Insert Obligatory Black Hair Post

Every black female blogger & their mother (myself included) has probably written about their hair and/or other people’s hair ad nauseam. Oh well, get prepared for another obligatory hair post.Most people who follow this blog and my tweets, know that I’ve been natural since 1994. When I say natural, I mean relaxer free. There is no lye in my hair, at all. Period. Now, I will be the first to say that I do color my hair. Often. At this point, I can’t even tell you when was the last time I saw my original hair color. It was probably sometime around 1993.Well, I take that back, I have about 3 inches of dark brown roots that are present, because I haven’t decided on my fall/winter color as of yet.

A few weeks ago, I went to a screening of Chris Rock’s, “Good Hair” documentary, courtesy of The Root and I wish I could say that I was surprised at what was discussed during the documentary, but I wasn’t. If you didn’t know hair was a hot commodity, especially with black women, I’m not sure which boulder you’ve been living underneath. If you didn’t know that Asians, basically ran the fake hair industry, then that boulder must be mighty heavy. If you didn’t realize how much people spend on relaxers, and that  some people even relax their children hair at a young age, wake up and smell the lye.

Ironically in “Good Hair”, the one hair community that wasn’t put underneath the microscope so heavily is the natural hair community.  Sure, we know some women spend countless dollars and time on their weaves & relaxers, but I hate to burst a lot of people’s bubbles, but so do women with natural hair and I was one of them. How do you think companies like Carol’s Daughter, Miss Jessies, etc. manage to stay in business? Have you seen the prices of some of their hair products?  I remember way back when, I would spend a lot of my money trying out Carol Daughter’s and Miss Jessies products.  I can’t remember how many countless products I’ve purchased that promised shiny, bouncy & frizz free curls, and these products were expensive.

Sure, nowadays you don’t even have to rush to these stores to buy their products, if you have the time and patience you can make them at home. But guess what? Ingredients cost money also.  So not only are you spending money on these ‘natural’ hair products, you’re also spending time mixing and finding the best ones that work well for your hair.

There also seems to be a lot of tension among some people who choose to wear their hair natural and others who don’t. Believe me, I’ve come across my fair share of natural headed snobs, who tend to look down at woman who choose not to wear their hair natural and opt for weaves and/or relaxers. Then you have the chemically treated women, who walk around with the negative connotation of natural hair.  Basically, you’re damned if you do, and damned if you don’t, in certain groups of people.

Personally, I could give a damn how a woman wears their hair. I don’t care if you wear the god given texture you’re born with, or if you decide to weave or relax it. It’s your hair, do what you want to. What I do have a problem with are the individuals from each group who side-eye each other because of the choices made by another. One of my favorite Jay-Z lines will always be, “What you eat, don’t make me shit”, and what a person chooses to do with their hair, shouldn’t have an affect on anyone. I’m proud to say that I’m natural, but I don’t criticize those who aren’t.

Tags: blak, chik, fungke, fungkeblakchik, good hair, hair, natural hair