BASSETERRE, St. Kitts – EVER since I was a little girl I would hear the terms “good hair” and “nice hair”. What both terms meant is that persons who had Indian, long, or wavy hair, remarks would be made that they have good hair or nice hair.
However, when it comes to black women most were born with nappy, thick, kinky hair and were indoctrinated to believe that “Good Hair” is mostly hair one would see on white or Indian women or women who are mixed.
On a recent Tyra Banks show, where the topic was about the black hair, a guest who was a mother of an eight-year-old admitted that she slept with a man of another race specifically because she wanted her child to be born with ‘nice’ hair.
On that same show, the audience and viewers were shocked when a mother of a four-year-old admitted that she relaxes her daughter’s hair while a Caucasian mother of a mixed 13-year-old said that she incorporates weaves into her daughter’s hair and relaxes it because it is more manageable.
Black women spend millions of hours and money in the salon getting weaves and relaxers on a yearly basis trying to make their natural hair straighter and longer. SKNVibes spoke to a number of persons who shared their views on what they thought was good hair and also about their own hair situation.
According to Judy Purple Dupont, a 22-year-old aspiring pilot, her opinion of good hair is hair that is well kept, healthy, shiny, long, vibrant, bouncy, soft and not thin. “Good hair makes you do a double take,” she said. “I like my weaves for a change of hairstyle and to help with laziness, but I definitely maintain my 'good hair' underneath,” she said.
Tafari Ayinde a 39-year-old Maintenance Supervisor and head mechanic for Professional Technologies Anguilla Ltd. said that he has been growing his locks since 1992 and trims them every now and then to maintain the length.
“Initially, when I began growing my hair like this it wasn't so much to have this braided look, but I totally stopped combing my hair so I can adopt a rebellious, if you will, anti-typical hairdo. It was to revolt and protest the so-called well groomed look which I saw was stifling the Afro centric look.
“Too long now we (black people) have wrestled with this question...‘What is good hair’? We have for years done everything imaginable to change our hair texture because we have had a phobia or inferiority complex about it,” he said.
Ayinde said that many of us have gone through hot irons, perms, jerry curls and other varying styles to hide the pepper grains and the supposable ugliness.
“I declare that’s good hair, no greater hair is the hair of the black race. Why? Look at its varying qualities. The way it can be styled and still sustain its indigenous texture. It has gone from Afro to locks as social protest. It has stood the test of time. Rejected, hated, scorned and accepted. But still I rather think good hair is here.”
According to Law Student, Victoria Ward, good hair is the hair God blessed you with. “Personally, I don’t believe in the hype of good hair/bad hair because we are all different and we each have different textures of hair. However, if I must classify, “Good Hair” is the hair that God blessed you with. Black women tend to feel ashamed of their natural hair because of the media’s negative portrayal of black hair.
“It is very rare that you find an actress or news reporter on television with natural hair. It shocked me when someone told me that black women who wear their hair natural in an office are unprofessional. I don’t relax my hair because I refuse to conform to the European straight hair image. I was created with thick, coarse hair that I absolutely love and I embrace. I would recommend listening to India Arie’s song ‘I am not my hair’ because it captures black women’s struggle of trying to find that good hair. Remember, good hair is the hair you were born with. Peace and love,” she said.
Sherema Morton, a Communications student in Taiwan, said that she had natural hair all her life but for her high school graduation she decided to relax it, which she describes as “real thick but soft”.
“I kept my hair relaxed for about five years. All that changed when I decided to leave for college in the latter part of 2005. Reasons being because where I am studying, there isn't anyone here who can really relax the type of hair I have, so I took it up on myself to go back natural, and that lasted for two years,” she said.
“During those two years of me being natural, I braided my hair so that I wouldn't have to worry about getting up at mornings to get them done.” Morton said that in 2008 when she returned to St. Kitts during the summer, she decided to relax her hair.
“I got really fed up of the natural hair because they were really thick, so I decided once more to get them relaxed. My hairdresser wasn't too keen on me doing that because my hair had gotten back its fullness, but I really needed a break from the braiding.
“I came back to school in September of that same year and, once again, I went back to the braids because it's really hard for me to keep up with the relaxing out here. The real reason why I have them braided is because the so-called professionals here cannot do black people's hair,” she said. She terms good hair as healthy hair.
“Healthy in the sense that there's not much chemical in it; it is strong, has substance (should be full) and not very easy to break. In terms of texture, it doesn't really matter whether the hair is smooth, soft or wavy. However, I think that natural hair is by the far the best, for that's usually when it looks the healthiest.”
Sharon Rattan a Subject Coordinator at the Curriculum Development Unit has taken her hair through several styles over the years. Presently, she is rocking a Mohawk style where she says she was just being risky and wanted to try something new.
“For a long time we have been trained to think that straight hair is the ideal (but) I think it one's approach to how hair is styled that makes a difference. I have had straight hair and natural hair. Both looks can be high maintenance, depending on style. Through my hairstyles, it is an expression of my outlook on life and style. The bottom line though is that all hairstyles require on-going maintenance to express whatever style one is rocking,” she said. Quentin Nicholls (22) declares all hair is good hair.
“Some textures have a tighter kink while others have a looser curl but regardless of the wave pattern (or lack thereof), it’s still perfectly fine however the way it grows out of your head. “I’m natural as in unrelaxed and wear my hair out in a short, tapered, uncombed, curly Afro style and often in combination with braided plaits,” she said.
Some persons have turned to the locks hairstyle to help manage their hair. Nakita Richards said that before she had ‘dreads’ she was unable to manage her hair because they would need styling every three to five days to have that fresh look. “Now I can twist and rock my hair for two weeks or more,” she said.
“From my prospective, all hair are good hair regardless of the texture, as long as you can manage it then you’re good to go.” Ricaldo Richardson said before he began growing his locks his hair was very course. He said that he was amazed after watching Chris Rock’s ‘Good Hair’ documentary and saw the same relaxer that persons use can burn a soda can to nothing in a few hours.
Cjay Bartlette, a Community Auditor at the Department of Community Development in Nevis who has been growing his long hair for a year and 10 months, keeps them braided and said that his hair has always been compared to his sister’s.
“People would compare me and my sister saying that we came from the same mother but yet our hair is so different. Her hair is long but thick while mine is softer. But I think that good hair is the way you treat your hair and maintain it,” he said. Bartlette said that he decided to grow his hair because of a mishap at the barber shop where they messed up his ‘fade’.
Although he keeps his hair long and braided in the business world, he says he is not treated differently or stigmatised. “I think the stigma comes when your hair is long and not well kept. I always keep my hair neat and well groomed, although when I first started working there they had a policy against it, but I guess they see that I always keep my hair well groomed.”
Even Chris Rock wanted to know what good hair was after his daughter came home one day from school and asked him why she did not have good hair. Diana Bowrin of Diana’s Beauty Salon, situated at Ponds Extension, has been operating her own salon since October 1996 after working as an apprentice at Amoy of Amoy’s Beauty Salon for seven years.
Bowrin gave a different perspective on what good hair really means. The Dudly Cosmetology University Graduate said that one’s hair and skin are a reflection of what is going on inside their bodies. She said that healthy bodies have healthy hair and that healthy hair is good hair.
“So if your skin is healthy, it normally means that you are healthy on the inside. If your hair is healthy it means the same thing for me. I think that if the hair is relaxed it should have lots of body and has not lost its elasticity,” she said.
“When you take all the elasticity out of it, the hair becomes very limp and very dead and that is not healthy hair. Healthy hair is hair that is relaxed every six weeks, where you have your touch ups for the new growth and have your treatment every two weeks. Also, a shampoo should be given every week as well, and your diet, rest exercise, all play an important role in having healthy hair. It’s more than just the chemicals.”
For persons with natural hair she said that it also needs care.
“Some people think that you don’t have to take care of it because it’s just natural, but it needs care and needs treatment just like the relaxed hair, because it also gets exposed to the chemicals in harsh winds, also the way we sleep.
“When it is in its natural state it has all its elasticity, but it is still vulnerable to the same things that chemically process hair is vulnerable to. So natural hair does need care, maybe not the same amount of treatment as the chemically processed hair but at least every two months the natural hair should be treated,” Bowrin said
