Jonesdotcome Speaks: Black Men's Natural Hair

 Anyone who's ever known me has known I'm not the biggest fan of a haircut. For one, the cost of them are steady rising and two, it's something that has to be done every other week. With this being said, before January of this year, I'd been growing my hair out for about three years and I loved it. I'd say I'd only get a haircut about every two to three months in between and that's only when I had my hair braided. As a black man, my hair is very rough and thick and hard to manage. Constantly combing my hair out was a struggle and the way it looked combed out is hideous. Twisting and braiding my hair was even more of a task so that also rarely gets done. This meant most of the time I just wet my hair and finger combed it and went about my day.  I'm really a fan of how my hair naturally grows and there is nothing wrong with that.

The problem with my hair wasn't me, it was everybody else. I was constantly told that I needed to "do something with it" as if there was something wrong with my hair. From my parents to friends, it was looked as horrible. I was told that it was nappy and unprofessional. On a consistent basis, I was pressured into cutting my hair(which I did) and I often felt uncomfortable with it. Now I know tons of other black men get this same treatment. It's sad because when we grow our hair out, it is looked upon as if it is a problem(unless our hair looks like Odell Beckham), which is unfair to our style.

I feel the biggest problem with the criticism to my hair is that a lot of it came from Black Women. It's simply hypocritical. They often complain about how their natural hairstyles aren't accepted into the professional world(which is true) and that White America should stop being racist(which is also true). I don't understand as to why when it comes to the natural hair look, black men shouldn't have these same privileges.

All in all, I miss my hair, but I won't be growing it back. I'm going to be cutting it again, but this time low low. Wave game is about to be on tsunami. Since that won't be happening for a while, let's reminisce on the days my hair was a true mane.