30 Day Song Challenge: Day Fifteen

Day Fifteen: A song that describes you

          I have always had this love/hate relationship with my hair and more often than not the relationship teeters on the side of hate. I Am Not My Hair by India.arie is a song that is part of my definition of me.

          I remember when I became aware that my natural hair wasn't necessarily the 'best' my hair could look. A lady used hot irons to straighten my hair (I need not say I was impressed) and my kinky, nappy hair was down to the tops of my shoulders. She said it wouldn't last and that if I liked it my mother should find a place to get it straightened professionally (even when you get your hair straightened professionally and the rain hits it, man oh man...the recovery!). After driving a couple of times to a place in a city about an hour away, we found a place in my hometown. We left that place after she burnt my ears and head to a crisp one evening and tried another place in the same city we'd left, a city an hour away, and then another and another and another. I kept my hair straight until 2000 when I asked a friend to use clippers to buzz off my hair. I was sick of getting up early to fix it, as I now lived in that city and the town in which I taught was an hour away. For three years I kept my hair in a 'fro, and I let it grow.
          "Why are you letting your hair out like that?" I let it grow.
          "Are you a lesbian?" I let it grow.
          I let it grow sooo much that when I finally got it straightened again (at the behest of my co-cheer sponsor, who told me that I 'needed' to get my hair 'did'), my hair went down to my lower back. We took  pictures (that I can't find or I'd show you) and then cut it off to my shoulders (who can handle hair that long, especially in the summer?).
          Every year my hair changes...mostly based on what fun I had over the summer.

          I'd like to say that I wear my hair natural because of all the reasons that women do (black power and more), but I don't, I do it for one simple reason; it makes me happy and I'm beginning to move to loving it, and when the happiness stops then I'll change it.
          I'll never understand why my hairstyle can say so much!

                                            Lyrics | India Arie lyrics - I Am Not My Hair lyrics

Feel free to join in by commenting below (I really do love comments, on fb or here), or doing this challenge on your own blog.

The 30 Day Song Challenge

Day 01 – Your favorite song

Day 02 -- Your least favorite song

Day 03 -- A song that makes you happy

Day 04 -- A song that makes you sad

Day 06 -- A song that reminds you of someone

Day 06 -- A song that reminds you of somewhere

Day 07 -- A song that reminds you of a certain event
Day 08 -- A song that you know all the words to
Day 09 -- A song that you can dance to

Day 10 – A song that makes you fall asleep
Day 11 – A song from your favorite band
Day 12 – A song from a band you hate
Day 13 – A song that is a guilty pleasure
Day 14 – A song that no one would expect you to love
Day 15 – A song that describes you
Day 16 – A song that you used to love but now hate
Day 17 – A song that you hear often on the radio
Day 18 – A song that you wish you heard on the radio
Day 19 – A song from your favorite album
Day 20 – A song that you listen to when you’re angry
Day 21 – A song that you listen to when you’re happy
Day 22 – A song that you listen to when you’re sad
Day 23 – A song that you want to play at your wedding
Day 24 – A song that you want to play at your funeral
Day 25 – A song that makes you laugh
Day 26 – A song that you can play on an instrument
Day 27 – A song that you wish you could play
Day 28 – A song that makes you feel guilty
Day 29 – A song from your childhood
Day 30 – Your favorite song at this time last year