Photo: Solange Knowles' via her My Damn Blog

Just Whip It

These days, it’s difficult to have a conversation about black hair without tumbling into the pitfalls of a natural-vs.-straightened or weaves-vs.-braids debate. The way black women choose to wear their hair is highly politicized. But truthfully, that choice is informed by a vast number of different priorities. For many of us, it’s about convenience. For others, it’s cosmetic–and for others still, it might be part of a more important statement. Prestonia, for instance, frames the line of natural hair products that she produces as an extension of her “naturalista” beliefs; “Our grooming and other habits should feel organic and be environmentally sustainable.”

And my take? It can’t be said any better than by reluctant icon of the natural hair movement, Solange Knowles: “The way we wear our hair is a personal choice, there’s no right or wrong way; one way doesn’t make us more intelligent or more superficial and everyone makes that choice for very different reasons.”

To that sentiment I add a favorite Willow Smith adage of mine: “Just whip it.” And until you’ve tried whipping a head full of box braids… you have no idea how fabulous it can feel.