Finding the Right Hair Product

As mentioned in my previous post, my hair is natural. Finding the right product for my hair has been one hell of a journey. After trying several products, I fell in love with Mimosa Hair Honey by Carols' Daughter, and Yucca & Plantain Hair Milk by Shea Moisture.

I like the Mimosa Hair Honey because it is a grease base product that doesn't leave my hair with the greasy look. My hair is naturally dry so this product keeps my hair replenished and feeling soft. It also smells really good which I like. I like the Yucca & Plantain Milk because it also makes my hair really soft and smells good. This product is also good for breakage because it makes the hair stronger.
When my hair is not in braids, I put these products in my hair daily. After I wash my hair I will normally put the Mimosa Hair Honey throughout before combing through my hair. A couple days later I will put the Yucca & Plantain milk in my hair. This product is good for two-strand twist outs and flat-twist outs. It is also good for my favorite wash and go style, the afro in a headband!

I am patiently waiting for my hair so grow longer and healthier. My hair goal is an old school Jackson 5 afro. In the meantime, I wear my hair in protective styles such as braids. They are easy to manage, my hair is protected, and it grows a lot.

Natural Hair

The summer of 8th grade going into 9th is when I got my first relaxer. A relaxer is a type of cream that chemically changes the texture of hair. Relaxers are typically used on hair with tight curls or curly hair to make the hair "relaxed" or straight. I wanted a relaxer because I wanted a more mature look for high school. I loved wearing my hair straight and my relaxer allowed me to do such. I played basketball and ran track in high school, so I would often sweat my hair out. Since I had a relaxer, my hair never curled back up when I would sweat, it would just get real frizzy. I would get a touch up every six weeks so my new growth would also be relaxed.

Hair in general takes a lot of maintenance. You have to wash it, comb, it, brush it, and style it. Having my hair relaxed was a lot of maintenance for me because my hair is really fine which makes it more prone to breakage. Braids are more convenient, but I couldn't get my hair braided when it was relaxed because the braids would cause my hair to break off. My hair broke off a lot when it was relaxed causing me to have to continuously get my hair trimmed. My hair was not that healthy anymore and my hairdresser suggested that I do the big chop.

The big chop is when you cut off all your relaxed hair and go back to your natural texture. I did the big chop Spring of 2015 and have been natural since. I love my natural hair because it is so versatile. I am able to wear braids, try different natural styles, put in a weave, and I still have the option of straightening my hair. I have more flexibility with my hair that I didn't realize before. I also love switching up my hairstyles and playing in my curls.

Natural hair is also healthier. Some studies show that the harsh chemicals in a relaxer are linked to fibroids.    


This is a chart of common natural hair textures in black hair. My hair texture is 4a.



This is a picture of what the big chop looks like.

Affection Expression or Racial Slur?

Close your eyes and imagine a nigga.  Now look it up on the internet.  Whether you use Google, Bing, Mozilla Firefox, or Yahoo—I dare you.  What do you see?  Are the images on your screen similar to the ones you pictured in your head?  Most of us will think of a low class African American.  Why is it that we do not think of a high class Caucasian?  Believe it or not, nigga was created in the purpose of negatively describing black people.  Dating back to as early as the seventeenth century, it is rooted from malicious hatred and horrid pain.  However, our modern day generation of the black community has put a debatable spin to nigga.  According to some of the black community, nigga is a term of endearment; it means friend, buddy, or pal.  Boy have things changed!  My grandfather would have never in a million years thought of referring to his dearest friend as a nigga.  Today, it is popular to greet a person as “my nigga” and is considered “cool”.  Nicki Minaj, Kanye West, and Jay Z, are all guilty of using nigga throughout their songs.  This results to other races saying nigga not just as a song lyric but as a term of endearment as well.  This then results to the black community becoming upset because nigga is “our” word.  This unnecessary domino effect can be eliminated if we all stop using nigga.  First, the black community needs to lead by example and stop calling each other niggas.  Nigga is not slang, it is a derogatory word that demeans the integrity of our black community. 

 

In order to completely transform the meaning of nigga, it is necessary that the black community finds a different word to express our love for one another.  This modern idea of taking away the power does not take away the pain.  Nigga has had so many different definitions over the years.  If we all come to a common understanding that nigga is derogative, we will eradicate all confusion.  This will end the hurt feelings and anger from cultural appropriation.  The late hip-hop rapper Tupac Shakur once said, “Nigger is a black man with a slavery chain around his neck and a nigga is a black man with a gold chain around his neck” Is there even a difference? You tell me. 

Check out this video about the double standard behind the N word.

Femism

I am currently in a Global Women's Studies class where we tackle feminism and what that looks like around the world. It is very interesting because prior to this class, I did not understand what feminism really was about. 

Here are some quick facts on feminism provided by DoSometing.org

• Women earn 78 cents for every dollar a man makes.
• Only 17% of the seats in Congress are held by women.
• Although 48% of law school graduates and 45% of law firm associates are female, women make up only 22% of federal-level and 26% of state-level judgeships.
• Even in the 10 top paying jobs for women, females earn less than men; only one career, speech pathology, pays the same regardless of gender.
• Despite previous attempts to ratify a UN treaty guaranteeing the elimination of all forms of discrimination against women, the U.S. refuses to support an international bill of rights for women signed by nearly every other nation on the planet.

Many women are reluctant to advocate feminism because they are uncertain about the meaning of the term. For me, this statement is true. I don't consider myself a feminist mainly because as a black woman, I don't know how feminism will benefit people of color. POC have come a long way in society but there is oppression that still goes on today. Personally, I feel that I need to advocate for being black in America before I can advocate for women in America.

I am interested in hearing a male perspective of feminism?  Are they willing to fight for their mothers, grandmothers, sisters, aunts, wives, girlfriends to have equal opportunity? Will their egos allow their partner (if she is a woman) be the bread winner?   

Here is the source of where I provided the facts about feminism. 

https://www.dosomething.org/facts/11-facts-about-feminism

Women in Politics

Hillary Clinton has proved that a woman can be very successful in politics. She held her own during her campaign despite the noise. I remember last fall reading articles on how Clinton couldn't be president because women are " too emotional". I find this ironic since Trump is in the white house.

Personally, Clinton made me interested in other female politicians. Women make up 19 percent of members on congress and they make up 6 of the 50 governors. These number aren't high, but since women have been oppressed for so long, the comeback is looking nice.    

Congresswomen Maxine Waters, also known as "Auntie Maxine" by millennials is known for her sass. She has taken social media by storm and has become a meme. Auntie Maxine was in a committee meeting and asked one of Trump's representatives a question about their ties with Russia. The person would not answer the question, yet talked around it. Auntie Maxine interjected by saying "reclaiming my time" so she would get the floor and ask why her question was not being answered. This clip went viral and was turned into a song. This resulted in a positive way for Maxine Waters. She was able to use her popularity to her advantage. She booked several talk shows and reached a new young audience. People like myself were able to learn more about politics through her.    

Why aren't more women in politics? This is something I will continue to research because I would like to know the answer.

Check out this Forbes list of the most powerful women in politics! We don't hear about these women enough.

https://www.forbes.com/pictures/lmj45gkhg/20-most-powerful-women-in-politics/#16edd54f54e0

Reality TV Shows

Above, is a picture of the hip-hop artist, Cardi B. Cardi B recently released a single that took the number one place on US Billboard Hot 100 chart. She is currently doing big things in the hip-hop world, especially as a female artist in such a male dominant genre.

Interestingly, Cardi did not get "discovered" rapping at a gas station or posting a YouTube video like her counterparts. Cardi's claim to fame before raping was reality TV. She starred on the show Love and Hip Hop New York, which aired on VH1. This show followed aspiring rappers trying to make something of their name. Other famous rappers, such as Remy Ma also starred on this show. Remy blew up in the rap community after she released a "dis track" in response to Nicki Minaj.

Reality TV has given these rappers a head start to fame. Without this platform, who knows if anyone would know who they are. This is the same for many other famous women. Of course, we all know the Kardashian's are famous because of reality TV, but this seems to be a norm in society. People are using reality TV to market themselves. For example, most of the women from The Real Housewives have gained a large social media following where they promote their businesses. This is the same for shows like Teen Mom. What I want to know, is it worth it? Reality TV shows are known for their endless amount of drama and it sometimes shows women in a negative way. Personally, I feel as if these shows exploit women or glorify ratchet behavior. However, if these women can make money off of it, in their eyes it's worth it.  For example, the 13 year-old girl, Danielle Bregoli, who appeared on the Dr. Phil show has made millions of dollars off of her bad behavior. She has used the phrase "cash me outside how bout dat" to sell merchandise and start her rap career. This is a huge problem. This shows young girls the wrong message.

Reality TV is a guilty pleasure for many, including myself. I don't know how we can change the way women are portrayed if we keep giving the shows ratings.

Black Women in Award Shows

I remember when Taraji P. Henson won a Golden Globe for her role in Empire. In Empire,  Henson plays a former drug addict who was an ex-con named Cookie Lyons. While giving her acceptance speech, she mentioned how she thought she would win for other roles she had previously played, not Cookie. She then precedes to make the comment that "who would have thought an ex-convict would take me all around the globe...I guess the world loves real."  Personally, I didn't think there was anything negative about Henson winning for the role of Cookie. However, my opinion doesn't matter. In this case, the only opinion that matters in Henson. She felt snubbed that it took her playing a crack-selling ex-convict to win her an award.

In 2016, black twitter created the hashtag #Oscarssowhite and black celebrities were encouraged to boycott the show. Celebrities were upset that no black person was nominated for an Academy Award. Actors like Jada Pinkett Smith was upset that her husband, Will Smith, was not nominated for his role in Concussion. This created a lot of buzz and the conversation began. The next year, black films were nominated and some took home the Academy Award. Hence, starting the conversation can have a positive outcome.        

To clarify,not all black people will agree on the misrepresentation in the media. Henson and others raised and eyebrow when she won the Golden Globe for Cookie while other saws nothing wrong. This is the same scenario for the #Oscarssowhite boycott. The host, Chris Rock still hosted the show despite the noise. In other words, sometimes it's not necessarily about race. I think it is about perception, if a certain person feels stereotyped or misunderstood then there is a problem. It just so happens that the majority of the people feeling this way are minorities, which then becomes a race issue.
    
Check out Taraji P. Henson's acceptance speech here!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4Yrca4FSKXQ