This is the old natural hair trend we should bring back
Natural hair is beautiful, na di wok na ein boku. But what if we could make it easier on ourselves?
Instead of trying to fight with our hair, dominate it, make it over do and outperform itself, what if we got real simple with it?
After a month of not having time to care for my hair I washed it two days ago. Only after I washed it, there still wasnt time to get it ”done”.
Last night I conditioned it with Ori from Sierra Leone, and did chunky fat two strand twists. These are not the sleek twists we’ve come to love for their curl guarantee. No! These were twists that my mother would not want me to leave the house with. They are the twists that would be put on the head of a female character in a Nollywood movie to show that she was in the village or ”bush”. If she had this style in and she was in the big City, she would be cast as the house girl or the gateman’s girlfriends. Yes this was the kind of twist I rocked today.
I could have tied my head this morning (which is the instinct I often resort to when my hair is like this) but I said fcuk it! We need to make these kinds of styles normal because you know what, they are not only normal but they make life easy. Also if we can retrain our eyes to see them more often, we would see their beauty. This simplicity honors our ancestors. We should not be ashamed when our here does that it was made to do.
So yes, this is my hair and it is here to stay. I am owning it and I'm inviting all naturals to do the same so I'm not out here alone. Let's bring back that good old country style 😁.
I leave you with these wise words from the great womanist and environmental activist, Nobel Prize Winner, Wangari Mathai on fearlessness and self acceprance.
Dress: Izelia
Hair: Twisted with Ori from Sierra Leone
Earrings: Shop West Africa
Bangles: My personal collection
Images by: Jane Williams (who is my new protege and mentee that I'm teaching photography)
“African women in general need to know that it is okay to be the way they are - to see the way they are as strength, and to be liberated from fear and silence.”
