*Ashli writes*: I was in my bathroom combing my hair out and I decided to do a video, but while recording and talking about the natural growth that I've seen throughout these past months (BC Sept. 9, 2009) a thought crossed my mind. "I don't think I'm strong enough to rock my Afro out in public yet."
I thought about this over and over wondering why I would be scared to of rocking my fro out... How could I be when I cut all of my permed hair off MYSELF, how could I be when I've been this "force not to be messed with" since I've been natural.
Well I came to a conclusion shortly after I stopped recording....
Afro's in the community I surround myself with are not as easily accepted as "curly-cute natural hair". I've broken so many barriers within these few months that I think I am worried as to what would happen if I pulled another card out of the bag.. So, I was wondering if this has ever happened to you? Or has this ever happened to any of the readers on Natural Chica? ... because I know that I love my hair. I just don't know if the area I am in would accept it. People still don't understand our little world.
Hope you can help me.
Mae: Chica…trust that you’re not alone! Personally speaking, when I was preparing to give my PhD Proposal presentation, one of the first things I thought about was…how am I going to wear my hair? Are they going to be able to handle my outward growing fro? Will that distract them from my presentation?
In the end, I realized that if I start making concessions now for how I carry myself because of what I THINK other people’s opinions might be…that it could become a never-ending cycle which ultimately hurts ME! So, I definitely wore my fro and guess what…everything went GREAT because I was fully comfortable in who I was and how I looked : ) [You can watch this VID to see my presentation look!]
Do any of you ladies have stories to share regarding this topic? Don’t hesitate to share…you never know how your story can encourage someone else!
Keep on ROCKIN' those FROs chicas!!
