Because it’s flat on one side…
(That’s right, random songs because WHY NOT!)
Briya here! So this time *I* am not the one still talkin’ about the Oscars. My Sissie is. So please to enjoy Nisha’s contribution to Let’s Talk About Black People Month.
They say that people don’t move when they see smoke, but when they feel the fire. So, Bri gets her wish and you get your BHFOTD. (FINALLY. JAYSUS – B.)
I was so enraged over the recent ignorant statements of E Online correspondent/Fashion Police host(/Lollipop looking*) Giuliana Rancic that I was motivated to write about it.
This is 18 year old Disney Star Zendaya. Apparently she smells like patchouli and weed.
Zendaya could not have handled the situation more eloquently for a young lady. In case you haven’t noticed, many Black women are choosing to go natural.
Unfortunately, what comes with the territory also includes stereotyping and judgments by our white counterparts.
Unless of course, THEY appropriate styles normally seen on people of color. Then it’s BOLD. And Epic. And Epically Bold.
On black folks, it’s ghetto. OH.
In the 1960s, natural Black hair was transformed from a simple expression of style into a revolutionary political statement. It became a fundamental tool of the Black movement in America, and hair came to symbolize either a continued move toward integration in the American political system or a growing cry for Black power and nationalism.” Prior to this, the idealized Black person (especially Black women) “had many Eurocentric features, including hairstyles.” However, during the movement, the Black community endeavoured to define their own ideals and beauty standards and hair became a central icon which was “promoted as a way of challenging mainstream standards regarding hair.” During this time, black hair “was at its height of politicization,” and wearing an Afro was an easily distinguishable physical expression of black pride and the rejection of societal norms.[
Black militants and members belonging to the movement perpetuated the idea that straightening one’s hair, whether chemically or with the use of heat, was an act of self-hatred and a sign of internalized oppression imposed by White mainstream media. At this time, a Black person’s “ability to conform to mainstream standards of beauty [was] tied to being successful.” Thus, rejecting straightened hair symbolized a deeper act of rejecting the belief that straightening hair and other forms of grooming which were deemed ‘socially acceptable’ were the only means of looking presentable and attaining success in society. The pressing comb and chemical straighteners became stigmatized within the community as symbols of oppression and imposed White beauty ideals. Blacks sought to embrace beauty and affirm and accept their natural physical traits. The ultimate goals of the Black movement was to evolve to a level where Black people “were proud of black skin and kinky or nappy hair. As a result, natural hair became a symbol of that pride.
Deja vu anyone??
THE STRUGGLE IS REAL
*My sissie would NEVER call Giuliana a lollipop (Big ol’ head, stick body). I would. Because I am petty.
**ALSO – YEAH THAT’S RIGHT. I SURE DID ADD A PICTURE OF MYSELF.
You’re welcome guys! LOLOLOL
Yeah I said it 