Sisterlocks Snow Day Photos in Atlanta, Georgia

It snowed all day long here in Atlanta! An unusual occurrence and quite a treat for my children who don't see snow very often.

The daffodils were already in bloom here and we were awaiting the forsythia!

Typically, it will snow once a year, dusting the lawn and melting by noon. Of course, this generates about 48 hours of special weather reports on all of the local channels. And everyone goes to the grocery store to stock up on bottled water, canned goods and batteries.

Every couple of years we'll have an ice storm that lasts a few days during which all of the tree branches are coated with ice and the roads become slick and treacherous. The power will go out in the city where above ground utilities are common, and there might be a school snow day closing.

But today, we spent the afternoon under the big tent at the UniverSoul Circus. ['Pride, joy and hip-hop, under the big top!']

When we went in, we figured that it would stop snowing by the time we came out, and the typical melting would have begun. But much to our surprise it snowed for the rest of the afternoon.

It is so beautiful outside. One can almost forget what life was like going to classes and commuting in weather like this month after month after month so many years ago.

It is wonderful to be able to enjoy the quietness of the neighborhood that follows a good snow - which is easier to do when it is a rare treat ;o)

A First Attempt at Making Hair Ties for Sisterlocks

On a whim, I purchased some 1.5mm clear beading cord and notions on sale at Michael's.

These are photos of the hair ties that I came up with.

If you want to purchase the real deal, professionally done hair ties for locs and sisterlocks, you must check out Tomoka's Twists. I like Tomoka's Twists because they are made with coated wire. You can control the tension on your hair better than with hair ties made with elastic cord.

The beading cord that I used is smooth and doesn't catch hair to damage it, but Tomoka's wire hair ties can be positioned any way you like.

Brunsli's Hair Ties are gorgeous too, although, there were no hair ties for sale in Brunsli's Ebay store when I last checked.

Mwedzi has a good "how to" video on Youtube, if you would like to make your own hair ties. Check it out.

Finally, My Sisterlocks Birthday Certificate has Arrived!

A wonderful surprise greated me in the mail today: My sisterlocks birthday certificate! I had forgotten that I had sent the request form to the home office. Dr Joanne Cornwell

I have yet to come up with a new sisterlocks photo montage to commemorate my first year, so this post of my certificate will have to suffice for now!

Happy lockiversary to me...!

Dr. Joanne Cornwell

A Few Quotes About Our Hair

Here are a few quotes from some of my favorite hair books.

More to follow...

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"'Natural hair? You must be kidding,' I would say. 'Why in the WORLD would I wear my hair looking like THAT?'...I knew nothing about my natural hair. It was that mess that grew out of my head...It was that unprofessional, bad, embarrassing stuff that if I were to wear in public, would doom me to everlasting singledom and job failure because, surely, no employer would employ me nor would a suitable life partner love me with hair like 'THAT.'"

-Patricia Gaines a.k.a. "Deecoily", founder of Nappturality.com, in the Forward to the book by Mireille Liong-A-Kong entitled 'Going Natural'

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"We have the same spiral in our hair as electricity, tornadoes, whirlwinds, DNA, galaxies!"

-Nekhena Evans, Hairlocking: Everything You Need to Know-African, Dread & Nubian Locks

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"The misconception that Afrikan hair is hard to manage is based on the custom of daily combing and daily styling one's hair.

"Natural Afrikan hair does not need combing or styling everyday because hairstyles stay unimpaired for at least one week on average...most combs are unsuitable for natural Afrikan hair...to be able to comb through the hair on a daily basis cannot be used as a standard to define our hair as 'hard to manage'.

"Defining nappy hair as unmanageable based on the above standard would be like, defining straight hair as unmanageable because it...can hardly keep a braid, a cornrow or a curl. It doesn't make sense does it?"

-Mireille Liong-A-Kong, Going Natural

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"I believe many Black women experience a visual oxymoron when they see long locked hair. It can't be real because everyone knows that nappy hair doesn't grow long enough to hang, it only grows out, as in an afro. Plus, the long hair fantasy...is all about long, straight hair or braid extensions tricked up to look like straight hair. Not locs. So when women see waist-length locs they see a comb and a dream: if they can comb it out and make it straight, they can get to the promised land."

-Lonnice Brittenum Bonner, Nice Dreads: Hair Care Basics and Inspiration for Colored Girls Who've Considered Locking Their Hair

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"I am always relieved and joyful when I influence a woman's decision to stop putting chemicals on her scalp...The more I see grown women who are struggling with this "hair thing," I understand that some women will constantly feel guilty about it...I expect women to get weak and relapse. It's a part of the transition and fight with addiction to hair abuse; to keep repeating the same compulsive behavior, a behavior that is temporarily fulfilling...don't give up on yourself...you may feel like you are taking one step forward and two steps backward...[at least you are] aware of your behavior...the turning point is when you discover why you keep doing it...I hope this will help you resist..."

-Pamela Ferrell, Cornrows & Company, Let's Talk Hair

Loc'd Nurses & Docs

Nursing must be the most 'loc'd up' profession on the planet.

I don't know about other cities, but here in the ATL, the hospitals are full of natural hair wearing nurses, many of whom sport locs.

Of note, I know three nurses with sisterlocks and too many nurses to count with traditional locs...

Curly, dyed, traditionals

[Don't take my face! No make-up!]

Loc jewelry

My sisterlocks

Dr. 'TwistyLocs' (OBGYN)

Hog Ridin' Jane's traditionals

Fancy Loc up-do!

Naturally You! Magazine: Behind the Naps!: No, Texturizers Are Not Natural

Naturally You! Magazine: Behind the Naps!: No, Texturizers Are Not Natural
[^the article that inspired this post]

Lately, I've read a few posts on some natural hair sites that mention the use of texturizers to 'loosen the curl' and help with 'manageability'...and other post that make no bones about rejecting 'texturizers' as 'glorified relaxers' - like Nappturality.

Some of you might remember the old afro 'blow-out' kits. Others might even remember 'conk cream.' Well, texturizers are a modern day version of those old blasts from the past...

Is a texturizer just a glorified relaxer?

A way to deceive oneself that one still has natural hair because it still has some curl?

A way to tell the world that the hair of 'mixed chicks' is just a bit 'better' than that of other African ancestored women who have either no European ancestry, or who happen to have a few more generations between themselves and their European kin?

Does texturizing ones hair subliminally reinforce that old Euro-Brazilian saying: white women for marriage, mulatto women for sex, Black women for work?

Or is texturizing one's hair merely a preference, completely detached from, and not at all influenced by acculturation.

I'm particularly interested in reading the opinions of others in light of the preliminary results of the current active poll on this blog. To date, "ease of styling" is the most popular reason given in response to the question, "Why do you straighten your hair?"

Feel free to weigh in.


Hotep

The Gala a Year Later

One of my very first post was about having received an award from our local medical association (2008 Young Physician of the Year Award).

Entertainment by the Zapp Band

("More Bounce to the Ounce", "Dance Floor", "Computer Love")

This year the winner of the Atlanta Medical Association 2009 Young Physician of the Year Award is my friend and colleague, Dr. Lisa Perry-Gilkes.

Lisa, Young Physician of the Year 2008

Lisa joked upon her acceptance that she was amazed that she could win both a Young Physician of the Year Award and be recognized for 25 years in practice! (One must be under 40 or in private practice 5 years or less to qualify for the Young Physician of the Year Award)

I couldn't possibly have gotten photos of all of the lovely loc'd docs, scholarship recipients and guests at the event, but I have included photos of a few attendees below.

Dr. P's Sisterlocks

Mrs. Dr. W in Traditional locs

Medium, traditional locs

A Scholarship Recipient in Sisterlocks [Go Meharry!]

Docs Locs' Top Five Feedjit Search Terms

Feedjit allow you to watch your visitors arrive in real-time.

Feedjit tells you when they arrived, from where they arrived, any search term they used to find your blog and which pages they linked to to leave your blog.

I've found it interesting to see the search terms entered to find this site.

The unofficial top five Feedjit search terms used to arrive on Docs Locs pages have been, as follows (click the links to read the original posts):

• Sisterlocks Photos or some permutation of sisterlocks plus a second or third search term (no brainer!)
• Judge Mablean Ephraim (lots of folks seem to miss her)
• J Anthony Brown (?...ok)
• Ugly Black Women (not quite the negative post or photos that the searchers have in mind)
• Sons of Blood and Thunder (looking for a 'Q' related site and, hopefully, getting a pleasant surprise)

The search terms above are not listed in any particular order.

And, by the way, "ugly black women" is a very popular search term...especially here in the States and in Eastern Europe.


There is a live Feedjit feed in the sidebar.

One of my favorite videoblogs: Videoloctician works her magic on traditional locs

If you have followed this personal blog journal for a while, you probably know that I am a fan of Phyllis the Videoloctician.

I received a free bottle of her Healthy Locs Conditioning Mist last fall and was thrilled to receive a quick call from her on a Sunday evening checking in with me to see how I liked the product.

Below is one of my favorite videoblogs posted by Phyllis in which she 'brings back' a somewhat neglected head of traditional locs. As Phyllis is found of saying - "Amazing!"

You can see her other videos on her youtube channel, her website or see a few of my favorites on this blog by going here or by selecting 'video' from the label list in the side bar (or from the label list at the bottom of this post).

Almost a year, and now that I can use more product on my sisterlocks...

...this is my new routine:

I'm still binding to wash (to prevent bunching of the remaining permed ends), but only into four or six sections.

I'm still washing with Sisterlocks starter shampoo, for the most part.

I intend to do an Apple cider Vinegar rinse every two to three months or so.

After washing and while my scalp is damp, I apply Soul Purpose body balm to my scalp. The ingredients are as follows: coconut oil, shea butter, soybean oil, beeswax (you'd never be able to tell from the lightness of the product - obviously a minor ingredient), avocado butter, cocoa butter, mango butter, sunflower oil, sweet almond oil, vitamin E and fragrance (my favorite fragrance is Brazilian Jackfruit).

Once a week or so, I plan to dry condition with Phyllis the Videoloctician's - Healthy Locs Conditioning Mist (Ingredients: purified water, conditioning base formula, organic aloe vera juice, vegetable glycerin, hydrolyzed wheat protein, vitamin E, polysorbate 80, and fragrance).

And now for a few texture shots!

Still seeing some pattern close to the scalp, of course

Nice parting

Dry Conditioning Sisterlocks

Here's an oldie, but a goodie from Phyllis the Videoloctician.