KAWEKE

They say my hair is shabby, unruly

Not ladylike

I hear them but I don’t listen

They say I do nothing about it

I don’t plait the ropes or the weaves

I don’t have the bouncy Brazilian or the Indian.

I tell them this is my hair

I tell them this is how it grows

It’s short and coiled

They touch it and exclaim, “It’s so hard!”

I think to myself…if you stopped for a minute,

You would realize this is your hair too!

They don’t hear me so they don’t listen

They say, “Hair is the pride of a woman.”

And that I am no lady

I say to them, “This is my pride!”

They look, but they don’t see.

They say to me, “Observe good hair:

It’s long and straight. It’s bouncy and lustrous.”

I say to them, “There’s no bad hair.

If hair makes the owner happy, then it’s good.”

They shake their heads vigorously,

Hair falling everywhere

They say to me, “Look, that’s true pride.”

I shake mine too but my hair stays on my head

I say to them, “Look! That’s my pride!”

They look, but they don’t see

Good hair is straight and bouncy

That if I don’t have it,

Then I’m not lady enough

I say to them, “This is how I was born!”

They say it’s not good enough

That I must change

I hear, but I don’t listen

I say to them, “I am a lady.”

They look, but they don’t see

They say to me, “That’s not how a lady should be.”

I ask them, “Who told you this?”

They say to me, “Everyone knows!”

~Tracy Kobukindo