Hair End Theory !

I remember back when I was in High School sitting in the chair at the hair dresser. The stylist was none other than Linda, who would become my hairdresser of 10 years and good friend. As I beamed in the mirror as Linda put the final touches to my french roll with a bang cut above my eyebrows, (A big 90's style.. Ahem.. LOL), I said to myself "I'm going to be the baddest chick come Monday at school!" And that I was ! ;o)

As I walked to school that Monday, girls I didn't even know came up to me and told me how fly my hair was! You see I wasn't rocking just any ordinary french roll but mine was jazzed up with gold pins and a hint of highlights ! Child people were calling me the "girl with the french roll." LOL Unfortunately I don't have pics to prove it. Nonetheless, it was a style of the times and I was having fun rocking it. Nowadays, the talk of hair and styles have become too serious for Moi!

When I think of Black hair, I think of fun, new trends whether it's corn braids, locs or curly fros to straight wraps, spiral curls or short hair cuts. Growing up I loved going to hair dresser to wear the next "it" style. Watching the likes of Salt N Pepa, Mc Lyte, En Vogue and flipping throw the latest Essence magaine often gave me the inspiration for my next do. Nonetheless, Black women have often set the tone for the latest hair trend and making any style into their own. However, Black hair is often the topic of controversial debate: Who's keeping it "real" & who's "fakin" the funk? LOL ;o)

Lately, this never ending debate has been the inspiration for The Tyra Banks Show and Chris Rock's documentary "Good Hair." Here's what's bothering me...Why are we still talking about this? Don't get me wrong. I know slavery has scarred us as a race in which it denounced our physical attributes, including our hair to depict self hate ! However, I feel we (black people) marinate in these topics too much in which it divides us as a race. It's silly at this point in time. I say instead of debates about our hair, let's celebrate it!

So in closing, I would like to thank Madam C.J. Walker for setting the tone on making money dedicating to black hair which the Koreans have taken over. ;o) Thank you Cicely Tyson for being one of the first to rock corn braids on television and to Ms. Susan L. Taylor (former editer-in-chief of Essence) for making her signature braids a timeless classic. High five to my girls Halle Berry and Toni Braxton for giving the short-do a sexy edge in the 90's. You know we have to give it to our girl Mary J. Blige for keeping her weaves on point ! And kudos to my girls India.Arie, Erykah Badu and Jill Scott for making our black even more beautiful with their natural cuts.

Finally, big ups to our First Lady Michelle Obama for keeping that hair flowing and that shine glowing! Go on girl !

Tootles,
Nick Nack

When A Brotha's Fed Up !

I had an interesting conversation with my brethren (homeboy) this weekend regarding domestic violence. We were discussing the Chris Brown and Rhianna drama and I was saying to him what an asshole Chris is. And any man that beats a woman like that is a punk ! My friend then answered me and said "there's two sides to a story Nick and Rihanna is not telling the whole story". He continued to say "notice how she's being very quiet about it. She's not coming forward or stating what a horrible person this Chris Brown is, etc. etc." I responded back by saying it still doesn't justify a man hitting a woman. So my friend turned to me and said "Nick sometimes it's how far you push a person that can drive them to an edge ! If you tell her once, then she's been warned. The second time, you let it slide but continue to warn your woman to back off. The third time, depending how much she pisses you off, you might just lose it !" He then continued to say " Shit ! We don't even know if Chris owned that Lamborghini ! And Rhianna just threw the keys like that ! That probably was the last button she pushed to set him off! Furthermore, this incident doesn't make Chris a bad person. I think it's unfair how the media ployed with it to make Chris out to be the bad guy! " And I thought about what he said and I realized, he has a point.

My friend gave me an example of that "over the edge" steam when he told me of a story of him driving to Queens one day. A young woman driver kept cutting him off and they sort of had a road rage. Then out of no where, she did the unthinkable ! She held in her breath and let out a big gulp of spit on my friend's car ! As he watch the spit gliding down his car window, in a sudden rage my friend drove right behind her and then drove past her car cutting her off. He got out of the car pissed as hell and barked "Did you just spit at my car?" The woman looked at my friend terrified, not expecting my friend to come out of his car and locked all her car doors. My friend then kicked her car several times, cussed her out in some Jamaican patois and drove off ! He ended the story by saying, you see you never know what can make a person tick. And by that woman disrespecting him when she was in the wrong made him lose his cool altogether !

After he finished his story. I recalled the times when I saw some of my male friends in my past and present lose their cool because a female egged them on ! I remember in the 7th grade, my classmate beat up this bully, who happened to be a girl because she kept hitting him in the head and wouldn't stop after he asked her politely 3 times ! Or another incident in the 9th grade where anthor friend of mine beat up, yet another bully that happened to be a girl over a quarter-water bottle. Sounds funny but the bully kept throwing the empty bottle at my friend. So he threw it back and it hit her. After the third time when my homeboy threw it back, she slapped him. And then it was on ! She got suspended but not him! We all high fived him and patted him on the back because she was definitely in the wrong.

So in closing, I guess I have to thank my friend for opening my eyes and let me see that sometimes it's the man that's the victim, not the woman !

Inaug-O-Barack !

I still pinch myself as we await the swearing in of our 44th president who happens to be a "brother!" ;o) With all the media hype and major news coverage, this is truly an exciting and historic event indeed. I'm still in a little disbelief as I can't believe this is really happening and I'm alive to see this in the making !

On that note, my question to you all is this.... Who do you think will give President Obama a harder time in dealing with our country's issues? Minorities or Whites? And why? Just out of curiosity I ask this question because oftentimes, when a manager or executive is Black, sometimes brownfolks take advantage of that and feel because they are one of "us" it's Ok to overstep their bounds and keep it "real!" While with their white counterparts, they tend to question their credibility as a manager or H.N.I.C., if you will.

I would love to hear your feedback

Stanks,
Nick Nack

New Year ! New Beginnings !

What a year 2008 has been ! I mean with all the economic woes, scandals, deaths and struggling economy, it's amazing we are still standing as a country ! As we kick off 2009 with the inauguration of our very first black president, what better way to start of the new year! I'm still amazed that Barack Obama is our elected 44th president of the United States. Although most of us are excited about this historical event, some of us worry about the drama that may occur with either racial tenison with the white supremist or negroes not acting like they got some sense! But I always say optimism is the key for true survival. If you don't have faith and confidence, how else are you going to succeed ?

On that note, I say we all start the new year with positivity ! Erase all the negative energy, get rid of all the pessimistic friends and family you have. Only surround yourself with optimistic and positive thinking. We'll get through all this drama. Afterall, this is a America ! ;o)

To Write or Go Green.. That's the Question

This year as I was writing Christmas cards to family and friends, I wondered if I should have sent them an e-greeting instead. Oftentimes people usually throw out their Christmas cards after the season is done. Furthermore, most people are so attached to their computers, whether internal or external (via Blackberrys & Iphones), they rather go green and save the trees by reading their mail online.

That's a fair argument in regards to saving the trees and all. But I remember as a kid we used to get pen pals from different countries in school. I remember how excited I was to receive a handwritten letter from someone, drawing me into their world with their daily activities, their dislikes and likes and favorite hobbies. It drew some common ground between two people from different backgrounds.

Now everything is written via e-mail or text messages. You can send invitations via e-mail. You can send gift cards on the internet. Heck you can even do a Secret Santa online like I recently did with my Book club members. And if you want to cuss someone out without having to verbally speak to them, just text them. Make sure you put some "tude" in your "tone" when you do so.. ;o)

I think what's being lost is human contact on a "personal" level. I think we may have let technology get the best of us. Sooner or later we might just be branded with barcodes on our wrist and scan the barcode to communicate without even opening our mouths ! Wouldn't that be something?