I know four people who have started their own "campaign"/"business" to encourage black women to "love their hair". When I look at what they are doing I have mixed feelings. The pro-social woman in me thinks "Right on! We really should love our natural hair". But then the conformist in me thinks "I don't know how my boss will take to me coming in to work with an afro" - no matter how well shaped it is.
The hair extension industry is worth an estimated £60 million. I take a stab in the dark that black women probably account to more than half of that figure. We love them! Can't get enough! All you have to do is take a quick look on Facebook to see the amount of "businesses" offering to sell imported hair from exotic places like China, India, Peru and Brazil. I see others that share the same view as me and comment on these social media pages that these days so many black women love to glow with European, Asian and South American locks. It amazes me (and indeed I amaze myself) that in the 21st Century we as a community are still not happy with what comes naturally to us.
How do we move on? That's a tough one. I'm not absolutely sure we can. Maybe our self-hatred will move on to something else - our full lips, our slightly wide nose or our surprisingly traditional values. Whatever happens, I hope that as a community we can learn to love ourselves a little more (I'm preaching to myself here - check the picture) and appreciate the tight curls that grow on our head!