Trae Bien: July 2011

Thursday, July 21, 2011

Wednesday, July 20, 2011

Afro Pick!

Last week's post about Jill Scott and the beautiful images of her made me have a little afro envy - yes, I was hatin' a tad because I miss the days when I rocked my fro - those in the know, call it a "fro."(. _ .) Back in the day, afro's were the symbol of black pride - the most fearless among us wore them proudly. Women like Pam Grier, Angela Davis, Maya Angelou, Toni Morrison, Oprah and countless others represented the strength and wisdom of beautiful black women.

Art by: Jeloid

The larger your fro the better - although, if you wore it small it was called a TWA (Tiny weeny afro) - a play on the now defunct airline. But thankfully afro's are not defunct!

Today, many women are still bravely sporting their fro's - but before you go and pat that weave, patting the afro was the thing to do - you had to get the shape right! There's even afro hair that you can buy in case yours does not grow out.

Gorgeous on both Knowles women!

These images of Jill Scott and Lauryn Hill with their lovely fro's are some of my favorites!

And India may not be her hair - but it sure was beautiful in this image.

I suspect that many women are having the occassional "afro envy" - even Halle!

There are some men who get the fro just right!

And some who don't - sorry Andre, I got nothing but love for you baby!

I've heard it said that afro's are fashionable again - but when were they not? I once had someone tell me that it's fashionable to be black again - really? Other than clothing, I did not know that the color of one's skin or ethnicity was a trend. I suppose one could make that assumption if they were allowing the fashion industry to make that determination - hence the still ever so absent images of black women on the runways and in magazine editorials.

Sure, we've slightly improved as a society, but the very rights for equality that the powerful and beautiful African Americans of yore fought for, have yet to be fully realized. Yes, we have a black president - but what does that mean when we still have inequality in economics, housing, education and healthcare. Are we as a people simply sitting back and enjoying the silence after years of fighting for our rights?

I suspect that if our fine President donned his afro again he would be able to fight off those hateful Republicans who are playing dirty politics at the expense of the American people!