I Am Not My Hair

I know what your thinking off the bat, didnt he already have a post like this? Well your right I did "Rasta vs Dreads" was its name in which I outlined the difference between the 2 and showed what I am and topped it with the Indie Arie classic "I am not my hair" however in the last several months some things have consistently been said to me that made me want to revisit this and put a bit of a spin on it. And if your not thinking that then clearly you havent been reading the blog long enough and I beseech you (Ive always wanted to say that)


So again for those of you havent read my previous post or dont kno me at all (or are blind to my many pictures of myself) I am a dread and lately I feel as tho Im being "labelled" for it. Its kind of funny, the source isnt who you may think (the police-cops) but rather the children I work with! That wont alarm some of you because some of you look at children and think they dont know better and brush it off which is what I thought at first too until I realized most of what children learn they pick up from other people, other ADULT people. As a float coordinator my entire job is to go from center to center and interact with different kids daily and a good 90% of the kids always ask me if Im Movado Jamaican off the bat. I didnt take too much offense at first because Im aware I fit the bill; Im black and I have dreads but then it hit me: Why is that SPECIFIC to Jamaicans? I dont claim to be a rasta nor know their culture/history but Im fairly certain they dont all migrate to Jamaica but rather the motherland of Africa? More specifically Ethiopia? (anyone feel free to correct me if Im wrong here) That being the case then why are dreads consistently and instantly linked with Jamaica? I understand they prolly have the most dreads per capita and have clearly made dreads famous but to the extent that children ask on sight? Somethin in that feels like its a misconception thats been handed down from generation to generation which is my real gripe here, the things we pass on to our kids....Im quite irritated at how often I have to say "No Im not Jamaican Im from Trinidad" only to hear "Then why is your hair like that? Only Jamaicans have dreads" Im paraphrasing of course.

I dont like being placed in any one box. Im a guy that falls under many different categories, I like to wear a variety of hats and to be so defined by one aspect of myself bothers me. Now I can hear o so many voices simultaneously going "So then cut your hair!" to which I say NO! All that does is shift the focus from black with dreads to jus black. Not an improvement. I got dreads because Ive always enjoyed the style and I like having hair and peoples preconceived notions will not deter me from that. My own father (the middled aged bald west indian man...rare right?) once claimed that because of my hair he wouldnt be able to pick me out of a crowd... ironic no? All that did was further my belief that people have a set assessment of people before they have anything tangible to go on. Im not goin to say this as though Im above it and completely guilt free but the difference between me and them is I dont address people by their initial label and Im willing to try to learn things about a person AFTER Ive labelled them Im scum but jus a little bit better than the rest of you...just a little

Sadly unlike most of my posts I dont even have a whole lot of ways of ending this telling you how to better yourself other than simply saying allow people to surprise you #kanyeshrug. They cant all be gems people

Since the last hair related post I posted Ms.Arie's song and its clearly more applicable here Im going to post a song that would be more applicable for that post :D

@ItsJus2Easy