The 40th Annual Bayou Classic football game between Southern University and Grambling State Universitywas played on Saturday, November 30 at The Superdome in New Orleans. One of the major attractions was the Battle of the Bands. I watched the competition and one thing that stood out really disturbed me.
All of the African American women dancers who performed during halftime were mostly very bright, but all had long flowing European styled hair, which by the way, they constantly accented. Each school’s routine featured their young women flinging and throwing long, silky or wavy hair. Is this the new image of the race? Is this the symbol of beauty the band directors want to use to represent the thousands of fans and viewers? They could not find any brown skinned women with short or natural hair or braids? What happened to the expression and importance of ‘Black Is Beautiful” or Black Pride? Is this the image we want our next generations to immolate and imitate?
In my opinion the band directors should read W. E. B. DuBois who believed that educated Black leaders, such as themselves, should direct Blacks to freedom. He further understood that African Americans could not achieve social equality by emulating white ideals; that equality could be achieved only by teaching Black racial pride with an emphasis on an African cultural heritage.
People of the struggle will remind us that “Black pride was born from oppression, persecution, genocide, slaughter, and persistent pain. It was not born out of selfishness or for the purpose of declaring superiority. Black Pride is a celebration of life, as though to say “We’re here. We’re alive. We’re resisting.” It is a way of honoring the past and challenging the future.”
I recognize and appreciate that a woman’s hair is very personal and a matter of pride, and they have the right to wear it and treat it in any manner they choose. I also know that many African American women grow up thinking their brown skin is unattractive and that kinky hair is “bad hair” and “ugly” so many are transforming themselves with weaves and wigs instead of naturals, braids or locks? Many have become ashamed of the beauty with which they were born.
I also note that many African Americans have multiple identities that reflect complex ancestral origins and these levels of racial and ethnic mixing and an increased awareness of multiracial ancestry are likely to reshape racial and ethnic boundaries in the coming decades, so why not reflect all shades of the race and all textures and styles of our hair? Is this a new kind or kind of brainwashing?
Remember what Malcolm said about self –hatred: ‘You can’t hate the roots of the tree without ending up hating the tree. You can’t hate your origin without ending up hating yourself.’
To make them easier to control, white slave owners systematically stripped African slaves of their cultural heritage including religion, sometimes passing laws prohibiting African religious practices. Despite these efforts, slaves managed to retain elements of their culture. In the context of religion, expressive and ritual elements included call and response interactions, shouting, and dance, perhaps similar to the performances at The Classic.
Cultural identity is the identity of a group or culture or of an individual as far as one is influenced by one’s belonging to a group or culture. Are we losing our identity? Are we complicit in our own identity theft?
Ladies, before you judge me, please listen to a recording I did for the Stax/Volt label in January, 1970. The title is “Tribute to a Black Woman”, and it will show the love I have for you.
Please watch the Bernie Hayes TV program Saturday Night at 10pm and Friday Morning at 9 am and Sunday Evenings at 5:30 pm on KNLC-TV Ch. 24, and follow me on Twitter: @berhay and view my Blog @ http://berniehayesunderstands.blogspot.com/
I can be reached by fax at (314) 837-3369 or e-mail at: berhay@swbell.net.
Be Ever Wonderful!
Hotep!
