Ongoing Project: Going Natural

In the last post, I mentioned that I was looking to "go natural," along with a few other keywords you might or might not recognize. So let's define those really quick.


Natural: Going "natural" generally refers to when a Black woman transitions from chemically processing her hair(relaxers) to allowing the hair to grow out, back into its original, or natural, state.

Touch Up: After someone receives their first relaxer, and salon visit after that requires using a relaxer is called a touch-up. When new hair growth comes in, it obviously looks rather different from the sleek, straightened hair, so in a period anywhere from 4-10 weeks, a person goes in to have their roots "touched up".

Tenderheaded: Oh, the bane of my existence. It is NOT easy to have kinky, wavy, curly, coarse hair yanked and combed and pulled and twisted into tight braids that dig in your scalp. Especially if you are already tenderheaded, or have a particularly sensitive scalp. *Shudders*




So now that I've gone over some things, let's cut to the chase. My plan for this summer is to grow out my relaxed hair and wear my natural texture for at least the summer. I've been getting my hair relaxed since I was 12 or so, and so I can preach firsthand that sweating out processed hair(which already tends to be hot because it retains all the heat from styling) in 90 degree, New York City Heat. I've been thinking about making the change for some time, and I feel that this is the first time I feel that I am educated enough to make the transition without damaging my hair. But first, a little background.

Going natural is a very real experience. I've only just started making the transition, and I've been all over the place. Doubt. Sadness. Confusion. But mostly, excitement. I've never had this much control over my own hair before! As a kid, my mom scrubbed, pulled, and twisted my crazy ass head of hair into submission. I never learned how to take care of it save for putting on an itchy stocking cap (literally, a stocking- we'd cut out the crotch area of a old pair of tights) before I went to sleep at night. The whole experience of braiding my hair was traumatic- it was painful, the grease was heavy and hot, and it left me lightheaded and nauseous. Not to mention, the nape of my neck would break out into painful bumps (yikes). When I started junior high school, I was determined to do whatever it took to not have to braid my hair again.

So I started relaxing, or "creamy crack," as natural hair care forums call it. It was a miracle in a tub! You know, despite the extreme 20 minutes of pain, which you could probably expect when you apply lye to your scalp. But even that miracle wore out its welcome- again, literally. My hair thinned out, broke off, fell out, grew back, broke off- crazy stuff.


Now, I'm back to square one. The basics: wash, dry and go. Some of you will find this intriguing, some of you will skip these posts. Irregardless, I think you'll find more in this series of posts than you think you will. Enjoy.

-SG

Question of the Day

Hi everyone!

In the last couple of weeks I've been thinking of ways to break up the inevitable monotony of fairly long RaceBlog entries. So I thought, why not do a Question of the Day? Even though I don't like the title- hopefully I'll come up with something a little more clever soon- the idea sounds good. So the plan is to put up the question here and on Twitter, where you can follow along by following us at http://www.twitter.com/theraceblog . and with that, here's our first Question of the Day!


Do you think that when white people tan, they are trying to be black?

Comment your answers. And don't forget to follow us on Twitter!


-SupremeGirl

Checking In

So to the.... hmm... grand total of five of you who are reading this blog, I do have other posts to put up, but I've been a bit bulazy- that is, busy and lazy(if anyone's got a better mashup, do let me know). The posts are more like anecdotes than anything, so it's a bit hard to edit down and still get the point across. But I do have a post that is 85% ready to go so expect it within the next couple of days. Also, I don't want to be the only one posting, so please feel free to email anything you'd like to contribute to http://www.theraceblog@gmail.com- or better- get the word out about TheRaceBlog! We've got a twitter and an AIM address. Let your friends, professors, and anyone you can think of know. We'd be more than thankful for the support.



SupremeGirl