IS BLACK STILL BEAUTIFUL? © 2016
“Blackness for us means more than skin color.
Blackness means color, culture and consciousness.
By color, we mean the race, not a specific shade or specific hue.
"By culture, we mean how we live. By consciousness, we mean
total self-awareness, which is the basis of our identity, purpose
and direction, defined and determined by our black selves.”
Kalamu ya Salaam
"You don’t go natural, you stop being unnatural.”
Samuel K
blacksilentmajority SM
Back in the day, so-called Negroes rejected that name and decided to call themselves Black. The word Negro had been imposed on our group by others. But “Black” was a name black people chose for themselves to refer to themselves.
As Blacks evolved, many preferred to be called African Americans rather than black. The rationale was that black only referred to a color; not a country. Both terms are acceptable, but African American is probably more precise.
Though Hollywood had made black people ashamed of Africa, back in the day, Blacks challenged all negative European images of Africa, as well as European definitions of beauty. In repudiation of these European values, Blacks declared, “Black is Beautiful.”
That was then. Today, can we still say “Black is Beautiful,” and do we still believe it? For their parts, black males no longer “conk” or “process” their hair to mimic the hair of Europeans. But black females are dyeing their hair blonde. They’re spending billions on weaves and hair pieces to mimic the hair texture of European females. Natural hairstyles or women with their “real” hair are now rare.
Some of us have loved, and still love the hair our parents gave us. Some of us love the color we inherited. Some of us love our features. But in our heart of hearts, do we, as a group, still believe black is beautiful?
“Blackness for us means more than skin color.
Blackness means color, culture and consciousness.
By color, we mean the race, not a specific shade or specific hue.
"By culture, we mean how we live. By consciousness, we mean
total self-awareness, which is the basis of our identity, purpose
and direction, defined and determined by our black selves.”
Kalamu ya Salaam
"You don’t go natural, you stop being unnatural.”
Samuel K
blacksilentmajority SM
Back in the day, so-called Negroes rejected that name and decided to call themselves Black. The word Negro had been imposed on our group by others. But “Black” was a name black people chose for themselves to refer to themselves.
As Blacks evolved, many preferred to be called African Americans rather than black. The rationale was that black only referred to a color; not a country. Both terms are acceptable, but African American is probably more precise.
Though Hollywood had made black people ashamed of Africa, back in the day, Blacks challenged all negative European images of Africa, as well as European definitions of beauty. In repudiation of these European values, Blacks declared, “Black is Beautiful.”
That was then. Today, can we still say “Black is Beautiful,” and do we still believe it? For their parts, black males no longer “conk” or “process” their hair to mimic the hair of Europeans. But black females are dyeing their hair blonde. They’re spending billions on weaves and hair pieces to mimic the hair texture of European females. Natural hairstyles or women with their “real” hair are now rare.
Some of us have loved, and still love the hair our parents gave us. Some of us love the color we inherited. Some of us love our features. But in our heart of hearts, do we, as a group, still believe black is beautiful?