Dallas writer shares gospel of 'naturally' good hair
03.28.05
By Elizabeth Roman
Diversity Institute Fellow
The sound of addiction pops and sizzles and is forever fused with the heat of a hot comb in the poetic world of Linda "Mosetta" Jones.
Jones, award-wining journalist and author of Nappyisms: Affirmations for Nappy-Headed People and Wannabes, led an audience of about 25 people Thursday night at the John Seigenthaler Center at Vanderbilt University in a celebration of "nappy and free" hair and personal acceptance.
It was an energetic evening of singing, rhythmic hand-clapping and preaching of the self-love gospel for "those whose hair refuses to be oppressed," Jones said.
"I want to give people a choice to go natural," said Jones, slinging her thick locks over a shoulder, then snapping her fingers. "I do this to change the mindset that when things come naturally for us as black people it is somehow wrong."
During the 90-minute presentation, Jones offered a touching moment in a spoken-word piece, comparing the sound of the straightening hot comb on coarse black hair to the sound of sizzling crack cocaine.
"I needed to stop getting straight to stay straight," said Jones, offering a metaphor to the addiction that faced by many "permies" — black women with straightened hair after getting permanents.
"I was moved by her performance," said audience member Corey Johnson, 30. "The addiction to permed hair to substance addiction was real. It really brought home what an obsession the standard of beauty can be."
"Being nappy is about being who you are," Johnson added.
Encouraging change was at the heart of Jones mission to hair liberation. Included in that crusade were a collection of words that Jones altered — "napcronymps," she called them — to reflect a positive affirmation for natural black hair.
"I hold an acronym contest every year to get people to think creatively," said Jones.
Jones shared examples like, "NAP: Now At Peace" or "NAPS: Nature's Absolute Perfect Style" to emphasize the endless ways people can transform words as they transform their perspective.
Jones wrote Nappyisms to convey a message with humor and anecdotes. Her performance focused on getting support from others who take the "natural" journey and "educating non-nappy people on the proper hair etiquette."
According to Jones, sometimes a person on the "nappy-hair journey" must be equipped with "verbal ammunition" for "those hard-to-educate folks." The audience laughed as Jones shared a few zingers that she encouraged people to remember for future reference.