By: Korrien Hopkins
Solange Knowles released her new album, A Seat at the Table, earlier this month. Judging by how social media and everyone including myself is raving about this, Solange’s A Seat at the Table is a must have accessory for fall. And I can predict it will be blessing our ear drums leading up to the spring and summer. The first song I heard on her new album was Don’t Touch My Hair and for now I have to say it is my favorite. Upon reading the title of the song you would just think Solange is trying to simply preserve her nice hair style. But listening to the lyrics, you learn the true message of the song.[youtube]https://youtu.be/YTtrnDbOQAU[/youtube]
The first message I received from the song is the fight against cultural appropriation. Black women in this world you are constantly being robbed. During slavery black women were being robbed of their freedom, their children, and their men. Today not much has change, but it is evident that this world shows a great appreciation of what black women have to offer. African Americans are great influencers in the arts. But as society comes to love our Black culture, we are also robbed of our unique style, music, and our black aesthetic. Hair represents so much more in black culture than most people realize. It is spiritual to many in a certain aspect: it is self-expression, self-love, and creativity. In an interview, Solange told Elle Magazine how when she cut her hair and decided to go natural she was brutally attacked in the media and the affect it had on her:
After reading that article, I learned that recently Marc Jacobs released his 2017 spring collection. His models presented a beautiful array of spring colors as well as faux dreadlocks. Dreadlocks have been around forever but in today’s culture derived from Rastafarians. Aside from the beauty of dreadlocks, many have a spiritual association with them. Although some may see it as a hot new “trend” having a runway of white women with dreadlocks, I don’t see it as a fashion statement, but every bit of culture appropriation. This has been the case for many “high fashion” designers where they take something that on a black woman is viewed as “ghetto” or “dreadful,” but it’s high fashion when copied by white designers for their white models. For centuries, black women have not been seen as beautiful, including their hair. At least now, though this song, I hear black women loving themselves loudly and unapologetically.
They don’t understand
What it means to me
Where we chose to go
Where we’ve been to know
They don’t understand
What it means to me
Where we chose to go
Where we’ve been to know…
This song is beautiful because it is a message to women of self-love. Everyone has their own hair and their own style, and what they like. Being you is something that you own as an individual. People will try to imitate you, they may want you to imitate them and live up to their standards of beauty and they may try to make you feel horrible if you don’t. “Don’t Touch My Hair” is the preservation of you. It is a movement, praising your style letting you know that it’s cool to be you and be unique. Be you loudly, boldly, and unapologetically because you miss out on you trying to be someone else.