Black women are thought to hate their natural hair. Our natural hair in the media is portrayed as unattractive and unclean. I remember when friend of mine decided to go natural, I thought it was the worst thing that could have happened to her. I remember always telling her “why can’t you just wear weave?” “There’s nothing wrong with weave, just get your hair laid like mine.” I never understood why she couldn’t save herself the trouble and just get a sew-in. I was very ignorant. Flash forward to almost five years later and I have made the decision to go natural. I finally understand why my natural hair sistahs are embracing their golden crowns.
One of the reasons why I started wearing weave in the first place was because I wanted to fit. Every black girl I knew and have met had a sew-in. I felt foreign with my thick African hair always being cornrowed by my mammie. I was even made fun of all throughout middle school because I didn’t “fit in”. All of these things motivated me to get a sew-in. I remember begging my mom to let me get one in the middle of my freshman year. I was so determined to fit in with my friends because they all made fun of me and made me feel as if I weren’t enough or a human being if I didn’t have weave.
Flash forward to my sophomore year, I finally got what I wanted. Life was grand and what not. I perming my hair back and forth, going to different hair dresser every month, flat ironing my hair left and right, life was good. I didn’t think how much I was damaging my hair till I saw my hair getting thin. But that didn’t stop Jael lol. I had a reality check last year June, from then on I decided it was time to embrace all of me including my nappy hair. The first two months were rocky because I wore wigs all the time. I started making wigs before I made my decision so I had a whole collection to choose from lol.
My natural hair is what makes me who I am and I didn’t know that until I started paying close attention to my body and my behavior. I lost myself when I tried to fit in and be like everybody else. I didn’t know that I could stand out just being myself, so here I am again starting my natural hair journey over. I hope to spread positivity with this journey and also to inspire young girls like me to embrace what makes them who they are. I am Simply Jaelicous and I am a naturalista.
