via Korkscrew Kurls Blog and Mizzstace
I've been natural for over 13 years now from Locs to Coily Curls and received many comments about my natural hair, both positive and negative. From both males and females. For some reason, the latter tend to weigh heavier than the former. Around the time that I started my transitioning process from perm to curls I met someone who became my love interest during my senior year of high school. My best friend always was rocking her curly hair and as he looked at her then looked at me , he was touching my hair. “I really hope that your hair turns out like hers,” he said. " oh how I love curly hair." But I felt I was in struggle with my transitioning process and didn't know how to come out of it so I just nod and smiled.Read On!>>>
My first boyfriend loved my curls. Back then I was only relaxing my hair for about 1. 5 years and hated the whole creamy crack process and then did a big chop then started my transitioning from tender age of 15 yrs . To be honest, he was appreciating this laziness since he was able to walk proudly next to his curly girl. He started convincing me that natural is better, since I showed the real me to the world. A year after the end of our relationship, I decided to transition my hair to locs. Why? Because I wanted to make sure that this was my own choice and felt if I'm natural why not fully loc the naturalitsta in me.?
During my freshman year, I developed a love interest. This was the time my locs were maturing and this person was the opposite of me: our personality, culture and appearance differed as day and night. He always touched my hair and called it ‘cool’ like he couldn't come up with a compliment. However, at some point he was expressing how he wished that my hair looked like the hair of european look "long and straight' flat ironed and bold. At some point, he came to me with a straightening iron in order to straighten my hair. Looking back, I often realize that this was no good. I do not blame others for being ignorant. Being from a different culture or having a different personal background is not always a motivation for education about other cultures. But, if you are dating someone from a different ethnicity it might be worthwhile to learn about his/her ethnicity, instead of trying to influence him/her in such a way that you are changing the person…because in this case there is no love involved.
In Jamaica we often say: "Keep bad mind outta mi heart. Keep negative outta mi thoughts". It took me a while to love my natural journey, for years dealing with negative and positive feedback from family & peers. I hated it and many times I felt like giving up. However, I gave up many things, which I regret afterwards; I came this far and it made me stronger. My hair and my personal appearance were not going to be one of those things.
When I transitioned to Curly Loose hair I decided to adjust my hair regimen and teach myself how to love my tresses in it's own natural state in any form. So I decided to wear my hair down, no matter what. This brought me to a position in which I was at peace with myself. I no longer put my hair in hiding during dates, going out with friends, no…my hair was being the subject of conversations and the excuses for me being approached by opposite sex. I realized that the more I loved my hair, the more my surrounding loved it. Last summer on my birthday I decided to travel and treat myself. A guy looked my way and he said the first thing he noticed about me was how beautiful my hair was. Since then we've been dating and he loves the energy and confidence of how I carry myself when rocking my kinky coils.
Back in the early 2000s, the natural hair movement wasn't as socially accepted as it is now. The natural hair movement is so powerful and brings light in the life of those who have difficulties accepting their hair texture. Until now, the movement successfully erased the deep-rooted beliefs that natural hair is not precious. Not to forget, this hair revolution connected naturals all over the world by simply motivating us to embrace ourselves. Every day I am proud to be a part of this movement and have a strong support system beside me.
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