MASKS

She is capable of movements the average human being cannot even conceive.  With a sweet face, cheerful and loving disposition and compact, athletic body, she captured our hearts (mine at least) and made us proud at the 2012 Olympics.  Did her community embrace her and stand behind her unequivocally as she made history?  About 75% of us did.  The others criticized her HAIR! publicly, acting as if she disgraced us somehow.  The others made such a stink about her hair, Hollywood stylist, Ted So-n-So (whose work on What Not to Wear I usually admire) rushed to her “aid”.  His solution I just saw again on Wendy Williams today.  Now that he has applied about 3 miles of weave to this young woman’s head, the others have breathed a collective sigh of relief.  “Gabby Douglas is not an embarrassment to the black race anymore.”  I try to tone down my really strong language when I’m posting but……even looking at that in print really starts to piss me off again.  Are you freakin’ kidding me?!?  Winning multiple gold medals wasn’t enough?  Being only 16- when many of our 16-year-olds are mothers already-  wasn’t enough?  NOW we can be proud of her and speak only words of praise?  I’m going to say it and I don’t care who doesn’t like it:  that child was absolutely gorgeous-inside and out- the way she was.  When will black woman stop making our daughters (especially) pay the price for our insecurities concerning the way we look?  Our sons pay, too- but just in a different way.  For their entire lives they watch us, mothers, grandmothers, aunts and female cousins- scramble to STRAIGHTEN THAT NAPPY HAIR , which sends the message (because actions ALWAYS speak louder than words) that “straight hair is absolutely essential”.  Then they are called “sell-outs” when they gravitate toward women who don’t have to struggle quite so much to achieve straight hair.    It is time to let our children fly.  They are picking up the emotional tab for our fear and self-loathing.  This one wasn’t a pretty post, but please receive it with love.  Be eternally blessed.  K.B.