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What I Wish She Knew...

I just watched Back to Natural. It deals with the pain and politics of natural hair for Black women. It's a great film, and I highly recommend it.

It brought up a conversation I had with my mom the other day. She was telling me that she hated the way she looked now because her hair isn't as thick and long as it used to be. She said, "I hate looking at myself now."

To say her statement broke my heart is a gross understatement. My mom always had beautiful hair. She's a chocolate brown beauty whose hair was truly her crowning glory. She was bald until she was three years old, but when it started growing, it was amazing. It reached down to her bra-strap by the time she was nine years old.

My mom was and is still the standard of beauty that I measure myself by. My hair was never as gorgeous as hers, but I did everything I could to make it so. Even now, I think she's the most beautiful woman I know.

I wish she knew that...

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