Embracing the melanin

After having an interesting conversation with my brother we've noticed that over the past few years this current generation of the African diaspora are embracing their african roots and black identity. For example, the rapid growth of the natural hair community especially on platforms such as youtube (I'm 4 years natural! :)) where it is about taking care of your natural hair, rocking your Afro and wearing protective styles such as bantu knots. There has also been a dramatic increase in the type of hair products which are specifically made for natural hair. I never knew how to maintain my natural hair, hence the reason I used to relax my hair because I found it easier to maintain. Due to discovering certain YouTube channels  I now know how to look after my natural 4c hair and which type of products to use. I never see myself perming my hair again. Afro hair is beautiful and versatile. Even though living in the western world where having straighter longer hair is viewed as "better" it is a mindset which is shifting and can be seen in the decline in sales of hair relaxers. There is still an issue of whether black hairstyles are seen as appropriate in schools and different professions. Not too long ago a 13 year old south african girl who has a big beautiful Afro was told by her school that her hair was inappropriate. It is unfortunate that the hair that grows out of head is viewed as inappropriate especially in Africa.  There have also been many stories of black people who are told to change their natural hairstyles at school or at work. Despite these things happening I do believe that peoples attitudes are changing in regards to black natural hairstyles .As someone who works in the Legal profession I have come across black lawyers with afro's and dreadlocks which shows that there is more of an acceptance to these hairstyles.

African clothing has also become very popular. In real life and on social media I see more people wearing Ankara fabric with a modern twist to it. There is also a trend of people wearing Dashiki's. There are many African Americans including  celebrities who wear them. I see them all over Instagram and it makes me happy seeing people trying to connect with their African roots.There is also a growth in the popularity of kente cloth (which originates from my homeland of Ghana) and there is a swimsuit line by Red Sta® collection which specialises in selling kente bikini's. However there was an issue with some Africans saying African Americans are appropriating African culture. This is something I wholeheartedly disagree with. African Americans are also Africans and you can not appropriate what is your cultural heritage. African slaves were robbed of their African culture but it doesn't' mean that African culture is no longer theirs. Slavery did cause a disconnect between African Americans and Africa but by them trying to reconnect that bridge is a positive thing.

One of my favourite things is the big embrace of dark skin women which I am loving (I am biased because I am a dark skinned woman myself) there are plenty of Instagram pages dedicated to dark skin women and the term "Melanin" is used everywhere. For a very long time (and still continues today) dark skin has been viewed as ugly in many cultures all over the world. This was caused by white supremacy during slavery and colonisation. People of colour have been conditioned to think that lighter skin equals beauty. In some cultures people of lighter skin are given better opportunities and given positions of power compared to their dark skin counterparts. Colorism is very real (just research the Indian cast system). Some people choose to have children with lighter skinned people just so that their children can come out fairer skinned. This is such a negative mind set to have but unfortunately is the world we live in. I do believe that some progress is being made, when Lupita Nyongo became the Hollywood "it" girl it showed that a dark skinned African women can also be viewed as beautiful by society. She gave hope to many of the black women who look like her.  I support any movement which encourages dark skin women to love the skin their in.


Being black and being a women in a society where white  men tend to be at the top, it can be difficult to see value in yourself. We are told how we should look and not to be our true authentic selves. I am glad that in this generation (which reminds me of the 1970's black power era) people are apologetically embracing who they are. Despite society having conditioned people to think that anything associated with Africa is negative it is a mindset which is reversing. African culture is becoming more mainstream and accepted whether it be products (african black soap, shea butter), clothing, music etc. I am completely here for it and hope it continues.