Fierce Friday : SoulSpeaks : CURL TALK

 EMBRACING NATURAL BEAUTY 

So i've never been the type to complain about my curls, but I have never appreciated them either. I always knew I loved them, I just didn't understand the depths too, the more to the feelings to the me not wanting to go waste my time at a salon, or under a dryer for hrs on end. 

 A few months ago, back in October, my brain was acting funny, and I went and cut half of my Pajon, because to everyone it was damaged, to me it would just grow out, to everyone else it wouldn't grow unless I cut it. 

It wasn't till after that heartbreak that I realized how much more than just hair my curls were to me.

To my face, it was more of the perfect backdrop that it lost, to me it was more like a shed of my confidence. Little did I know in the very near future would I grow through one of the toughest moments of my life. Everything went down hill after that cut.

Now I do not want to sound superstitious or crazy and of course I do not blame my hair for anything that goes on in my life because that's just pathetic. 

But I do know that once my confidence was gone I did not have the strength for anything else.

In a few months of straight unhappiness.
But the thing about life is, it changes, and the thing about hair is that it grows along.

In these few months, I stuck to my phone, to social media, to things I'm interested in, like nutrition, fashion, art, travel, Caribbean, poetry, music, and more than anything woman power, self empowerment at most. 

Amidst all of this, I had the blessing to come across MissRizos.com and I was hooked. I started to follow through Facebook which is such an awesome way to follow keeping me updated on a second to second basis. I admire her drive, her beliefs are beautiful, and her drive to promote natural hair beauty is only a plus. On her blog she focuses on nutrition as well as ways to preserve your beautiful curls, but even more importantly so, she reaches out to the motherland, the Dominican Republic and touches up on problems our paradise faces. The Yo Amo Mi Pajon movement is not only about loving your hair. It is about loving your roots, where it all stems from. If you are a proud AfroDominicana you need to check it out. 

I had the honor of meeting the lovely Carolina aka MissRizos at the Spring into Summer event held at Moda Boutique along with the lovely Alicia from Chica-fashion.com a fellow dominican blogger with a beautiful smile that will capture you at a glance. There I was able to meet women I have been admiring for months, super excited, super Inspired. I was able to mingle and snag a few new gems for my closet, as well as some samples from the fabulous MissJessies, a natural curly hair care line for curls of all kinds.

Love my Yo Amo Mi Pajon Tote !

Later that week, I got an overload of #CurlPower #PajonPower! I was super excited to attend Rizos in the City at Altus Cafe another event hosted by MissRizos, alongside the flawless Ada from GypsyInTheCity which I have had the privilege to befriend and am proud to say has been my greatest inspiration of all. Her strength and will is truly admirable, and the passion for her work is heartfelt. 

 That night other than trying some new goodies for my curls from Shea Moisture I enjoyed being in a place full of PAJONUAS with no one to judge!

I know what it's like for others to make you feel like your natural beauty just isn't enough. It is sadly the world we are living in. I know what it's like to not want to be under a hair dryer, or to have someone ask you to tie your hair up because it just isn't appropriate. From school to the work place, natural beauty is discriminated against, and my heart fills with warmth at the fact that there are so many of us out there, joining to fight for natural beauty one head at a time. It gives me life to know I'm rooted from such natural beauty that is the Dominican Woman, that is much more than what meets the average eye. It is so much deeper than that, and I love the movement of Empowering nuestra belleza. We are rooted from such a mixture of natural beauty, why not hold on to that? Ladies, Dominicanas, Latinas, Why not Embrace the natural beauty that is You?

 #PAJONPOWER #NATURALBEAUTY

                                Top & Skirt  & my goto Matiko Wedges & my lovely YAMP Tote

Now I leave you with something for the Soul, this beautiful poem Cabello by this Dominican Poet and Beauty Elizabeth Acevedo I came across while having my daily dose of MissRizos.com

Hope you Enjoyed, XOXO #INSPIRED !

BreatheStyleSmile

Cabello

Mi madre me dice que me “arregle” el cabello.

Y cuando lo dice, se lo que significa: alaciar , blanquear.

Pero, ¿cómo se puede arreglar esta enredada historia de cabello?

Estos rizos como un espiral de alambre, un abrazo

entre primos Africanos en los vientres de barcos.

 

¿Se imaginaban nuestros antepasados que nosotros

nos veríamos así? Y que íbamos a odiarlos:

Tratando de borrarlos de nuestra piel;

plancharlo de nuestro cabello.

 

Esta maraña de cabello que estrangula el aire,

algunos los llaman rizos salvajes,

pero yo se que están respirando.

¿No ves nuestros antecedentes diciendo hola

en las olas de este cabello mojado?

 

Dicen que los dominicanos saben arreglar cualquier cabello.

Lavar , hacer rolos, planchar mechones de cabello “difícil.”

Pero lo que quieren decir es que son los mejores en

tragarse amnesia en una taza de morir soñando: prefieren olvidarse

que vivir esta realidad entre los reflejos del sol y la blancura.

 

Lo que quieren decir es: ¿Por qué enamorarte de un moreno?

Lo que quieren decir es: ¿Con un prieto cocolo?

Lo que quieren decir es : ¿Qué van hacer dos personas oprimidas?

Es buscando multiplicar los problemas

Lo que realmente quieren decir : ¿Has pensado en el cabello de tu hija?

 

Y yo no les digo que nos amamos como la caña de azúcar.

De piel morena , pálida pulpa , engranada y dulzura pura.

Los hijos de los hijos de campos.

No le digo cómo nuestros cuerpos se curvan como un eco,

que mi cortina de rizos nos acobija del mundo.

Nuestros hijos serán hermosos: de la piel anochecida, cabello

de reclamación y voy a trenzar el orgullo por sus espaldas

para que desde el momento en que salgan del vientre

nazcan enamorados de sí mismos .

 

Mi madre me dice que me arregle el cabello, y muchas otras palabras

que quedan sin decir, porque yo, yo no respondo:

No se puede arreglar lo que nunca estuvo roto.