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In many cultures, ethnic groups, and nations around the world, hair is considered a source of power and prestige. African people brought these traditions and beliefs to the Americas and passed them down through the generations.

In my mother’s family (Black Americans from rural South Carolina) the women don’t cut their hair off unless absolutely necessary (i.e damage or routine trimming). Long hair is considered a symbol of beauty and power; my mother often told me that our hair holds our strength and power. Though my mother’s family has been American born for several generations, it is fascinating to see the beliefs and traditions of our African ancestors passed down. We are emotionally and spiritually attached to our hair, cutting it only with the knowledge that we are starting completely clean and removing stagnant energy.

Couple this with the forced removal and covering of our hair from the times of slavery and onward, and you can see why so many Black women and men alike take such pride and care in their natural hair and love to adorn our heads with wigs, weaves, braids, twists, accessories, and sharp designs.

Hair is not just hair in African diaspora cultures, and this is why the appropriation and stigma surrounding our hair is so harmful.

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visual by zayn alarbi, words by ibrahim nasrallah

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I'm taking myself out tmr idgaf 😌

#ty ty TY god for my hair #ty ty TY god for my smile #and most importantly ty ty TYYY god for the opportunity to love on myself like this #idk if it's bc I don't wear it out too often but wow! my natural hair suits me so well

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Donations Needed: Help a Gazan Skater Evacuate His Family

This is the link to help Hani. Hani is a skater currently living in Belgium and rebuilding his life. His family lives in Gaza and are suffering at the hands of the occupation. His father was killed and they lost their house. He is now responsible to protect his family.

He needs the funds to help them evacuate. Please donate and share this.

Read more about Hani’s situation below (from his GoFundMe):

“Hello, I'm Hani from Gaza, and I'm 23 years old. I've been living in Belgium for a year, and I'm an inline skater. I'm collecting donations to get my family out to safety from northern Gaza to Egypt because I can't afford the large amount of money needed. I'm here in Belgium in the process of rebuilding my life and achieving my dreams.”

“After losing my house and its destruction on October 13th, my family became displaced in tents, and on September 15th, I lost my father due to the attack on Al-Shifa Hospital. My father was suffering from kidney failure and passed away due to lack of treatment. He was the breadwinner of my family. Now I am responsible for my family, which consists of 10 members, including 3 minors, and my 18-year-old brother. The rest are my sisters, including two toddlers, one is 3 years old, and the other is 2 years old.”

“My siblings were university students and had dreams too, but because of the war, they lost everything; they lost the university, our home, and our father. They aspire to continue their studies at the university, but the war destroyed everything. I'm now trying to get them out of Gaza to Egypt to rebuild their shattered lives. To do that, they need to be evacuated, and they need to pay for the coordination into Egypt. Due to war time prices, they're asking for 5,000 euros per person to get them out of Gaza because northern Gaza has been completely wiped out, with insufficient food and people scattered among the rubble of homes under heavy bombardment. I hope you can help me through your donations or by sharing the story with friends. Thank you so much with lots of love.”

Please donate. Every little bit helps. If you cannot donate, share this.

https://gofund.me/5d6469bf

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i am skeptical you could do that actually, tiktok user

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Sometimes I like to give myself a headache, to prepare for the big ones.

Take the most recent jjk chapter; I didn't end up understanding the dynamics there but it was fun (painful) to try <3

#now to get my 1.5L in

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Parents will blast their childhood jams every weekend then be surprised when you can actually sing along

#'how do u know this song?' #idk ma... maybe bc it always played at exactly 7:49am since I was 10 😐

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Also if I've learned anything within this year its that you can face oppression in one way or another and still not care about the oppression of others. Like someone being a part of a certain group doesn't mean a damn thing. None of us are inherently radical

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Back on my bs (craving food I don't like)

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this leaf saddens me

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the argument for colonization has always been: these people dumb and cant make use of the resources of their land therefore we the superior should kill and/or enslave them and take this land as our own because obviously we are stronger and smarter and blessed by the gods or some shit

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African Wild Dogs, Tanzania -- 72 x 44 cm. Woodcut. Wolfgang Weber (b. 1936)

via

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I love when wash day— (I'm lying. My tender head does not give me tender feelings)

#it'll be a miracle if I don't end up bald by the end of it

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I miss when the only thing I was sad about was a cicada

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No, no, you misunderstood me. The best trope isn't the villain gets the girl, the best trope is the girl gets the villain.