What it really means when you call blk hair /napē/.
/napē/ Urban Dictionary defines Tightly coiled / curled unaltered hair. Coiled hair in its natural state. Found on people of African descent who do not chemically alter their hair texture.
Although most natural hair enthusiasts have taken back /napē/, one cannot ignore the connotation it holds when used to texture shame blk hair.
Through a colloquially dervived perspectives of
/napē/ is a demeaning term to blk folk who’s hair breaks socially constructed norms of beauty.
The natural hair movement resurfaced around 2010, more powerful than ever. With that, the natural hair ‘typing system’ surfaced along side with it. The hair typing system breaks down hair textures into different categories. From the straightest 1a to the tighest being 4c.
Translated to the creation to socialize people into the caterogies of /ɡo͝od/ vs /napē/.
Blk hair has always been liberating. When our ancestors were enslaved, the first thing dwights did was shave their heads. Their hair was powerful and revolutionary and once it was stripped it was easier to succumb to vulnerability.
Natural hair is a deviance. Natural hair is radical. Natural hair directly challenges beauty norms constructed to adhere to whiteness.
When you call my hair /napē/ you are demeaning the carefreeness our ancestors possessed.
When you call my hair /napē/ you are demeaning the black revolutionaries whose hair were statements.
When you call my hair /napē/ you are telling me that the closer my hair is to whiteness, the prettier it is. And the more it deviates, the
/napē[ier]/ it becomes.
Good hair is not monolithic. But of course I got good hair, I got African in me.
