~Lakesha

I also have to say that I dont get why anyone would click on something with the title ‘black hair talk’ and declare that its irelevant. I dunno, not everyone cares, not everyone should, but thats kind of the point, no? I could stare at that photo of the black Indian woman all day, but that probably makes me weird lol.

I definitely appreciate your readership and thanks for the props.

I’m well aware of the myriad problems plaguing the black community, but that is not what this post about. Sometimes I write about such things, sometimes I don’t. Anyone looking for consistent chatter about black America’s problems should definitely look elsewhere because that’s simply not what I was meant to focus on in life. What readers are interested in hearing about is important feedback for me, but I’m not going to start writing about things that don’t interest me at the moment just to please others. The purpose of this post was to examine something that not every one has thought about. If you have, great. Maybe it wasn’t for you, and it would be crazy if every single thing I write appeals to everybody, I’d never expect that to be the case. Take a look at the blogroll to the right – black Barbies, Fashion Week, Music, relationships – maybe 10% of the topics are about addressing problems in the black community so I have to say that your comment may have been a bit misdirected. Not everything SHOULD be serious. I write for entertainment, humor, enlightenment, and discussion, and if one person can learn something new or think about something in a different way, which at least a few people already have in the 2 hours since this post has been published, then I have succeeded. Not everything has to be about depressing stuff, and frankly, my contribution to such a discussion would be weak because that is not my forte. If I didn’t think cultural commentary were enjoyed by anyone or necessary to a thriving society, I wouldnt write it.

But back to the idea that this conversation is a “distractor.” I firmly believe that at the root of most problems in the black community is a failed sense of collective identity. Anything that helps us to understand why other people do what they do and who we are as a people goes toward solving our problems. Thats always been true for oppressed peoples and in an environment where black womens’ self esteem is tied to their success in life and most people walking around today don’t even now their heritage. And I think its overly idealistic to believe that those of who take fifteen minutes to think about why we say Indian hair and the history behind it would instead take that fifteen minutes to work on one of the problems you mentioned. Just my perspective.

Thanks for commenting!

It is time that we learned to love ourselves just like we are. The whole hair thing has been a wrap for me for decades. I wear my hair in some form of a natural style. I’ve relaxed it a couple of times in-between-but I find that my natural hair is most pleasing to me.

What’s always going to be most important is the love of self. If you’re not pleased with the person you truly are-then there is always going to be someting like hair that causes you to trip. We are people that have been blessed with physical diversity. Our coloring and our hair is a part of the package.

Don’t get me wrong…I love your blog and I have recommended it to others repeatedly. What you need to know is this conversation is a variant of one that has, unfortunately, existed in our community for far too long. It’s a distractor that keeps us from really making substantive change. But then again, if you do not want constructive criticism that will improve you blog, that’s on you.