This piece is part of my 2016–2026 archive migration. Some original formatting, content, and external links may be missing, changed, or not be optimized.
Thankfully that changed
Used To Desire To More Euro-Centric Features
The hair texture of a white girl used to be enviable. Their hair appeared more “attractive,” easier to manage, longer, and seemed to grow faster.
And I wanted their hair in elementary school!
I ponder this phenomenon frequently because I’m still flabbergasted and confounded about this truth.
Where did I learn to dislike and devalue my African-American hair?
“Who taught you to hate the texture of your hair?
Who taught you to hate the color of your skin?
Who taught you to hate the shape of your nose and the shape of your lips?
Who taught you to hate yourself from the top of your head to the soles of your feet?”
– Malcolm X
Education Helped Me Love My Hair
It wasn’t until college that my diversity mentor taught me to love my kinky, thick, and at the time, high-maintenance hair (which is because I didn’t know how to manage it yet).
She educated me on how to better care for my hair.
After I learned to care for my hair, I fell in love with my hair.
OVER-Straightening Our Hair Is An Issue
For most African-American women, our hair isn’t made to straighten with heat every day or frequently; it’s built for protective or low-manipulation styling.
That’s when it grows best and safely.
But for some reason, many of us are still encapsulated in the cycle of overusing Euro-centric wigs, sew-ins, or straightening our hair, which is nothing similar to our natural hair pattern – leading to damage over time.
Society Won’t Teach: Black Is Beautiful, But We Can
White or Euro-centric people are standard. They always have been, and this plays out in film, the corporate world, and the media. But it doesn’t mean we must comply with these beliefs.
Yet somehow, I learned this early on as a kid; I was taught to love Euro-centric people more than myself.
My parents didn’t teach me this, but the message somehow got through, which is scary.
I recently went to Cairo, Egypt, and every person I saw on the billboards looked nothing like the people that lived there.
Who was shown instead?
Lighter and more euro-centric-looking individuals, which perpetuated a negative message about the beauty of the people living there.
Brown and black are beautiful.
Who we are naturally is better than good enough.
Anytime a Black woman complains about her hair, I try to help them find the beauty of their hair because it is attractive and magnificently diverse in what it can do.
Let’s all love each other, respect each other, and put more effort into eradicating homogenous standards of beauty, unfair advantages, and discriminatory treatment.
The journey from braids > mini twists > sister locs
This content is for informational purposes only — not professional advice. Consult a qualified professional before making any major decisions.