Quote:
Originally posted by Ice Cold Kreator:
Unfortunately down souf!!! (SOUTH)
Much of the natural look is still not in!
When I left MN....everybody was freakin' a natural look...GREEKs were on the forefront of that...AKAs and Deltas were famous for locks, twists, fros, and braids...
It just seems that in the GREAT ATL. You will only find conscious (afrocentric) women and men sporting these styles (although cornrows are making a "come up")
The Ice Cold Kreator
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Ice Cold,
Where in MN did you live? I spent 2 years in MN after graduating from an HBCU in ATL and then returned to ATL. I think what you are observing is something that I too observed, but with a different twist. Because there are so few African-Americans in the greater Minneapolis/St. Paul area the AA folks there tend to be more cohesive and demonstrative in their blackness. I was able to get connected with a lot of different folks there because they all seemed to be saying "A young black woman! Please don't leave! We'll do anything if you stay here!"
I don't think black folks in the ATL feel it necessary to wear their blackness on their sleeves (or head if you will) because we are so plentiful down here. Then it becomes a much more personal choice. I can 'choose' to wear my hair one way, and choose to live my life any number of ways. Consciousness is not just about a hair style. It's expressed in so many other ways.
This reminds me of the movie "Mixing Nia" that has been on heavy rotation on HBO lately. Karen Parsons (Hilary from Fresh Prince) plays a young biracial woman who is trying to embrace her blackness. On her quest she meets and begins to date an afrocentric college professor (with dreads of course) and begins to make subtle (and not so subtle) changes in her hair, speech, clothing and food choices thinking these external things made her more "Black". She found out that they did not.