Afrocolypse

Anyone who knows me knows about the fro. Some have given it names, many have asked to touch it, and most appreciate it. My parents and I fight over it. Now that sounds stupid, and it is, but my hair means a lot more to me than they realize.

We live in a cookie cutter society. For the most part we listen to the same music, watch the same terrible TV shows, dress the same way, talk the same way etc. It is the homogeneity of the American suburbs. It is something that I don't believe is good. It is something I actively try to avoid. Not to feel superior, but to feel different. I grow my hair out not to have an afro, but to show that one can be academically, economically, and socially successful without striving to fall within a standard image. I don't think there is anything wrong with the standard image, other than the idea of a standard image. I believe in individualism as equality. Not standards and guidelines to success.

I was told that I would never get a job with hair like this. I responded that I would not be willing to work at a place who did or did not hire me based on my physical appearance.

My parents don't understand that I need to have nappy hair. Not just an afro but fully uncut, unkempt hair. In a world driving me crazy more and more each day it is one of the only things I can look at and feel proud of. It is the byproduct of completely uninhibited growth, a representation of what I wish the children of the world got to feel spiritually and intellectually. It is my way of trying to recapture all the free growth stifled at every turn by the school system, job market, media, and politics.

I believe that one should be able to do what makes them happy, because it makes them happy. I can honestly say that I look better with short hair. Girls tell me that all the time. But right now, I don't care, because I love my afro. And when I get it cut, it will be because I wanted to get it cut, and for no other reason.