#Black Hair Matters

After the death of Sandra Bland, I felt like I had been hit hard. I took it personally and something in me stirred. Based on the video clips I've seen from Sandra, she had already been stirred and was speaking out against injustice within the criminal justice system. She posted such exhortations via social media.

When Sandras'  tragic story was made known, in addition to the sadness, disbelief, and anger I felt over her death, I remember thinking, I like her hair.

And as trivial as that may be, looking at her hair made her closer to me. She became my friend. I mean, we had the same hair, she could have visited my YouTube Channel or my natural-hair social network back in the day. The more I saw her, the more it mattered to me, that she was always smiling and her hair was always nice in her pictures. She rocked natural styles as well as straightened styles. She wore big earrings from time to time. Among the many things Sandra and I had in common, we shared hair culture and that mattered. I saw myself in her and that made me wake up a bit from my ignorant slumber. My prayers still go out to her family.

I recall watching the live coverage of the women's march on Washington, when one of the organizers of the event, Tamika Mallory, came to the podium and gave the most rousing speech. I was moved to tears by her words! Buuutttt, I was also looking at her hair. It was dark brown, a little longer than shoulder length and loosely curled at the ends giving it a very nice volume. The style complemented her features very well. It looked like it could have been a sew in, or it could have been her natural hair blown out. Whatever it was, it looked good and I was proud.

Sitting on my couch, in the middle of the day, skipping work just to stay plugged into the march, I had this strong, confident, anointed person encouraging me and to top it off, she has the same hair as me! That made me feel like she knew me. She was fighting for me. I was able to look at her and see a reflection of myself. Maybe I could be that strong, confident anointed person again too.

Call me silly, but black hair matters to me and

#BlackHairMatters is where I talk about hair in a way that relates to what is happening in the world around us. Hair and beauty is often skirted off to the side as something of insignificance in the grand scheme of things, but it really isn't. The way a woman feels about herself directly relates to how she presents herself. And for all of the strong women we have among us who  are making moves, organizing, running for office, raising families, building businesses, protesting,  working in corporate America, encouraging others; they have hair and they have to decide daily what to do with it and how to style it in a way that makes them feel best represented. It's not trivial.

So, dear reader, I have a question for you. Does #BlackHairMatter to you? Why or why not?

tags:#BlackHairMatters,#SunshineAbuwi,#SunshineLovesPeace

Sunshine Abuwi

Hi, I’m Sunshine Abuwi! Success Coach, Motivational Speaker, Beauty & Wellness Blogger. I like to think of myself as living on purpose and so far these are the purposes I have aligned with. *Loving, supporting and building my healthy, happy family. *Learning to be confident in my Kinky Curly Afro textured crown.*Creating multiple streams of easy, joyful, satisfying income.*Feeling confident, secure and worthy of abundance. *Sharing all I learn with those who are seeking this information.  I'm glad you're here! So grab a coffee, sit back and scroll through the many blogs and videos that span the last decade of my life. I hope something resonates and that by observing my processes, perspectives and preferences you are inspired in your own journey. Can’t wait to connect wth you in the comments. Your new friend, #SunshineAbuwi