Viola Davis' Facebook Photo: A Lesson in Self-Love

Viola Davis and her daughter Genesis (photo courtesy of the Official Viola Davis Facebook page)

Yesterday, Viola Davis posted a beautiful picture of herself and her daughter Genesis on Facebook. Mommy Davis was rocking a short TWA while her daughter rocked 2 cute puffs. Davis' picture had the following caption:

I took my wig off because I no longer wanted to apologize for who I am. There is not one woman in America who does not care about her hair, but we give it too much value. We deprive ourselves of things, we use it to destroy each other, we’ll look at a child and judge a mother and her sense of motherhood by the way the child’s hair looks. I am not going to traumatize my child about her hair. I want her to love her hair.

Similar words of Davis appeared in the October 2013 issue of Essence Magazine. Although, it has been about 2 years since she publicly revealed her natural hair, I think Viola Davis' words are still powerful. They remind me of the Sesame Street song and segment called "I Love My Hair." Davis' quote and Sesame Street's segment teaches us the most important lesson of all. The lesson is that we should instill self love in our children. The truth is when they go out into the world, it may not be as accepting of them, especially their kinks and coils. The installment of self love starts at home. One test of our children's self love may be when they are faced with a school yard or classroom situation where a peer or teacher may make a negative comment about their hair. How will your child feel? How will they respond? Again, I love Viola Davis' words. They remind us to teach our children that you should love your hair, but you are not your hair. Her choice to go natural is her leading (her daughter to love her hair) by example.

How do YOU encourage your child to love their hair?

Related Articles: God, Self-Love, and Goals
Little Girls and Natural Hair
The Vanessa VanDyke Story: Where is the Love
My Interview with "America's Supernanny" Deborah L. Tillman

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