Research for Possible Graphics project

After all this research, I think I will do another poster series, or some other graphics/art project, on African American history and culture.

Some possible topics could be:

1. The importance of African American hair and its history.  Why people started relaxing their hair.  Why it is seem today as good or bad.
- Black is Beautiful
- Intro to Black Hair  - Coil Review
- My Natural Hair Journey

2. Various activists
- Assata Shakur
- Marcus Garvey
- Sojouner Truth

3. African music, art and poetry.  Though I have not posted much here are some artists, I found interesting.
- Slam NUBA
- African American Reading List   (Secret Life of Bees, From Strength to Love, Black Power and Black Theology, and Bullets (from Slam NUBA))
- For Colored Girls (should be added to my reading list)

4. "Black is Beautiful," "Black Pride" or "My Black is Beautiful." One of the main issues that I found on this topic is the debate between relaxed and natural hair and what it says about an African American woman.
- My Black is Beautiful


5. African religion and spirituality
African Spirits in the Diaspora

6. White Privilege and Light-Skinned Privilege (you get some for ex. I don't get followed at wall mart but still cant see myself in a wedding magazine to see what a dress would look like on me.) This topic could also talk about how all (most) people have privilege and how to use those privileges to stand up for others.

7. I am not sure how this would be used in a project, but the importance of Black Liberation Theology.


These are just some possibilities for research that I can use in future graphics projects...

Hair Lesson - What is Good Hair?

I have spent around 5,000 on my hair. I know that people would say that I am prettier with straight hair but I love love love not having relaxed hair anymore. (Some people might prefer the curls, but I think that is mostly because it is different or uniquie.) I can still flat iron it but I want to take care of my hair. Part of taking care of your hair is not relaxing it.

I don’t shampoo my hair…The winters in Laramie are way too cold. It will kill it and break. I grew up with mostly white people who didn’t know what to do with my hair. One time when I had braids in there I actually broke break my braids off because they were so fragile from over washing. Conditioner does have many of the cleansing properties that shampoo has, it just doesn’t have all of the harsh chemicals. I have recently started co-washing.

What is Good Hair – Part one



Part 2

This video makes me want to cry…Relaxing does burn. The first time my scalp was covered in scabs. I couldn’t brush it without bleeding. Like I said I was raised around mostly white people so it wasn’t until middle school that I had my hair relaxed. Three years old is crazy.

I have a friend who has really nappy hair and when she wears it down on our college campus she will get dirty looks from many of the black girls on campus.



Part 3

Madame CJ Walker, the first female millionaire, invented hair relaxer and skin bleach so that black people could pass as white people. Is that still why we relax our hair?



Part 4



Part 5

I want to do a Graphic Design Poster series (or art series) called My Black is Beautiful (or something similar) based on this idea.

Slam NUBA

I attended The Good Mule Conference last weekend. One of the sessions included a workshop with the group Slam NUBA. The group was incredibly inspiring. We discussed writing from the heart and using art as a form of activism. My favorite poem was by Suzie Q and was about black beauty. I am having a hard time finding it (it is in this book but not online anywhere) but here is some of her other poetry. The first in this video was one that she performed for us.

Suzie Q
The second poem does include some swearing.

One of my favorite quotes from Suzie Q was that her “goal is not to make you hare [her] beliefs but to make you understand, to see, just for a moment.” This is so beautiful because that is what activism, and art, are all about. You want to educate people about an issue but your end goal is not always to agree but rather to both come out as better, more well rounded, and socially aware individuals.  If a piece leads to dialog, that is often more intriguing and beneficial than a conversion of ones beliefs.

In response to her second poem, I think I will be posting about God not being on sides (hmm I will either take the “God doesn’t pick a country” argument or the “what race is God topic?” Maybe I will write a post on both theories).

Bobby LeFebre and Ayinde Russell were the other two poets in the conference. I love how Bobby uses Spanish. It is so beautiful.  I remember when I asked my Spanish prfessor where a rule (I think about a stem change) came from and his response was "por que es mas bonita, es no fea como Ingles ."

Both of these guys had poems for their wives which inspiring as well.

The three of these performing artists were so full of soul and wisdom.

Bobbly LeFebre

I didn’t get to see either of these poem live.
Click here if the video doesn't play.

The passion and humor is great!

Ayindie Russell

We didn’t hear this one either…

We saw at least part of this. I don’t remember the “We rise together part” but do remember him singing “we are not alone.” Either way, I love it when people break out in song.

Click here if the video doesn't play.



I am curious to know where NUBA comes from. Does anyone know? or are you going to make me do all the work? :)

The Coil Review

Coil Review
I don't know much about this but it cracks me up every time I see it.


In the comments sections on YouTUbe felixicon says "actually i dont mean to b rude but we are not (black's) the only race of people that feel that way it's every culture and race everyone is trying to achieve the european look asian, american, indian, midle wast ect.. so again alot of black people need to recognize the problem and stop blaming things on each other embrace our brother and sisters faults so we could grow out of this epidemic."

He has a good point but embracing ourselves (wether natural or relaxed) could be a wise priority.  The lack natural being beautiful is something that should be addressed and changed and this video does that in a slightly humorous way.

My Natural Hair Juorney

In response to my hair videos (I still have a couple more coming) I figured I would post some photos of my hair.  The last time I relaxed my hair was a few weeks before my wedding (May 23, 2009).  Since then I decided that I didn't want to deal with spending the time or the money to get it relaxed, so i didn't.

My hair still takes time but I am taking care of it better and I have so much more freedom.  I can get my hair wet, don't have to worry about the humidity, and I have the option of wearing it curly or flat ironed (I know this does damage the hair).  Here are some photos since I have gone natural.

They are all pretty bad photos of me, but you can see the hair.  I usually do my hair, or take it out, late at night (from 12 - 4am) so they are all late night before bed images.

I have no clue why I was making that face.

I think that this is my favorite curly hair or at least my favorite amount of curl.

Twists.  There is a better picture of them down below. 

I am still learning how to detangle/brush my hair so it took me a long time to get the tangles out without breakage.  

The twists probably took an hour maybe two, with detangling it was over 4 hours.

Here is my twist out.  It was late and I was tired.  It took a while.  I tend to leave protective styles in for a long time.  It was about one or two months, I think, some of the new growth started to dread.  It made for a late night.  But taking my time paid off.  I was shocked at the length that I had...

Deep conditioning, a co-wash, and four hours of flat ironing later.

In the winter (currently, I might change this) I co-wash about once a month and add about a tsp of olive oil before I go to bed every night.  I also use Shea Butter and other conditioners daily.  It seems to be working.  We have COLD, windy and snowy winters here and I do not want to risk shampooing the oils out, I also don't want build up of product.  Finding the happy medium may take a while.
  

In the summer I wash or co-wash my hair a about once/week.  I oil and condition more often.  About 3 tbsps a day if I wear it curly.

I do love how long my hair has grown due to going natural.

Miscellaneous photos

Simple protective style.

African American Barbie

Black Barbie


There are many pro and anti Barbie arguments out there. I see some validity in both. I realize that Barbie does offer unrealistic and impossible ideals about body image to young girls. At the same time Barbie has shown many young women that they can be anything that they want.

These examples of Black Barbies are inspiring because a lot of black women may not have been told that they can do anything that they want, however, black women can do anything the same as anyone else.  I love that some of these Barbies have natural hair, another important topic to the black community.

No matter where you stand on the pro to anti Barbie spectrum, it is hard to deny that these images haveto potential to offer inspiration to many young ladies around the world. In addition they shed light on an important part of American history.

My Black is Beautiful

This Black is Not Beautiful!

When I was little most of the black women that I had to look up to were not the greatest role models. There were not many respectable black people, male or female, on TV (BET or MTV). It is sad when an entire group of people is completely misrepresented for entertainment.

Anyone know what blackface was? Well a good example of it (people making money off of a caricature of black people) is the gangster rap they play on the radio. I will give you guys some examples of socially aware and intelligent hip hop in a future post, probably this month (here are some past music posts Bad Brains, a Gospel Choir).

NPR on blackface 

The point of Black History Month is not only to educate ourselves but to be proud of what makes us (not just blacks but people in general) unique and beautiful. Because I believe that all women and girls should have the opportunity to see beautiful, intelligent and respectable women who look like them, I decided to post this. And for those of you who are not a black female, I believe that you deserve to see something other than the dancer in the latest Jay-Z video. You deserve to see real beauty and real people. 

My Black is Beautiful Manifesto

My Black is Beautiful
From the color of my skin, to the texture of my hair, to the length of my strands, to the breadth of my smile,
To the stride of my gait, to the span of my arms, to the depth of my bosom, to the curve of my hips, to the glow of my skin,
My Black is Beautiful.
It cannot be denied. It will not be contained. And only I will define it.
For when I look in my mirror, my very soul cries out,
My Black is Beautiful.
And so today, I speak it out loud, unabashedly, I declare it anew,
My Black is Beautiful.
Whether celebrated, imitated, exploited or denigrated. Whether natural from inside or skillfully applied,
My Black is Beautiful.
To my daughters, my sisters, my nieces, my cousins, my colleagues and my friends,
I speak for us all when I say again,
My Black is Beautiful.

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TV Show
Some Good Health Tips
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Share my post with others who might want or need to see this.

What makes you beautiful?

Intro to Black Hair

More of my posters

Here is these guy’s blog. It is a little intense…but enjoy!

Regardless of where we stand in relationship to the belief systems of the hosts of this video, they do bring up some important issues in reference to black hair and the black community.  The first video interviews people and shows the pro-relaxer side of the story and the other shows the pro-natural side (my side).  Enjoy and learn a little about the debate.  I will add some links to my other posts on the topic, including pictures of my hair and a Tyra Banks Show on the topic.


pro relaxer, weave etc.
I did get my hair relaxed all through middle school and high school.  The first time I remember having scabs all over my head.  The chemicals were extremely painful and damaged my hair.  In the past couple yeast I have not relaxed my hair.  My natural curl has come back and my hair is several inches longer.  It is healthier.


Pro-natural
I think that people who have natural hair tend to take better care of it.  They wear protective styles and see the importance of building strong hair.  Those with natural hair also tend to apply heat less also making the hair healthier and stronger.

I don't think that there is anything wrong with relaxing hair but I have seen how much healthier it is in its natural state and the curl is something to be proud of.  I also like the I can hot comb or flat iron my hair and wear it straight and long when I want to.

Anyways, what are your thoughts on the topic?  Did you know that it was an issue in the black community?  What are your thoughts on relaxed vs. natural?