Dear Madam Editor,
To me, embracing the beauty of natural hair is a celebration of identity and heritage, a sentiment echoed powerfully by Andrea Barnes in Monday's Letters to the Editor.
I wholeheartedly agree with her assertion that no hair is as beautiful as naturally kept hair, regardless of its ethnic origin—be it African, Malagasy, Caucasian, Native American, South Asian, Polynesian, Melanesian, Ethiopian, Arabian, or East Asian. My appreciation for the authenticity of natural hair stems from my Maroon roots, enriched by Haitian-Jamaican and South Indian influences within my Minott/Moorhouse/Maylor biological family and my understanding of Biblical meanings.
As we honor our national heroes, it is crucial to confront the colonial legacies and social media influencers that distort our perceptions of beauty and self-worth. The ongoing debates surrounding the hairstyles of Black students in Jamaica highlight a pressing need for change. The allure of Eurocentric beauty standards has led many to invest in wigs, hair-staining, and hair extensions, à la Shelley, often at the expense of their own natural beauty. This trend not only perpetuates mimicry but also distracts from the rich versatility inherent in Black hair—whether styled in afros, braids, locs, or twists.
Let us reclaim and celebrate our natural hair as an expression of pride and human/cultural identity. In doing so, we honor the sacred calls to emancipate ourselves from mental slavery and embrace the beauty that is uniquely ours.
BTW, as a father of five and a grand father of five more smart, woke, and sober ones who unreservedly exult in these views, I thank God for and boldly celebrate hair-naturalness throughout my bloodline.
by Dennis A. Minott, PhD.
October 23, 2024
I wholeheartedly agree with your sentiments! Very well said!