Hair Business

You know the hair issue is deep when you write a hair poem. LOL J

 

Anyways…

Hair Business

Author: Oghomwen Ehigie

People see hair differently

some people see their hair as simply play things

that they can experiment with

accessorize and co-ordinate clothes with

their hairstyles vary as often as the days change

they are not afraid to hack it off or color it green

it’s just a canvass to create wonderful and stunning works of art.

Some people see their hair in terms of their spirituality

their hair represents divinity

they grow locs to show their journeys

you can tell how much road they have trod

by the length of their dreads that others may dread because

to some people their hair is a show of rebelliousness

a political statement like the afros of the 60’s and 70’s

that marked a movement

towards consciousness of the black mind.

Some people just follow the latest fads with their hair

they are as fickle as the wind.

Some people fear their hair

they fear the things that it may do to them

the wild afros it could make

they fear their kinky roots

they fear their hair “going back”

when mixed with nature –

so they seek to conquer it

Indeed for some their hair is something to be conquered

beaten into conformity with heat and rods

they seek to straighten it by all costs

and if it dares to ‘grow out’

refusing to surrender its arrogant will

they will cover it in shame.

For some people their hair is a source of baggage

-the emotional kind-

they grow it and style it so that they can hide behind it

and until they come to terms with themselves

they’ll never let it go.

For some people their hair represents their oppression as females

the youth obsession is what drives them to dye

so they live in denial about their ages and their experiences

forbidding even one gray hair to come loose.

Yet for a lot of people

hair is just hair

you may take it away from them and still they won’t budge

but for a lot of us it’s more than just hair

it’s spiritual

it’s emotional

it’s conscious

it’s political

it’s rebelliousness

it’s denial and fear

it’s oppression.

So I ask you,

“What does your hair mean to you?”

Never mind what you think it signifies to others

concentrate on your inner awareness

deal with whatever it is that you carry on your head.