Who asked YOU for your opinion on black hair?
If you don't oil your scalp, there's no need for you to weigh in on those who do
“We didn't play about our hair then, and we don't play about that s%#t now,” rapper and reality star Rasheeda said during the narration for “Freaknik: The Wildest Party Never Told.”
With hairstyle trends ranging from fingerwaves to feathered curls to buns, the Mass Appeal/Swirl Films-produced special gives viewers a trip down memory lane for black hairstyles during the ‘80s and ‘90s. I enjoyed watching the documentary and pointing out which hairstyles I had and which ones I didn’t. (I had 90% of them.) But sometimes I have mixed opinions on the topic of hair, specifically when it doesn’t get as much attention as health.
I once got into an ALL CAPS ARGUMENT on Facebook about why I was tired of talking about hair (as the former Chicago Black Hair & Health Examiner on now-defunct Examiner.com) and was putting more writing energy into health topics. After one user "reminded” me that our hair is our crown, I told her that I wanted to focus on the rest of the body in that throne, specifically because if the latter is not taken care of, our hair will suffer.
Recommended Read: “BlackTechLogy: Bootleg beauticians ~ Fighting against unlicensed hairstylists, hair damage, hair loss”
Over the years, I have kept that same energy. Still occasionally writing about hair, for the most part, I’ve stuck to health, including updating the health section of a mainstream newspaper and making health my “beat” at another newspaper throughout 2008 to 2013. From 2008 until 2023, I had a fairly popular black health Twitter account before Elon Musk ruined the social media site. (I shut down my two accounts last year.)
ADVERTISEMENT ~ Amazon
As an Amazon affiliate, I earn a percentage from each product purchased using my referral link.
Still, old habits die hard and I go right back to fiercely defending and educating people on black hair (and hair health) as soon as someone gets a little too comfortable talking (read: insulting) our locks.
No, seriously, who ASKED you about black hair?
YouTube loves to bring up old videos I never knew existed. This week, it was one on T.I. and his (very lyrically talented) son Domani. Expecting to enjoy a family hip-hop moment, instead I was soon frowning.
A podcast host told T.I.’s son Domani that he “had the hair to worry about,” as if headphones could not possibly comfortably fit over Domani’s shoulder-length locks. All he really needed to say was wearing headphones was optional (and not be suspiciously surprised that T.I. knew how to play golf).
I looked at the date on the video (700+ days old), sighed and was relieved when the second host spoke up. When the first guy stopped talking, the interview became significantly better.
For that reason, I didn’t intend on bringing this interview up.
That is, until yesterday, when I was watching Karine Jean-Pierre (President Joe Biden’s press secretary) during a press conference. While she discussed foreign aid, Hamas versus Israel and the delay in financial aid, a YouTube user named “Jeff” felt the need to say (in the comment section) that the press secretary looked like a “wet mop in a suit.”
That’s it. That was two times this week.
Recommended Watch: PBS Frontline’s “Crisis On Campus”
My response to him would surely leave YouTube moderators warning me not to get kicked off of the social media site (use your imagination about the 11th letter of the alphabet), but I stand by his comment being racist and childish. Worldwide issues, war and the economy are far bigger concerns than how her hair looks on her head. Not one user on the entire site gained anything from his idiotic comment on the news channel.
I’ve yet to understand why hair has to be a talking point when the purpose of a person’s visit is anything but hair. No one is required to love another person’s hairstyles, hair texture or even hair length. But even if you don’t like it, so what? And if your hair does not grow out of YOUR head the way — and the texture — of ours, act like you are in a library and shut up.