Hooray November is HERE!

I’m excited because this month is my birthday month. This means that I’ll be celebrating all things ME all month long which includes things that I love to do, places I love to visit, things I would love to do, my musings, etc.

To kick off this month, I joined some members of the mentoring program and some mentees to see the movie “Good Hair.” I found the documentary hilarious and quite sad at times especially how much emphasis we as Black women put on our hair. I thought Chris Rock did a good job in showcasing how obsessive some of us are about this issue (not wanting to swim, have anyone put their hands in it, paying too much money for a weave and even putting it on lay-a-way etc.).

What I found interesting was that the hair (weaves) that so many of us crave comes mostly from India where women and young girls are encouraged to sacrifice their hair to the temple for blessings such as good harvest and prosperity. The temple then sells the hair for money and the hair ends up in many U.S. salons (first stop Los Angeles, the mecca of hair weaves).

The highlight of the documentary was the Bronner Brothers International Hair Show in Atlanta, GA which has been going on for 60+ years. I couldn’t help but bust out laughing at the lengths these hair dressers went to in order to win the grand prize of $20,000. To me it was more of putting on a performance rather than showcasing how to cut hair BUT I guess pleasing the audience and the judges came first.

While I can understand that some of us would rather have a weave than work with what we have, I fear that the message that young girls are getting is that it’s more important than what is inside their heads. Personally, getting a weave is not a priority of mine. It’s good to have options and I believe that women should do what makes them happy but not paying the rent or buying groceries so that you can pay for a weave is just plain ridiculous.

Also, I’m glad that Chris Rock got some male point of views about this issue (yes, barber shops are where the brothers joke around but talk some deep stuff too). If you’ve seen the movie then you’ll know what I’m talking about.

Overall, the documentary was a good way to start a dialogue among women and young girls about the issue of hair and how much it can consume or define who you are.

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