My dreams

It is very common nowadays to see  hash tags like #teamAfro , #TeamNatural on Facebook , twitter , Instagram !I can proudly say I have also posted a photo with such a hash tag since I have an Afro myself .  Its not really a common thing that black women of this generation still keep their hair natural . Aside from religious views which others follow that do not allow us ladies to perm our hair and our economic status which would not allow us to buy hair chemical , natural hair styles are on the loosing side . I am not being biased but let us consider all those women in the urban areas who keep hair . Most of them keep it permed or they braid it  because they do not have time to sit down daily and blow dry it as they comb so that it looks presentable.Some just like weaves to make them look different .

People who perm or braid their hair are not always doing it because they are ashamed of our own African hair texture but to be honest our hair is kinky! Yeah , I said it !We have kinky hair , try staying with your natural hair for a week and see how hard it will be to comb it if its dry .I remember the old days when I would cry every morning when my sister or mum  tried to fix my natural hair to make me look presentable.Dry hair is painful and hard to comb especially if it is long .

Having an Afro is challenge , its something most of us don't want to have. Short Afro hair is not really a problem because you can wash it every morning , dry it with a towel and comb it. It does not need styling of any sort. Long Afros need time and care , if you have a long Afro and do not take good care of it you will end up looking like a lady with a mop in her head.

I once went through my parents old photos to see the kinds of hair styles that they had . To my surprise my Dad has an Afro too!He proudly said that those days men with Afros were considered cool and funky!Hair extensions were not there those days so the ladies just had to either keep and Afro or make cornrows. It must have been really hard maintaining an Afro because Electricity was not in every house those days and speaking of hair driers , they were only available in a few salons . My Granny once told me that in order to make the Afro soft , they would take a nicely shaped stone , heat it by placing it on the fire and when its hot they would make it pass through the hair . They had to carefully do that to avoid burning the scalp and their hands when they were doing it . That sounds like flat ironing the hair using a stone .

In this modern age of blow driers and tongs ,keeping an Afro is not as hard as it was in the old days . But as I have already said , it takes time to style it . so most of us think : why should I waste time every morning washing my hair , straightening it and styling it when I can have braids which don't need a lot of time to tie them in a bow ? Be it braids , permed hair or Afro  , if you are keeping it neat go ahead ! For those rocking an Afro kudos!