Sharing......

So it occured to me that probably about all the pictures I have posted on this blog so far are of my hair as it looks when I make it wazy by braiding it and letting it dry that way after I have washed it. I find that I wear my hair like this most of the time but every few months or so I decide to just let it dry "straight." I am in one of those periods now.

So I thought I would share some picture of me after a recent washing and re-twisting.....




Oh, and at the urging of Brunsli and her talk of 600+ SLs, I once counted mine. I am somewhere around 200....

Catching up........ Should Brunsli trim her hair?

So I was remiss in posting a comment to Brunsli's posts about whether or not she should trim some of her locks because they are uneven. First let me say that I am not a beauty salon type of person. So my approach to this question probably comes from a different place. I would not think, "Should I get my locks trimmed?...." Instead, my thought process is more like this, "My locks are uneven..... Where are my scissors??" So, given that, my advice is as follows:

If your locks are uneven, then trim some. Just pull out your scissors, get in the mirror, pull one of the locks tight and cut! Make sure you account for the bounceback when cutting but go ahead and do it! If you cut one too short, that is okay. Correct on the next one.

Go Susan Taylor!

So I had been thinking about posting my thoughts on Hampton new "hair policy" for business school students, especially in light of my educational background (I have an MBA and recieved my MBA 6 years into having locks.) I am really disappointed by the narrow-mindedness of the university and the discriminatory precedent that it is setting. I have yet to have a problem, either in business school nor interviewing for jobs becuase of my hair and I don't think that we should allow or encourage people to make an issue of it when it should not be. Encourage the students to be polished and put together but to imply that you can't do that and have locks or braids is....... small-minded.

Anyway, I am happy to say that someone of note has stood up against this policy. See below:

SUSAN L. TAYLOR PROTESTS HAMPTON’S HAIR POLICY:
Essence exec against school policy about unacceptable ‘braids and dreadlocks.’
April 14, 2006

*Susan L. Taylor, the editorial director of Essence magazine, pulled out of a speaking engagement at Hampton University recently after learning of its policy on acceptable hairstyles for students in the five-year master's of business administration program.
"Braids, dreadlocks and other unusual hairstyles are not acceptable" is the university's policy as reported by Journalism's Richard Prince on April 12. Taylor, who has worn long braids for years, decided to protest the rule by withdrawing her participation at the school’s 28th Annual Conference on the Black Family held last month.
"I recently withdrew my participation in the 28th Annual Conference on the Black Family at Hampton University,"
"I began receiving emails from numerous sources advising me of disturbing regulations disallowing locks and braided hairstyles for Hampton students,” Taylor told Murray for his Monday BV Buzz column. “One such email included an Associated Press story headlined: 'University Bans Certain Hairstyles for Students.' As a businesswoman and public figure who has proudly worn my hair braided for more than 25 years, I was incredulous and felt insulted. My executive assistant, Debra Parker, contacted the university for clarification, and when she was advised that this was the school's policy, I easily made the decision to cancel my visit.
"The freedom to wear our hair in ways that celebrate our heritage is one of our 'rites of passage.' Students would benefit from learning how to care for and groom locks and braids and wear them in ways that are appropriate in a business setting," Taylor wrote on March 28.
Taylor said she even recommended that Dr. William R. Harvey, the university president, "reconsider this policy and invite informed image consultants to address students in your business program about how to make individual style work in the corporate environment. Perhaps the greatest challenge . . . students will face in the work world is remaining whole and true to themselves in environments that are often hostile to African-Americans. Staying connected to our community and culture is critical. Trying to transform themselves to fit into hardly welcoming environments has scarred countless numbers of Black people."
Ultimately, Dean Sid Credle of the Hampton School of Business is standing by the code, “and said a more clean-cut look can be an asset to almost any student seeking advancement in the corporate world," wrote Ieesha Mckinzie in a March 27th story on Black College Wire.
Story courtesy of http://eurweb.com

I don't want to offend any of you HBCU'ers or Hamptonites out there but...... Boo on Hampton!!! And everyone, make sure your Essence subscriptions are up to date!

Acknowledging those in your community....

Sorry, it has taken me so long to post something new..... I have been fighting with a browser hijacker virus all weekend.... Please everyone, make sure that you have antivirus, antispyware and firewall software and that it is up to date and actively monitoring. Especially if you are doing a lot of surfing..... Take it from me!! I am still fighting this stupid thing!!!

Anyway, thought I would solicit your thoughts on something, you anonymous readers out there. There is something that I have noticed since I have been here in Atlanta and I am wondering if it is an Atlanta thing or just a change of the times because there are so many more people with locks out there in the world.......

Used to be, a few years ago, when I lived in another city, when I would encounter someone with locks on the street, or in the subway etc, we would acknowledge each other ---- with a nod or a hello --- an acknowledgement of the brother/sisterhood, of our joint membership in a society, an acknowledgement that we had something in common. I would liken it to the nod that black people would give each other when they passed each other on the street --- a sort of "Hey, you are like me. We are members in the same struggle" nod or greeting. (which, by the way, I don't see that much of anymore either...) What I am trying to say is that this doesn't happen to me in Atlanta. I mean, occasionally I will get people, mostly those without locks, coming up to me to compliment my hair but very little acknowledgement from those who have shared in a similar hair journey with me!

So, I am wondering...... Is this a common experience? Is this the same experience that you all are having out there? Or is it really, as I suspect, that Atlanta is different. That for some reason, that feeling of camaraderie does not exist here. I could be wrong and I am open to hear all opinions. So please, let me know what you think and what you have experienced...... I miss it!

Brunsli knows what I am talking about. She wrote about it here a few months ago....