Now that I think about it, I am in disbelieve that I had to go through the pain of a burnt scalp every month for almost 20 years. For centuries black women around the world were discriminated against because of their skin, hair and culture. Hence chemical relaxers were used to straighten hair, removing the curly afros, and making it easy to style and comb. I was born with a bushy thick curly afro and I am only admitting now that the relaxing process was always painful for me, because of my sensitive scalp that would get burnt easily all the time. Beginning of the year I decided to stop relaxing my hair for a few reasons. Firstly because my scalp was getting burnt all the damn time and I wanted to grow my bushy thick curly afro, embracing my identity as beautiful African woman.
I think it was in my last year of tertiary, I started following the social trends of putting weaves on now and again. When I started working, flicking an expensive weave was one of my expenses (Peruvian, Indian Cambodian, and Brazilian) I mean why not, I am “Miss Independent” I can afford it. I don’t know what happened but last year December was the last time I had a weave on. I started getting more and more irritated when I had it on. I hated the bad odor, firstly it is not easy to wash it because your hair is braided underneath before the weave is actually sewed in, secondly if it is not washed properly, bacteria still remains on your hair and the smell gets out of hand. I’d always tell myself “I spent a lot of money on it, so I am going to keep it”. I used to find it almost impossible to clean weaves on the floor, to make matters worse my broom and mop turned into a dwelling place for the weave from the floor. I still cannot believe that I actually spent close to R6000 on 3 bundles of hair and didn’t see anything wrong with it, like what on earth was I smoking bro?
I used to believe that having an afro is a lot of work and not easy to maintain, forgetting that if you really love something nothing can ever stop you in getting it. Now I am growing my afro and I will have braids and protective hairstyles as opposed to having an expensive weave that will smell after 2 weeks. I already started watching YouTube videos, I share ideas with friends and colleagues about which products are safe to use. The transition is less painful and much cheaper. I will wear my afro with so much pride and honor without hiding my true identity as an African beautiful gorgeous woman.
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