Hair : a magical mean for expression
It would be a weekend, my hair was in braids throughout the week and now it sat comfortably and tightly in two space buns. My neck would feel the breeze better than ever and I could play for longer on the streets.
Buns meant the weekend but they also meant the dreadful wash day. A day in the week (often a Friday) were my textured hair would be thoroughly washed with a traditional hair mask and freshly made oils (the house would smell of the poignant herps - it was unbearable!!). It would always be tangled since I constantly hid from my grandma when she tried to comp through it, and the only distraction from the pain of the awful comp was grandma's backed sweet potato. |
The cornrows braids are a stable for me. Most black women struggle with our fast drying hair, tangling, and texture, for it to remain workable and avoid breakage we often put it into protective hairstyles.
I love whenever my hair is in its natural form, without all the additional -excessivly promoted to us- means to straighten it. Whenever I do straighten it, my life becomes somewhat easier; without the need for constant care and protective braids, and I also manage to blend in some more and not get as many head turns. Yet, it is more of a temporary fun, for I would never wish to lose this part of myself. My hair is a crown that displays the powerful heritage I have, and I would be a fool to lose this crown |
The Sudanese women and her dangling gold earrings
The crescent-shaped gold earrings hold great significance in the Sudanese culture both through religion - the crescent or "Al Hilal" has great importance in the most practiced religion there, Islam-, and ancestral symbolism - the Nubian queen known as "Kandaka" and her iconic huge gold earrings that shimmered under the bright Sun. "Kandaka" signifies far beyond the queen of Sudan's ancient Kingdom of Kush, it is the term of the women of the Sudanese revolution, one that illustrates the legacy of empowered women who fight for their country and their rights.
Whenever I wear those gold earrings (even when they are fake) I feel powerful, my back straightens and my head lifts high, I reek of unbeknown confidence...I feel like royalty. The significance of them to me goes beyond my identity as a Sudanese women, for they are shaped like the moon; the one that shone brightly over my grandparent's yard and that which I sang my concerns to in lullabies. After all, what's a crown without its jewels.
Whenever I wear those gold earrings (even when they are fake) I feel powerful, my back straightens and my head lifts high, I reek of unbeknown confidence...I feel like royalty. The significance of them to me goes beyond my identity as a Sudanese women, for they are shaped like the moon; the one that shone brightly over my grandparent's yard and that which I sang my concerns to in lullabies. After all, what's a crown without its jewels.