Ashlee’s Corner

“Hello all my natural Newbies and Vets, I bring you greetings from the Los Angeles, California.  I’ve been a 100% Kinky since December 10^th 2007.  I actually did the big chop 4 months after I stopped relaxing.  Two years later and a head full of kinky curls, I am still learning about my hair.”

Hello Ladies,

Its been a while since I’ve taken the time to grace Red Pumpz beautiful site, but I wanted to share this experience with you all. As I know we are all learning new things about ourselves daily with our natural hair experience and it helps when others share their own, so here goes. 

Around February, I begin to think heavily about locking my hair. I had grew tiresome of the constant braiding ritual that I went through every night to have that curly style I loved to sport. I saw more and more women with locs and I was wholeheartedly convinced that this was the style for me. I mean, my hair naturally would loc anyway, its beautiful, and I don’t have to do anymore braiding. I was convinced. So I called up mama dread, back in Miami (as I was taking a trip back to see my family) to start some locs for me with two strand twists.

She asked me if I was sure this is what I wanted and I told her I couldn’t be anymore ready for this. So my locking process began. I was loving every moment of it.  3 months later, I became a fuzzy head and wasn’t very sure if this was exactly what I had wanted. I couldn’t wash it, only spray and clean with a wash cloth. I used shea butter and aloe very to keep some luster and on the 4th month I was super excited because I had enough growth to twist my hair. It was beautiful and quite simple to do. It reassured me that I made the right decision in locking. 

At this point I had been natural for about 2 years and 3 months.

…TO BE CONTINUED…

 

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Ashlee’s Corner Archived Entry #1

 World War Propaganda: The Battle of Kinked Beauty

Two days ago I felt beautiful

Afro Kinked and midnight skin

Bee stung lips and broad thick nose

Tear dropped eyes and short little toes.

 

Then I bought a ticket to see Dream Girls,

Featuring a love ingénue so pretty and fair

Mesmerized by her song, I bought into the hype

Couldn’t change my skin color but I changed my hair.

 

Now a European weave covered my kink

And I felt like a Dream; and wouldn’t you think

That an educated woman could see past the lie

That conformity to Euro-beauty Standards doesn’t make you fly.

 

Nope. Propaganda won this round

But the battle is yet done

Four weeks from now I’ll remove this piece

And my natural will have won.

 

Last month I felt regal, with a queenly composure

My head wrapped, my locs safe from over-exposure

I felt like Nandi and Candace;African Queens of the past

But after one commercial; the feeling didn’t last.

 

A wild eyed Black woman

With a very mean snare

Looks back at me desperately asking

“What to do with this bushy hair.”

Well here comes Dr. Miracle

On his valiant white Horse

With a creamy white concoction

That removes all the coarse…

And somehow replaces it

With Silky European Shine

And then all the men come to wine and dine!

 

I could clearly see this was impossibly true

But once propagandas got you

What else can you do?

 

So out I go for a minky yak wig

No miracle grow for me, just a temporary gig

To help me fit in and get the special treatment

From the guys; I can not believe I believe this!!

 

But this will pass and again

I’ll feel beauty in my aue naturale self

I won’t need to pretend like I’m something else.

 

I’ll grow strong and hold on, so propaganda can’t win

I’ll repeat to myself that natural’s always IN!

 

I’ll be me and they’ll see this beautiful creation

And realize there was never a need for the fictional alteration.

 

Here comes another damn commercial….

The war continues.

Ashlee Katrice

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

“As natural women we are constantly bombarded with images to make us second guess our beauty. There is a war being waged upon your self-esteem and psyche; sometimes you win the battle and most times propoganda wins. This is not only happening to Sisters of the African Diaspora but to every woman who is non arian (blonde hair or blue eyed) There is a battle against our Asian sisters to change her eyes, our Caucasion sisters to be paper thin, Our Indian Sisters to lighten their skin, and a battle against the Black sister to denounce her hair. This poem below represents one aspect of the Propoganda War and Black woman fighting hard to keep her righteous mind”