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Well, obviously that's because i disagreed with his revering instead of shattering a long held belief about black hair as opposed to his discrediting religion's sacro-sanc status, something i agree with. Actually, "iconoclasm" works better as an adjective, as in "iconoclastic"; iconoclasm as a noun is what an iconoclastic person embraces when they shatter sacrosanct things. i don't think anybody, including me, completely practices iconoclasm. We all have certain conventional tenets we don't attack. @NubianFellow Well, if this conversation isn't about hair, i couldn't tell it by reading all of your posts wherein you obsess and rhapsodize ad infinitum about the glory of African hair, your effusive praise accompanied by pictures to illustrate your point, while I'm the one who is asking what's the big deal about hair. Yet you and Troy insists this discussion is really about the masses being dominated and manipulated by America's powerful one-percenters. So what else is new? That's the name of the game in a capitalistic system. Corporations and the media sell happiness and escapism and people buy this because it improves the quality of their mundane lives. You lament that a little black girl wants to grow up and look like a white fairy princess. Why wouldn't she when fairy princesses are better off than African queens in this country? You can't fix all the ills of this world. But you can adjust and adapt. And it's not like Black people in America don't have a heritage that embraces their tenure in this country. Their creative women figured out ways to tame their hard-to-manage hair, and hairdressers with their straightening combs and curling irons and beauty shops hold a fond place in black culture. Madame C.J. Walker amassed a fortune catering to her black sisters. Furthermore, there are still a lot of things about themselves that black woman won't change or emulate. They've still got attitude and confidence to spare. Actually black people in general don't really worship and revere white folks; they just envy all the advantages that they have. It's presumptuous to think they are all bamboozled and brain washed. They're surviving and are not totally ignorant or lacking in self-esteem. But i guess it's imperative to claim this when beating your breast on top of a soap box. None of this, however, detracts from your being a good guy. That permeates your words. @TroyPerms and weaves damaging the hair is probably why extensions and wigs are replacing them. Extensions are what are used to implement braided styles which are very popular, and wigs nowadays are so perfected, replete with hair lines and parts that look so natural you can't tell they aren't real. (And, don't fool yourself, natural hair requires a lot of care and attention and products to maintain. )

@NubianFellow i don't know where you are looking around, but lots of black women are wearing their hair "natural"- wild and free to the point where doing so is reaching fad proportions. Black women are actually trying out a lot of different looks alternating between natural and enhanced. Some are even shaving their heads and going bald, something i'm sure you would approve of, even it this is not a "natural". And if you could adjust your view to being objective, you would have to admit that many black woman with weaves and wigs do not look unattractive; they merge with the look, and make it their own. And while we're at it, lots of black women are also making inroads into areas and professions that they have not heretofore been visible, and a strong argument can be made for there being a correlation between their progress and their independent spirit which encompasses how they choose to wear their hair. Finally, when you judge a woman solely by how she looks, you are being shallow. Nevertheless, if you are looking for black woman who exemplify your preferences for the natural, there are plenty of them out and about. You are just wearing blinders. And as much as you try to downplay your argument as not being about "hair", the implication is that embracing a natural hair style is in the vanguard of the image-changing that will reflect a return to our African heritage which, in turn, will lead the way to dismantling institutionalized racism, and changing the biased condescending attitude whites exhibit toward blacks. But white folks don't give a damn about how black folks look nor are they preoccupied with their own image, or interested in cloning their population to preserve their European appearance. It's all about power and money, Bruh. If you got it, it doesn't matter whether you wear a Kenti cloth outfit or a designer label one and, what's more, if you've achieved financial success, this goes a long way toward feeling good about yourself. I earlier referred to you as being an iconoclast. Alas, i have to re-think my opinion. You are clinging to old ideas, not shattering them.

I know a professional, Black, female hairdresser very well. She tells me that perming hair and using weaves is simply bad for one's hair. She was quite adamant about it, and told me this without prompting. Has anyone ever argued that perming your hair is not "bad" for it? If it is bad for your hair, then why does anyone feel compelled to fight for the practice? We all know that smoking kills more people than homicide and only evil or ignorant person would fight for people to continue doing it. There are even laws to greatly restrict the promotion of cigarette smoking, but none to make it illegal - why? We all know wearing 5 inch heals is bad for your feet, but why do we do it? Women have been convinced it makes them look sexy and men have been convinced of this too. The only ones truly benefiting are the people who make and sell this harmful footwear. How many of us know women that have actually had foot surgery that would be completely unnecessary were it not for their footwear. It is silly to argue that this is an attack on women. The fact of the matter is that women are much more of a target of, and harmed, by marketers. Women actually shop for fun and to make themselves feel better. Some some are compulsive shoppers -- who have purchased clothing they've never worn. Sure there are some men who like to go to the mall to "shop," but we all know that women are much more likely to engage in the behavior. And I know it is not ALL women. I doubt @Cynique, for example, is a shop-a-holic, or has a closet full of clothing with the tags still on them. But we all know such people and mst likely it is a woman. Even the NFL have tapped into the female market convincing them to buy overpriced apparel and tickets to watch men play. As with most issues, in this country, this is more about power than race. But as with most things in here Black folks are disproportionately harmed. This read like an ad hominem, I know you are better than that. Honesty, when you write, "Read between our lines." I don't know what you are talking about and I don't think I'm being intentionally dense. I might be dense, but it not intentional LOL!

@Cynique Many black women are wearing their hair natural more often, as there has recently been a natural hair movement that has even picked up heavily in South Africa and spread throughout West Africa. That pleases me but what does not please me is when a 12 year old black girl tells me that she wishes she was white so she could be beautiful and have long blond beautiful hair and pretty white skin. Truly a heartbreaking thing to hear from a girl you have spent hours empowering with history and facts about our past. At the end, social engineering ranks supreme. In my opinion, it is brainwashing on the highest level. Once you think about it, black people do not decide what is "politically correct." The media presents these ideas to us and we seem to follow along as if the media is our bible. I never said some weaves don't look good. My problem with weaves is not even that black people wear them even though I feel they are ridiculous with the exception of entertainers who need to alter their appearance frequently to seem fresh. I get it. Weave has become sort of a sickness in the black community. Some women will never let someone else publicly see their hair. Though many women say that it has nothing to do with self esteem, this would be odd behavior. It's not a fashion statement. When you buy fashion, you simply take it off and chose another statement. Some women have had these weaves on their head so long that by the time they finally take them off, they have all types of bacteria crawling around on their heads. It's not natural and too often it's also unclean. We can easily ignore many of the issues in the black community and make excuses for the behavior. Though it's not progressive, it is an option. We can even have a song and dance about how responsible white supremacy is for our behavior and predicament and this may be true to a degree. But there are things we can do to improve us. In my opinion, solutions don't get talked about enough in the black community. We seem bent on making excuses for our negative behavior and normalizing it. Also, let me reiterate that I am not attacking black women. I am attacking a particular behavior in the black community that needs to be addressed. You said it should be more about what is in a person's head than what is on their head. My response is that what is on a person's head is a direct reflection of what is in their head. This discussion is not about women who wear weaves not being attractive. I think all black women are attractive and I appreciate black women. My mother is a beautiful black women. All of the women in my family are beautiful black women. I'm not taking a whiz at black women. What I will say is that none of the women in my family or immediate circle wear weaves. I didn't even know about weaves until I went down south to attend school in Florida. Ironically, when I came back up North I noticed that weave was a real thing. Even more importantly, I noticed that it was not a fashion statement at all. It became a way of life. Black women found a way to make themselves more attractive because that's what fashion is all about. You want to look your best right? The sad thing here is that black women believe that their straight long weaves that is nothing like their own hair is more attractive than the hair they were born with. This is the part of the discussion that no one wants to address. Of course, black women will argue that black women can have this same type of hair naturally as well but we know that is also uncommon. I think the symbol of weave stands for something in the black community that is not good. I feel like the need for black women to wear weave is a weakness and symbol of self hate, most of the time. And how does it affect me? When millions of black women cover up their natural hair in favor of straighter, less kinkier hair, that hurts my feelings because in my eyes my own hair is more attractive than stringy long hair that mimics animal fur. This of course is my personal opinion but I really do believe that African people have the most attractive hair but I could be biased. If black people believed that themselves, then I am certain that everyone else would be spending their money trying to get our hair texture instead of the other way around. Like you said, we are naturally trend setters. @Troy Thanks for pointing out that this goes way deeper than hair. " It is not just about hair; it is about those with wealth and power and how they control all if us. The impact on our hair is a minor indication of much broader issues of domination. " - You said it all! @Delano What I wrote on this post is fresh content but why do you ask? I have written a few articles about black women's hair and beautiful black women.

That was a great response @Cynique. One thing struck me. It seems when you agree with Nubian he is shattering old ideas, but when you disagree he is clinging to old ones. As you know we've been down this well worn path of Black women's hair before and I've adjusted my opinion as a result. However as @NubianFellow has asserted it is not just about the hair. When I was in Nigeria, for example, every Black woman in a corporate environment wore a wig or weave -- and this us an environment where EVERYBODY is Black. The men wore suits despite 90 percent humidity and 90+ degree weather -- even if they were not in client facing roles. I also noticed skin lightening creams in the store. Here we have a Black nation rather than being in the vanguard of (re)defining Black style, they adhere fervently to western European cultural standards. This is not about just Black women's hair. So anyone who tries to make it only about Black hair is deliberately ignoring much broader implications. Oh course, my recent focus on corporate manipulation, comes into play here too. We all know women, of all colors, who feel bad about themselves because of the state of their hair, because of their failure to mimick some photoshopped-impossible-to-achieve standard. Keeping women in the state of perpetual dissatisfaction gets them to spend more money -- which is all that matters. You never hear men say the are "having a bad hair day," at least not yet. It is not just about hair; it is about those with wealth and power and how they control all if us. The impact on our hair is a minor indication of much braoder issues of domination.

From the Hi-to-Low ~ The Great little deluge Oh gosh! I got side tracked and stayed up all night recently because of an unexpected hunger to watch documentaries. And the reason why my interest became peaked was due to an earlier choice I had made to watch one of my old DVD series that touched upon this certain subject. I had filed these particular DVDs away in storage because, in the past when I began to watch them, my husband constantly expressed that they were not one of his favorites at all. I have never been a serious television addict but ever so often I do like to watch certain shows and I had only watched one episode while this series was aired on television more than about fifteen years ago; The Reba Show. So years later after it went off the air, I decided to buy two Reba DVD series on sale at Walmart back in 2009 but, I only watched a few episodes until I decided to store them away. But for some reason, I just recently became in the mood to pull them out of storage again. I waited until my husband went out of the room and decided to quietly watch some episodes so as not to draw attention because I just didn’t want to here his rants about ‘why he didn’t care for the show’. But after a few episodes, one certain episode caught me off guard and caused me to burst out in laughter. Barbara Jean had broke out of the kitchen wearing corn rolls and hair extensions in her head with the bling bling on and, she was boppin and make head gestures, and other ethnic gestures and commenting like a Black woman. I tried so hard to contain my amusement, but it was like one thing after another, and I was bursting out and hollering through the whole show. And the guest, one of my favorite actresses, Jo Marie Payton, from the show, Family Matters, was on this episode as well. That was one of the funniest shows I had ever watched. In one scene, Barbara Jean was attentively playing cards with the black folk in Reba’s living room and when the character ‘Brock’ came through the front door, she got up and bopped over to meet him and called him her ‘White Chocolate’ and, she later walked back into the kitchen and complained that she needed an aspirin because she had a headache, while she pressed her corn rolls so as to ease the tension in her head. However, there happens to be a down side to this show. I came to realize that the theme revolved around the past devastating disaster, hurricane Katrina. So then, I went from an Hi to a Lo point very quickly. After the show was over, I decided to research some updates and to my shock, I came across several documentaries that reveal to me events that I had never realized. And as one celebrity, Sean Penn, commented, this dynamic flood catastrophe that occurred in August 2005, now brings to my mind the Biblical Noah’s flood. It seems like a Great-little deluge. Even though, there are so many more devastating catastrophes that happened not long after this hurricane Katrina that was officially reported to have caused the deaths of about 1800 people, such as the great tsunami in Indonesia on December 26, 2005 and this recent hurricane Michael in October 2018, nevertheless, certain aspects of it makes Katrina very unique in my opinion. Even though there were other reports of previous hurricanes in that some surveys consider to be much worse than Katrina for various reasons, however, it would be this hurricane that still causes me to believe that it should be listed as the worst one to at least have happened here in the States. I believe that each hurricane force winds that has made landfall would be unique in and of itself, but after viewing one documentary after another recently, I still believe Katrina has made an historical landmark in America due to many circumstances that makes it be in sort of like a class by itself. There are several awesome documentaries about this hurricane Katrina, and each one of them highlighted unique aspects of this horrific ordeal, but one of the most compelling documentaries that I watched was Spike Lee’s ‘When the Levies Broke a requiem in four acts’. In this film a wide variety of people were interviewed from dramatic eyewitness accounts to well-known activist, ministers, celebrities, musicians, politicians, high ranking military personnel, and expert professionals. One of the many comments that struck me was from Garland Robinette, a Radio Host for WWL when he commented that [paraphrasing] ‘it is indescribable in how Black people were treated and even after almost nine (9) years later, it stuns me to this day’. Like this man, who even though he was White, there were so many other White people interviewed that became brought to the brink of tears as they passionately spoke about the racism against the Black African American victims of hurricane Katrina. This hurricane seems to bring out the best and worst in people from many different aspects. In part III at about the 13-minute mark, Dr. Ben Marble, ER Physician of Biloxi, Mississippi, exploded and abruptly cut off the former Vice President Dick Chaney, and later retorted [paraphrasing] that he did not want to hear comments just to make a photo opt to make himself look good’. He continued to say, ‘where was he three days before when everyone was dying in New Orleans’. Also at some point, Soledad O’Brien of CNN ripped into an official and spoke against the former president Bush on the same lines. She said [paraphrasing] that food, water and supplies were air dropped for the victims of the Sri Lanka tsunami victims two days later, but it had been five days and thousands of people were in the dome and had no food or water. She continued to passionately state that Bush was in Iraq when the people in New Orleans were suffering and that it was definitely a disservice in the name of racism against Black people. This documentary had me on the edge of my seat, so-to-speak and even though it was a lengthy series, that showed shocking scenes that made me depressed, on the other hand, even in this disparity, it took me, at times, from a Low to a High point. Throughout the entire series, there were two women that seen to carry the entire series and they would each continue to be interviewed at certain intervals throughout the whole film, and their comments were so abrupt and hilarious so that it was impossible for me to lose interest. It was a Black Afro-American woman named Phyllis and a White woman named Cheryl and both of their comments throughout the film was so blunt and raw, that I couldn’t help but laugh. In part IV at about the 1:07 minute mark, Cheryl was asked a question, and even though it was obvious that she was stressed out of her mind because of not receiving needed federal intervention, her response almost made me fall out of my chair; They need to offer that woman to start a career as a stand-up comedian. Cheryl made all of her comments with a straight face, however, she took me from a dark gloomy mood to being bowled over with laughter. Both she and Phyllis showed the gut-wrenching reaction of being pushed over the limit and seem to be able to show the emotions that many others probably felt but did not express. The Louisiana State Representative, Karen Carter made so many important comments about disparity of Black men and the response of the officials or lack thereof. Celebrity activist Harry Belafonte was also interviewed as well as Wynton Marsalis, and so many others. And so, after watching this series, it led me to search for more and more. I had no idea of the full impact of this storm of which I now believe still continues even after almost fifteen years. And as it was also stated, even though the official fatalities have been listed as being about 1800, this number could well be much larger. Due to many victims who are still unaccounted for, the death count cannot possibly be accurate. Many people were told by ‘search and rescue officials’ that their loved ones were not inside their homes, and these people would go inside, and in fact, they found their relatives there inside dead. Little children were able to look and see many dead bodies that lay in the streets for weeks and, many of these bodies remained unclaimed and unknown. Even today, many people have never found out about their missing loved ones. As one interviewer stated, this disaster was almost like watching what happened in the Rwanda Genocide. Why has not our government brought this kind of information to the forefront of our educational system? Just as Karen Carter stated [paraphrasing] ‘the disparity of Black men [and woman] is a direct result of the American Educational System’ or, lack thereof’.

@CyniqueYes, I remember hearing the news report once about Aurora Borealis at some point in 2000s and, I vaguely remember it being said that this was somewhat visible, from my point-of-view in north carolina, but it would be more visible for people in the 'more' northern part of the hemisphere. I agree! Yes, a lot of people believe that the Bible is 'a book of fables' like you. Perhaps the 'supeior intelligence at work' will one day reveal itself, but so far after thousands of years of human existence, I am not going to hold my breath that 'it' will up and reveal itself without some sort of script or hand us any solid proof or written proof or evidence that will be incorporated into this American educational system, unless of course, this 'superior intelligence at work' is a White ... cause if it is any thing other than White, then it will probably be altered into being 'white' or fabled or etc. So far, White people have not proven to me that they know the source of how the sun came to be, or how we as humans came to be or the beginning of reproduction or evolution... So far Black people or any one else on earth has been able to solve these mysteries...

Yeah ok NubianFellow. Good luck with it all.

Troy you are trying to correct a writer. Then disagreeing with the Oxford English Dictionary , that is agreeing with the North American spelling. Wednesday Thursday Friday. It's Saturday I am resting like the Lord. Although I didn't work that hard.

Cool your jets sparky; sliced meat is spelled they way i wrote it here on America. What deli have you ever been to and seen it spelled baloney? Besides it was a joke. Since I'm always lamenting the impact of corporate influence. BTW Mr. Grammarist who lives in a glass house, you used incorrect word; Their is spelled "there. "