As you may have read in the previous blog of Anna and me, I have come to look at the phenomenon of 'hair' very differently since I have two South African children. Especially because of my daughter, Anna, a whole new world has opened up for me. I saw and felt what it is like to be constantly addressed on the color of your skin.
As you may have read in the previous blog by Anna and me, I have started to look at the phenomenon of 'hair' very differently since we have two South African children. Especially because of my daughter, Anna, a whole new world has opened up for me. I see and feel what it is like to be constantly addressed on the color of your skin. Partly because of our trips to South Africa, through Mireille's business and through documentaries such as the one by Chris Rock ('Good hair'), I discovered how important hair can be for self-image and identity formation. Anna is vain, so that certainly applies to her. So there is work to be done for me. Because I am white. I have thin, blond, curly hair that can only be used in 1 hairstyle. So much for my creative hair experience…
But a few nice haircuts are not enough, I have discovered. Because both of our children have their moments when they want to be 'white too'. Because we are white, because white seems to be the norm and because children in the class sometimes say that they do not find brown beautiful. It is not so strange that white seems to be the norm. With all the white, blond examples in Dutch children's books, films and magazines. There are only a few positive examples available for them. That may sound very silly, but I never really thought about it. Until I had two brown children, who are not always naturally proud of their origins and appearance. My husband and I started to look at the world more from their perspective. That perspective is not always nice. But at the same time it has been an important eye-opener. And eye-openers are always good. I am grateful for that.
So we are always looking for Dutch children's books and children's films with brown children and brown heroes in the lead. It is not easy to find. So if you have a tip, please let me know!
In any case, we hereby share our harvest with you :
Abbi (TV series available on DVD)
Max and his suitcase, Glynis Terborg
Princess Arabella, Mylo Freeman
Your Color, My Color, Mylo Freeman
Little Lucky Lolo (written in English), Adrian Varkel
From whom we have been getting many eye-openers for a long time is my sister-in-law Anousha Nzume . It started with her solo performance ' Eiland '. I share a very beautiful song of hers with you.
Since this month we have another hero and inspiration: Lupita Nyong'o . What a beautiful speech she gave about beauty.
Also this month Anna and I share a hairstyle. In the picture you can see which hairstyle I made on Anna.
If you have never braided before, just do the twists. A video about twists can be found here .
Important for mothers who have never twisted or braided : wash the hair, use a moisturizer (not too much!) such as the Hair Milk or the No More Knots from the Kroeshaar WebShop and divide the hair into 8 sections. Comb out section by section completely. Make a kind of big twist of each section by twisting two strands of hair around each other and secure them. Then you start twisting per section. It is best to start at the bottom.
For the braided squares I found a handy video about ´criss cross braiding´ .
First you braid the squares. When you are done braiding, twist the end. Then you make loose twists from the rest of the hair.
Do you have any tips for me to make the braid tighter (I can't do that well yet)? Please! 🙂
I wish you much success and fun with the hair of your beautiful children!