5007kodjoafelitdtmh

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The last written piece for DTMH - shattering all the stereotypes associated with black women with the tone of encouragement and certainty that the future is ours to control. It is time we make our own table, build it and eat from our own fruits of labour instead of sharing it with the rest of the world who do not appreciate it.

And if we come across as all the words I put in red then SO BE IT it must mean we are standing by our own just right.

The emphasis on the word black is to remind the reader what this book was all about - being black and proud may we fill our tables with pride, confidence and pro-blackness. 

It was my pleasure writing this book, I really allowed myself to break free and write what is my and other black women’s heart. I hope my book brings other black women the peace and joy we all deserve knowing that our hair is perfectly normal and perfectly powerful.

Because like Beyonce said, who run the world?

Girls and in this case, black girls.

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We've always had a seat at the table. I think that title has a lot of different subtexts. I think one of the seats at the table is also saying that, you know, I'm inviting you to have a seat at my table. And it's an honor to be able to have a seat at our table and for us to open up in this way and for us to feel safe enough to have these conversations and share them with you. I think that, you know, so many times, black people — or any people who are oppressed — have to constantly explain to people what's right and wrong and what hurts and how to approach this.

Solange

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Solange’s own breakdown of don’t touch my hair really inspired my last written piece in my book - I love how she addresses so many topics in one album and got the success she deserved from it!

“That is a really good observation in connecting my mother's hair salon with all of this. I think overall, black hair has such a significance in black culture. And also, it's such an insular experience. Growing up, being a young girl, transitioning to junior high school, then into adulthood, the hair journey of a black woman is so specific, and it's really hard. Your hair can send so many different messages to so many different people in the world that it becomes political. It becomes social. And I think that, you know, the hair part of the song is not just about hair, obviously. It encompasses a much bigger conversation of appropriation, of ownership, of protected space. And that all comes through in those things that I speak about.

But again, it's a broader message for black empowerment. And I think my mother's segment that happens before, her interlude that happens before that song is so powerful, and I think that she articulates what I'm trying to say in a totally different way, in a wonderful and powerful way ... Allow us to be pro-black. Allow us to be beautiful and take pride in that. Being pro-black does not mean being anti-white. Stop making the parallels and the analogies of black history month vs. all of the other months in the year. Allow us to have that moment and, just like the album, really take pride and celebrate our journey and look at where we came from and look at where we are today. That was not that long ago. Let us relish in that and celebrate that. And so "Don't Touch My Hair" is really a moment to do that.”

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A seat at the table album significance

On the record, Solange explores what it means to be black in America today. The songs in this album celebrate black culture, confront prejudice and explore the trauma of witnessing black people killed.

This is Solange's most personal work yet, too. The album includes interviews she conducted with her parents, and she wrote most of the lyrics in the town of New Iberia, La., where her family has roots. "I wanted to reclaim that space," she says. "I wanted to be able to go back as a descendant of my grandparents and stake my claim and create work that honored them."

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What is the meaning of don’t touch my hair?

“It means so many different things, but I’ll tell you one. Everyone has their own hair and their own style, and what they like. That’s something that you have to own as an individual. Sometimes people will try to imitate you, or sometimes they want you to imitate them, or put pressure on you if you don’t look a certain way. “Don’t Touch My Hair” is the preservation of you. Praising your style, your look, for you. It’s cool to be you. Solange’s whole movement promotes that. That’s just who she is, and she doesn’t let anyone change her. You miss out on so much by trying to imitate someone else’s style.”

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It’s time

We let go of the hurt like the damaged follicles that drop when it’s time.

It’s time to publicly declare that we no longer care

Alas not verbally

Use your hair, let that be your voice

As it is more powerful to show than tell

It’s more striking to direct the spotlight

that is rightfully yours than beg for it

in shame

Beloved, do not fall short for your follicles are stronger than that.

You are sublime, You are majestic

It’s time as the clock strikes

It’s time as you grow tired

It is time as your heart and spirit harmonies at the growth of thy hair

It is time for your breakthrough

Break free, run wild and never go back into that darkness - not even when they tell you...it’s time.

-YK

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Our Hair.

We as black women should not let our hair be the dividing element that destroys our development.Our hair is a unique blend of the diverse experienc ewe have experienced in America.It is an expression of our horrific history that at times, the white system has used to destroy Sister Unity. Yes, our hair defines us, but it should not deny us the right to wear it any way we want.After all, when we look into the magazines of America,we see what has been believed to be beautiful,and then wonder if we are okay--yes, we may say we are okay,but when we search within and find that dilemma that makes us wonder if we should blend the nappy with the straight in order to relate to a world that has denied our beauty from the very beginning,then our hair still is a difficult and complex issue. Deep down we wonder if our men like it straight and blowing in the wind,and then after feeling its awesome texture,we fall in love with that glorious natural;yet when we stand against the world,the eyes of society don’t often see our natural halo as beauty. And then we rush back to the straight hoping that this will dictate that we must compete in a competitive world;but blackness is a state of mind--the color or length or texture of our hair really cannot be defined;the decision is ours--we might plague it for hours,for in the end what should really matter is the genuine love we have for our God-given hair.

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inspired by the previous article I wrote a prose highlighting the urge for us black women to fight for our right to wear our hair without being insulted, questioned or undermined. It is time we become the image of beauty too. 

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https://www.huffingtonpost.co.uk/entry/black-hair-annoying-questions_l_5c5b3d71e4b08710475a3daf

Really enjoyed this article addressing the questions we as black women don’t like and it is spot on ! It gets frustrating because it feeds into the stereotypes created to make it seem like black women are not blessed with hair. Just because they are unfamiliar with our hair, they invalidate it and create their own stigmas around it. 

Touching my hair is a big no-no, you need to ask for consent because the hours we take to ‘tame’ our hair into the hairstyle we wanted only for those who admire it to just plunge their fingers straight in. It can leave our hair super tangled by the end of the day which gets super frustrating hence why I opt to just protect my hair under wigs at least I can comb the straight hair out.

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My favourite shots of the shoots were most definitely the closeups of Akosua to see her bloom and control the camera with her beauty I absolutely lived for it! She does her cornrows herself and I love it even her beaming smile really lifts up the whole picture, they deserved their own spread.

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J’Adore Yana

Writing a letter to myself and my reader for them to see the personal me, more vulnerable me - I speak on the journey I went through when it came to my hair from when I moved from my mother’s house to university - being alone really pushed me to overthink everything about myself and begin to self-doubt parts of me I never pondered on. I am glad I have overcome that and grown from it to share what I did and how it helped me with others.

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Tatyana Kodjo Akua Moshia Afeli - first of her name, becoming the force to be reckoned with is her end game. She is strong, she is healthy, she is vocal, she is a black woman.

From a young age, my mother catered to my hair like it was the greatest gift on earts - for 18 years she washed it, oiled it, moisturized it and watched it bloom into its own form of paradise. 18 years of love and motherly affection and I took 10 minutes of shame and insecurity to cut it all off. My first year at university, it’s my first time taking care of my own hair and I got anxious, I got nervous and I felt...insecure over my own locks it was like a dark cloud over me I felt the need to cut it off. So I did. Did I feel free? No.  I felt like a boy actually. A pretty boy but a boy nevertheless. I didn’t love my face, I didn’t cherish my hair. I wanted to change so bad, the more I changed the more I realised I’ll never attain the image society has forced upon me as a black woman because I am a..black woman with the kinkiest 4c hair, dark mahogany skin and roots so deep in the Volta River of Ghana and Ivory - it is impossible for me to be...eurocentric.

Once I realised that I was on the road of being liberated. I looked at myself for who I am, I embraced my features for what they are - big black and beautiful - and that’s okay. My negro hair, my negro nose, my negro lips - they were all beautiful and meant to be. I’ve grown my hair back since and my boyfriend caters to it like it’s his child cause he never wants me to cut off my crown ever again and honestly nor do I.

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J’adore mon cheveaux

J’adore mon cheveaux parce que is french for I love my hair as Esther - an aspiring wedding designer studying Fashion Textiles -   is  a Black British creative of Ivorian origin. I love my hair cause it defines me as a person . I see my hair as a blank canvas in which I can create a different styles  which creates versatility .and that exicties me , there’s so many negative connotations towards natural hair but that even embraces me to show it off . For me my natural hair is my crown in which I can show off to the world .  In history African women have been told for many years that are hair is not beautiful and me bringing back history and keeping the roots of my culture alive by showing how beautiful natural hair really is . Getting to know and love my natural hair makes it easier to manage and when you love your hair your hair loves you back.

- Esther

Akosua Prempeh, a Ghanaian-British fashion media creative whose life was split both in Britain and Ghana a love poem to her hair: 

Some say they are not their hair, but for me. I am.

It’s the halo that I wear so proudly. They ask “why does it stay up...?”, because It’s the antennas that connect me to a higher power than these eyes of mine can’t see.

It’s has a direct connection to the sun.

It’s the wild forest, that grows unapologetic.

Each cornrow is interwoven with special powers, each coil hold informations of my soul on earth, my roots, my tribe.

They are the stories of those why came before me.

The soil which is my roots runs deep into my conscience, blossoms not matter the weather.

These coils are something your comb can not tame, relaxers hide in shame when they see the way they dance in the sun when I move my head.

I am my hair.

- Akosua

Joy an 18 year old 6th former of Zambian descent living in Wales shares the love she has for her hair: 

I know a lot of people when talking about natural hair they say it’s just hair. However, to me it’s not just hair. My natural hair is important to me as it represents a large part of my feminine energy. Growing up being either one of the only black girls or being the only black girl I found it hard to find my place amongst the white beauty standards. My hair was shaved and relaxed from a young age,  didn’t grow very long and wasn’t like the other girls hair which made me feel less feminine than the other girls. My journey with my natural hair has helped me feel more in touch with my feminine energy and taught that my natural hair is beautiful and doesn’t need to be straight or have a looser curl pattern to be ‘nice’. To me taking care of my hair is a way of taking care of my self. As ‘a woman’s hair is her crown and glory’ I have indeed myself grown into the queen I am through the journey of becoming natural and taking care of my hair.

- Joy

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J’adore mon cheveaux chapter was a mini interview series of three women all of African descent and live in England so they have experienced the discrimination that comes with our hair and the praise we receive back home because of our hair. To share their words as how they view their hair was an honour. I really do love the look of this chapter, its message is really important and puts our hair in the light it truly deserves - positive and loving.

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The BluePrint ~ Black Women

The fur combo with the chosen hair just elevates the look of a black woman.

Source : Twitter

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The beauty of chapter covers the different hairstyles black women rock (amazingly) and showcases the range we have. I also speak on the history behind the hairstyles to highlight each style has its significance and isn’t just a trend or fashion statement it is an honestly apart of being and become a black woman. 

Black fishing definition drawn from https://www.theweek.co.uk/98291/what-is-blackfishing and cultural appropriation to highlight a current big arguement on social media - the emergence of non-black women and influencers pick and choosing parts of a black woman’s aesthetics which leads to a global (black women) outrage!

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A Celebration of Black Beauty: Perceptions & Myths About Black Beauty | ...

One of my inspos for the society versus black women piece, very transparent and eye opening to see so many different black women go through the same insecure journey that leads to our blossom and unapologetic love of our hair.

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I wrote society versus black women through the inspiration of watching black women in spotlight talk on how even they feel silenced when it comes to our form of beauty and fashion. It is so hard for a black woman to shine in their natural element to due to the discriminatory factors which comes to play - from school settings to media black women’s beauty is frowned upon.

From twitter to youtube videos it gave me a better and wider perspective on the topic which made it more than personal - it makes it a relatable topic which gave me more confidence to actually share it. It is probably one of my favourite pieces I have written due to the sincerity and rawness I felt writing it. 

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The final cut of the video after trial and error ( and deleting my work half the way by accident) 

I wanted my models in their natural elements where they felt most comfortable and confident because that energy has to be conveyed through the video therefore i made sure to crack a few jokes and compliment them like i have never complimented before!

I explored with different transitions, effects, vintage filters to create the look I wanted.  I look like an absolute mess but at least my models looked absolutely exquisite! My favourite part was putting the water which I captured earlier as a soft overlayer on top of my last footage shooting Juliet - it literally looks wavy which I love.

I have uploaded this on vimeo too!