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| The Great Equalizer Dreadlocks in a Corporate World.... |
| With the dreadlock explosion taking place in the last few years, many people who work in Corporate Amerikkka have decided to loc their hair in a quest to show pride in self, their race, and their nappy roots.... Unfortunately, a lot of these same people aren't quite sure HOW to loc your hair WITHOUT losing your job..... |
| There are times I find the posts some of these "corporate" employees make at the different loc groups...offensive and...well...I'll have to say elitist...Now, I'll probably get a lot of flack for saying this, but let me make my point... The majority of people in the corporate workplace have college educations, degrees, and titles attached to their jobs...One of the perks of having these "titles" is you are SOMEBODY amongst your peers...especially those who are not "titled"...I say kudos to you for having the perserverance to hang in there and achieve your educational goals!! ((BRAVO!! BRAVO!!)...I am VERY high on education of any sort.... The problem is, when these same "titled" people decide to loc their hair, their "title" means NOTHING when it comes to dealing with naptural hair...naptural hair is the Great Equalizer for Black people in ANY job.... It doesn't matter if you are the Black President of the United States, or the Black CEO of a major corporation....or the young ((or old)) man or woman who serves you your burger at Mickey D's....your naptural hair is going to go thru the SAME process ANY person of color has to go thru to grow dreadlocks...unless you go BUY some dreadlock extensions...attach them to your head... and go from there!! So okay...these "corporate" types join a loc group...say DREADLOCKS, or Lovinlocs, or Ladylocs...etc...and as a way of introducing themselves, they state they work in corporate jobs and have to "maintain" a certain appearance to meet the dress code or keep their jobs.... HELLO!!!...Do you realize EVERYONE has to "maintain" a certain appearance and dress code to work in this country???.....I just don't get it!! Nothing irks me more than a man or woman who says, as their introduction to the groups, "I want to grow dreadlocks, but I have to do it REAL fast and look perfectly manicured each day when I go to work...I have to go by a certain "standard" at my job to maintain my standing and position in the company....if my hair is allllll frizzy, I'll have problems with my employers...." So I say this to you....if you have done ANY research at all on dreadlocks before making the decision to loc your hair, you will know that your naptural hair goes thru different stages as you begin and continue to loc it....and those stages are part of the JOURNEY of locing your hair... so you must ask yourself if you are locing strictly for the fashion aspect of it, or to grow as a person of strength and character along with your dreads.... Somewhere, in each person's quest for locs, they HAVE to get it....to get the fact that, in order to GROW locs, you MUST be ready to accept all that goes with it...the locs coming undone...the itching scalp...the frizzy hairs sticking up...the untidiness as your locs continue to grow and form....the training of your hair to stay loced....the maintaince required to keep them looking somewhat neat...ALL of these things are part of the process of locing your hair...and it doesn't matter if you have Braidlocs, Nappylocs, Sisterlocks, Brotherlocks, Freeform locs, Organic Locs, Latch-hook Locs, twisted locs, coiled locs...Allll of them are going to loc totally WACK at some point!! So WHY oh WHY post to a group of people in a way that implies YOUR locs and YOUR appearance is more important that anyone else's?? Sometimes I read these posts and just sigh...sometimes I get frustrated...and sometimes I get plain angry!! NO one wants to go thru the messy appearance or trauma of not knowing how your hair is going to look the next day...and if you are committed to locing your hair, you surely must know that, if it was going to be easy, EVERYONE who ever sighted a head full of locs and found them beautiful would have them... The process of locing your hair brings about a complete transition in your appearance...it is NOT as simple as saying "I want dreads and I work for a corporation" or "I want dreads because I saw this man or woman with a beautiful crown and EYE want them too...RIGHTNOW!!"....lol... In this crazy world of INSTANT everything, you CAN have instant, perfectly groomed dreadlocks as well...just go to the beauty supply or online...find some fake dread hair, and have it attached!! Your hair will look great...you will satisfy your craving for locs... and you won't have to go thru all the drama of doing it naturally....you can even leave them attached and your hair will begin to loc UNDER the fake dreads... it's as simple as that....lol... But if you are REALLY prepared to go the distance, keep in mind that when you post a question and expect a compassionate and cohesive reply, don't make your "corporate" job or ANY job the focal point of your goal...the GREAT EQUALIZER, your naptural hair, and how to loc should be the focus! Otherwise, you can alienate otherwise kind and gentle people who are so willing to give their all to help you learn the real deal about locing your hair and how to do it with as little drama as is possible... Locing your hair in ANY setting is life changing and character building...I say again, your have to learn to accept and love the image you see in the mirror before you can expect anyone ELSE to!! The different processes of locing may give you CHOICES of how to loc your hair, but the fact that every one of them still involves going thru the different stages should make you think long and hard before you make the decision to loc your naptural hair...because your hair has a mind of it's own...you cannot tame it...but you WILL have to, and be able to, TRAIN it..... And when your "corporate" employers make comments about your hair, let them know it IS against the law to discriminate against a person because of their appearance....especially if you are clean and neatly dressed!! If your employer has no understanding about what your naptural hair is doing, be prepared to take a STAND and explain it to them! Make them understand by any means necessary that your hair is an extension of YOU, a Black man or woman...and your hair is presentable...it's just not up to THEIR standard of what presentable is!! You have the right NOT to damage your health or hair by applying chemicals to your hair to fit in the "corporate" mold... Take a good look in the mirror and love who you see...that's always a wonderful place to start...and know that EVERYONE who is locing is going thru the SAME things your are...ain't it cool... ....just me...daez Thank you God for giving me another day of life....AMEN..... |