People continue to ask me if Black hair is still political. After Glamour magazine, Don Imus, and that little girl who couldn't dance in her ballet recital because of her dredlocks, I have to shake my head and say ABSOLUTELY.
I have nothing new to add to the subject here except to say that a whole lot of people will be discussing the topic this weekend, October 6-7 at the 13th Annual International Locks Conference in Philadelphia. No joke. There is a whole weekend festival in my new home town dedicated to cultivating the loc. Actually, the conference is really a celebration of Black culture and natural hair. There will be food, fashion, dance and a million different ideas to apply to the locks growing out of Black people's heads.
Over at Anti-Racist Parent there were 46 comments posted on an essay by Liz Dwyer who wrote about the detrimental effects of the terms "good" and "bad" hair on African-American children. This makes me realize just how important then, this locks conference really is. To educate and celebrate. For Blacks, Whites and everyone in between. Because even though it is a cliche, knowledge is power. Even when we're talking about hair.
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