The Tightly Curly Hair Site

[ysabetwordsmith]

I'm almost never interested in "beauty" sites, but haikujaguar highlighted this one which is all about Tightly Curly Hair. My hair looks a lot like the author's hair -- just lighter, with somewhat wider spirals. But long squiggly spirals like that, yes. Last time we checked, it was past the bottom of my butt when wet. Dry it's shorter. I usually keep it braided because otherwise it grabs things all day. But it's nice to let loose the showy curls for special occasions.

Comments

Re: Hmm...

[ysabetwordsmith.livejournal.com]

Actually, I was. My parents included what bits of Native American heritage have been passed down to us. Though the hair points Africa-wards. I've been hassled about this hair; most people with nappy hair get that at least sometimes. *chuckle* But it can protect itself pretty well, and people tend not to mess with it a second time.

I'm eclectic, and mostly indelible. If outside pressure was going to wear off bits of me, it would've happened long since. I spent a fair amount of time sitting in the hall outside history classes. Didn't stop me from learning the full spectrum of history, much to the chagrin of the teachers.

As one of my black friends put it, "You can pass for white ... until you open your mouth."

Of course, not everyone is made of spit and gristle. For some people, fitting in is all their heart desires, and if their body doesn't match the shape that society expects, they're miserable. Lots of variations on that. One reason I favor tolerance is to make the world livable for more people.

Re: Hmm...

[je-reviens.livejournal.com]

I dunno E -- I grew up in the 'hood and my mom still lives there in our family home, and I went to a city high school with 5000 students, of which 45% were black and only 25% white. So you always seemed pretty white to me. I've been to your house, never heard one bit of hip hop! Then again, maybe you got what passes for flava in Central IL. You probabaly know waaaaay more about orishas than your typical midwestern country girl!


btw - did you see the news from Iowa? 1st midwestern state to legalize gay marriage! if you posted, sorry I missed it -- been super busy. 11:30 pm and I still have to write this paper for class tomorrow. And I am soooo tired rt now.

Re: Hmm...

[ysabetwordsmith.livejournal.com]

It's not the body that clocks me on heritage, unless I've stuck a pencil in my hair. It's the culture, and that's spread out across religion (voudoun), cuisine (I go into an African restaurant, I look for goat), literature ("A Negro Speaks of Rivers"), music (African drumming and X!osa lyrics) and so forth. And that's just one thread. There are threads of Cherokee and Lakota and Irish and Sumerian and so forth as well.

There are people who look mixed and are mixed. There are people who look brown and act white. There are people who look one way, but they're mixed too.

Heritage ... is what you make of it. I hold little pieces of the languages in me, that cradle the shape of my soul. English isn't enough for all of it, though it's the most mixed language in the world, but for maybe a few of the creoles. If you don't live a culture, it dies out. But as long as someone still holds a part of it, it lives. I have my parts, and other people have theirs, and that's how the world works.