1Blessed Natural Mag

Charish Halliburton (photo cred: Charish Halliburton/Facebook) Charish Halliburton (via Facebook) A young man from the University's newspaper interviewed me because I spoke at the Black History Month Celebration. His first question was the vague "How do you feel about being a black woman?" When I heard it, I thought it was too simple. Like he hadn't done his homework when it came to journalism. I stammered before answering, but my immediate response was "I feel great." But I knew, in previous decades, that I had no idea what it meant to be a black woman. I varied from den ial to ambivalence to pride and the years in between those feelings were filled with turmoil. Rather than explain all of those stages, I rambled about something pseudo-intellectual until he asked another question.  Whether he knew it or not, that young man, asked the most unanswerable question you can pose a black person. I gave him an attempt in answering it (I can'...

1BlessedNatural: Being Mary Jane Highlights the Struggles of Young Black Natural Haired Women in the Workplace (photo cred: BET) This week's episode of BET's Being Mary Jane showed how Black women are often judged based on their age, skin color, and natural hair ( appearances in general) in the workplace. On the show, Mary Jane (Gabrielle Union) met with her team to discuss ideas for her return to her TalkBack show. When a young Black woman with natural hair by the name of Nina (Makeda D e clet) walked through the door, the reason for her presence was immediately questioned by her new co l league s.This represents the real-life struggle of many wom e n, especiall y Black women in America.  Nina received questions and comments from her new colleagues including one of the producers who was an Asian man named Young Jin. He questioned the 21-ye ar-old's ag e and expressed that she represented a demographic that he already represented in their group. Next, a B...

1BlessedNatural: Did QVC Host Make Offensive Comments Towards Black Model's Natural Hair? (photo: YouTube screenshot) Happy Saturday, my blessed naturals! I have been hearing about the accusations towards QVC host Sandra Bennett stating that she made offensive comments towards a Black model wearing her natural hair on the show. The segment was for a Dooney & Bourke handbag in which Bennett and another host were discussing the details of the bag. They were stating that you will not look back and wonder why you are wearing it. Bennett adds to this when she says, "Now, you might think, "Why did I wear my hair like that? But, you'll like your bag still." During that time, the camera focuses in on an African-American woman named Michelle who is rocking the bag and her curly hair. Bennett's remarks caused a lot of outrage in the natural hair community. After the show aired, another writer by the name of Bougie Black Girl called Bennett out on Tw...

1BlessedNatural:  (photo courtesy of Flickr- Gage Skidmore (cropped) - under the   CC BY-SA 2.0) Yesterday, TMZ reported that Halle Berry took her ex-boyfriend, Gabriel Aubry to court because he allegedly straightened and highlighted their 6-year old daughter, Nahla Aubry's hair.  According to the report, the judge ruled for the parents to let the little girl's hair grow out naturally. While I think a court visit to make a decision about her daughter's hair is a bit excessive, I agree with Ms. Berry all the way! Their daughter is too young to use harsh chemicals on her hair. Also, fathers' opinions of their daughters can have a large effect on their self-esteem. If the report is true and Gabriel Aubry really straightened and highlighted his daughter's hair, I believe he's dead wrong. We're suppose to be teaching the youth to love themselves. According to TMZ, Berry's words were that Aubry who is French-Canadian was trying to make their lit...

"La Capresse Des Colonies" by Charles Henri Joseph Cordier at the Metropolitan Museum of Art Happy Monday, my blessed naturals! Last weekend, I visited the Metropolitan Museum of Art (a.k.a. "The Met") with my family. We were on our way out of the museum when my brother said, "Look! There's Lauryn Hill." I turned around to find this beautiful bronze bust of a Black woman with short locs. She was not Lauryn Hill, but she looked a lot like her. The tribal woman bust was called "La Capresse Des Colonies" and was sculpted by artist Charles-Henri- Joseph Cordier (1927-1905).  The details of the woman's features were very elaborate and life-like. The woman wore a facial expression of being tired but still smiling through it. She wore a black flower in the back of her hair.  She wore a hat or scarf on the back part of her hair, leaving the locs in the front exposed. They were parted on the side and left to hang. The details on the...