"I am Not My Hair" Party 4/28

Well ladies I've finally had a few minutes to share with you all the fun that we had on April 28th. First, I must thank Montrie for opening her home to all the ladies who attended. We had about 28 women come and share food, fun, inspiration and words of support and encouragement. We had women with traditional locks, sister locks,fro's, twists, naturals, flat ironed, and even relaxed. While each was different, each woman was so very beautiful. Now I know you might be saying, "why was a sister with relaxed hair there?" Well, several of them were looking for information on how to transition or to support their child who is natural and remember after all someone helped us along the way. Among us some had been natural all of their lives and others had just begun the journey. We had a fantastic time as we shared our memories of our childhood when we "faked the funk" with the bath towel over our head, pretending to have long hair, thanks to Montrie's re-enactment. Many of us laughed as we remembered the straightening comb coming ever so close to our ear and we heard that familiar "sizzle" of the grease heating up signaling that a burn would probably occur. We shared also, kind and unkind comments we endured as we took the plunge and decided to go natural. Folks brought products and books to share and we had an opportunity to network. One sister had even designed a great tee shirt with the title "As Is..." It shows a beautiful caricature of a natural head woman obviously happy with whom she is. We also learned of salons and natural hair stylists in the area. Last, but not least, we had fantastic food from salads, hummus, fruit, vegetarian dishes, and my favorite, sauteed greens.

Our next planned event is for August in the park. We plan to bring along younger sister's who might be considering going natural, but who lack support. All in all I believe from the messages left in the guest book, all had a good time and I expect that we will build relationships that will last a lifetime.