In Defense of the N-Word, Part I
No, not THAT N-word. The other N-word — nappy. I’ve been often asked why I chose to call this site ‘Nappy’ Kitchen. Why not ‘natural’ or ‘napptural’ or
something of a similar favor.
The word nappy means tightly coiled, wool-like, kinky, frizzy, spongy, coily, kinky-curly. These are words that may describe hair of African descent. Do they necessarily describe ALL hair of African descent? No, but most.
I have found that the perception of the word nappy is closely related to the historic Good Hair vs Bad Hair battle among Black people. Growing up, I was always told that I had a ‘Good Grade’ of hair, meaning that it was not ‘THAT nappy’.
As an adult with natural hair, I’ve been told that I have ‘Good Hair’. My hair has not changed over the years, but this difference in perception tells me that the ‘kinks in our minds’ are changing. Wooohooo!
In Defense of the N-Word, Part II
In Defense of the N-Word, Part III
Tags: bad hair, coily hair, frizzy hair, good grade of hair, good hair, kinky hair, kinky-curly, N Word, spongy hair
Filed under: Nappy Hair
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