The TSA
(Transportation Security Administration) is in the news again, this time for searching
Solange Knowles’ afro at a Florida airport.
Ms.
Knowles has been photographed with some pretty
big hair, and I guess she could hide something in there if she really wanted
to. It’s hard for me to gauge whether the TSA acted reasonably, because
the world has gotten so crazy. In any case, given the
choice I’d rather they search my ‘fro than my diaper.
I like
Solange Knowles. I think she’s underrated as a singer, and she’s apparently
funny, too. She jokingly tweeted that hers was a case of “Discrim-FRO-nation,” and
then invited her followers to guess “What did TSA find in Solange’s Fro?” Some
of the responses were hilarious.
Historically,
black hair (especially when worn in its natural, curly state) is no stranger to
controversy. I started wearing my hair short and natural about fifteen years
ago, and I got comments about it then, and I get comments about it now. Back
then, I got a lot of questions about why
I wanted to wear my hair natural, as though there had to be a damn good reason for
me to do that. There were still those
who believed I must be going natural as some kind of statement. I was making a statement, all right, but not a political
one. My statement was, “I’m sick and tired of burning my ear with the hot iron.” Also, I could spend hours relaxing, blowing dry, and curling my hair (this
time with the intent of producing a loose wave rather than a tight coil), and
the minute humidity hit it, my hair would stick out its tongue at me and do whatever
it darn well pleased. Finally, it wore me down (no pun intended), and I decided
to begin exploring what would make it happy.
You are evil, and I banish you! |
I still
dream (literally, at night) about having long, wavy hair, but it’s just not for
me. It doesn’t look good on me, and I hate the upkeep. I’ll leave the humongous
‘fros to Solange Knowles and other celebrities with larger-than-life
personalities, but it feels good to be a natural woman.
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