a gamble. The longer I could sit still and endure the heat from that burning, fire hot comb, the straighter, and in my 7-year-old mind, the prettier my hair would be in the end. But on the other hand, the longer I sat praying earnestly for straightened strands of hair that wouldn’t re-kink too quickly, the greater my odds of moving my head in the wrong direction and ultimately getting burned.
I was always happy when my mom finished pressing that last section of nappiness. After all, there is no feeling like the feeling I had as a little nappy-headed Black girl when I saw straight hair on my head. But that happiness was always fleeting and tinged with a hint of sadness. No matter how hard I tried, I knew that as soon as my mother was finished, my straight hair joy would quickly come to an end.
In addition to having very thick and very nappy hair, I could also sweat out a press within a quick 48 hours. Despite my best efforts, and no matter how long I could withstand the agonizing process of getting my hair pressed, my ability to actually wear my hair straight, and enjoy it, was short lived.
I remember racing to the mirror on Sunday mornings to make sure that my kinks were still straight. I diligently fought the “return of the naps” with headscarves carefully tied each night. Like many good Christian nappy-headed Black girls, I prayed earnestly against the three evils— otherwise known as steam, humidity and rain…
While my mom struggled to find a solution to my hair “problem,” she had the opposite experience when she combed my little sister’s hair. My little sister’s hair was as “good” as my hair was “bad.” She had a curl pattern that was more loose, softer and fluffier than mine. It was not quite as curly as “mixed-girl” hair often is. But it was much closer to it than mine ever would be.
My sister had exactly what I wanted. She had “good” hair…
Afro State of Mind:
Memories of a Nappy Headed Black Girl
Afro State of Mind is available now
Click here to grab your e-book: Afro State of Mind: Memories of a Nappy Headed Black Girl
[…] Chapter 1: The Nappiness Problem […]