1Blessed Natural Mag

O n June 6th and 8th, 2013 , Un-ruly.com held an exhibit called " You Can Touch My Hair ". The YCTMH interactive exhibit consisted of Black woman standing in a park. Each woman had a different hair texture including straight, curly, and loc'ed hair. The women held up white boards with black letters, spelling out the invitation, "YOU CAN TOUCH MY HAIR." Owner of Un'ruly, Antonia Opiah said, "It was a way of telling those who have stolen a touch or asked for one how it makes me and others like me feel—like an object put on display. But I also wanted to use it as an opportunity to further understand why someone might think that act or solicitation is okay and why black hair is such a novelty." Many have found the exhibition interesting, like one Twitter user: However, the YCTMH exhibit has also received backlash from people who felt like it was disrespectful: I believe the idea of YCTMH was a brave and interesting catalyst to a conv...

I t's always interesting when people want to let you know their opinion of your appearance, as if you asked them. This is the case especially with natural hair. Last week, I was standing at the bus stop with 3 teen boys. My hair was in an afro with a small part in the front, down the middle adorned with two bobby pins.When we boarded the bus, I sat in a window seat in the back. Two of the boys sat in the seats in back of me. One of them sat in the seat facing the aisle, across from me. The 3 young men decided to let me know my hair was "wolfin'" but, they didn't say it to me directly, of course lol. The young teens had a conversation about hair. The boy sitting across from me explained how he usually gets shape-ups so he could get "all" of the women. The young man's word choice for women, reached far below to the other word that begins with an "h" and rhymes with snow. No respect! They kept saying, "Her ish is wolfin". Th...