Kinky Curly Hair Growth & Afro Hairstyle

I have mentioned in the past that my teenie weenie afro just takes way too long to grow and if you are trying to track your hair growth every day like I do, then surely it will look as though one's hair is growing slowly. However, I was going thru my monthly pictures for the last 6 months and boy has my hair grown!!

Because of our afro textured hair shape, kinky curly hair is really coiled so it can stretch out a lot. Since a natural hairstyle that isn't braided or twisted will be naturally coiled, then the hair growth will be really hard to notice if tracking it daily. While this may sound a bit obvious, I really cherish my hair growth so I have been a bit too "obsessed" (I'd say that's the word) about growing my hair!

As I was going through the pictures of the last 6 months, I was quite pleased to see that, on a month by month basis, my hair has certainly grown. I would say the growth has been more of an "up and out" growth which, this being my first time growing my kinks, I guess is normal. My hair is not going to be dangling any time soon unless I braid it, but then I am happy to rock out my teenie weenie afro which is now taking on the shape of a full afro. Once it hits the length of approximately 12 inches (according to what I have read and to my sister), then I can get decide what the next hairstyle is, whether it would be cornrows or braids, or maybe dreadlocks (like a young Gary Dourdan!). Or maybe just keep the afro hairstyle and just get some regular trims. I'll see as I have quite some length left to grow and time to think about it.

By the way when I mention 12 inches of length I am talking of the length I get when I pull a lock of hair. When I release the pulling tension on the lock my hair coils back really short which is pretty much what I mentioned at the beginning of this post. Matter of fact, this curly phenomenon is what is regarded as the curl factor in a book I have been reading called The Men's Hair Book (the full title of the book is much longer although that's the main title). I am loving the book so far and would like to review it in this blog soon as this book can help a lot of you guys with learning about your manes. The book is from none other than Rogelio from the Manly Curls site and I am learning so much about hair care and at the same time realizing I don't know as much as I thought I did that I have left a friendly disclaimer above this blog linking to the Manly Curls site if you're looking for hair advice that is more on the professional side. That doesn't mean that this blog of mine won't be of use to you, all it means is that my blog has been more of a starting point for me to document what I learn about kinky curly hair and natural hair as I go along. Blogging for me is a hobby although I do consider myself just a humble blogger with lots of (hair) questions to solve!

Peace.

Hendrick

I love my natural hair, do you?

I love my natural hair, do you?

I say and ask the above because I think our hair, and by 'our' I mean African kinky hair, has been submitted and ridiculed for centuries in the western world even though it was an attribute worthy of admiration back in our African homeland. It wasn't until the 1970s that women and men of colour started liberating themselves with their Afros and showcasing to the western world their newfound self-love and love to their African peers.

I love my hair without the narcissist traits. I am not talking of obsession or of putting my hair above anything else. What I'm talking about is appreciating that my hair is what it is because of my ancestry. I am proud to be a black male living in a western country and I respect all races and creeds. However, I cannot help but feel a special affiliation and brotherly love to those of us who belong to the African diaspora and who share a very distant family tree as well as unfortunate distant sufferings that only make us stronger in this day and age.

Brother, sister, love yourself and love your hair!

Hendrick

Natural Black Hair and the African Diaspora

My brothers and sisters of our African diaspora, our naturally curly kinky hair is one asset of ours we must cherish. Black men seem to have this notion that destroying their natural hair with frequent buzzes helps to portray a more male image, but I disagree. I think we black men and our black sisters have been led to hate our hair in today's society as it represents the very African spirit that stems from our dark skin. My belief is that by cutting our hair without considering other hairstyle options equally, we are submitting ourselves to self hatred without allowing ourselves to even consider priding ourselves in our African hair.

A black man can style his hair however he may want but he should never stop considering a natural way of styling his hair! I used to think my kinky hair deserved as much buzzing as I could afford to subject it but it has been with my natural hair realization that I now not only take pride in my hair but in myself as another brother of our diaspora.

Peace my family :-)

Black Natural Hair Rocks!

I love black natural hair and I encourage other black fellow men to grow their coils and kinks in their free form, because our kinky hair is beautiful and strong!