You were born on August 7th, 2017!You’re two years old, Ru. Happy Birthday!🎂🎁🎉🎈 🍾 🥂
{whispers} Ru, short for Unruly, is the name of the mane formerly known as Afrobella.
How does it feel?! Stretching long and strong from crown to soul. From polished and impermanent, to rough and ready. Still a few lumps and bumps, but better for the wear(er). A masterpiece mastering peace.
It would be easy to say the my loc journey has been a mission of internal growth made manifest externally. It would be. It isn’t.
It would be easy to say that through the baby wick, swelling, and generally FUGLY stages it was easy to envision them; fully realized and long AF. It would be. It isn’t.
It would be easy to say that I feel more beautiful now than ever before, and my overall self esteem has been greatly enhanced. It would be. It isn’t. It hasn’t been easy. To navigate this shape-shifting adult body, redevelop my reemerging sense of style, and address a perceived increased in pressure to assume the accoutrements of coveted ✌🏾professionalism✌🏾
Before
After
Today
In a little more than two years I’ve grown an appreciation for the quirky, inside-out sort of beauty that I am. I spend less time getting ready… on my hair.
I feel a sort of badass empowerment knowing that bigotry, so mobilized by tax payer dollars, and cushioned comfortably in the bosom of bureaucracy, has seen fit to force itself into our salons and places of business. That my hair, our hair, has once again come under laser-focused scrutiny in the form of a Supreme Court ruling. 👻🚨🗂🏦🗳📰
I’m a cocktail of a sort.
🍸A generous helping of pride and natural beauty
🍸A spritz of oils and aloe gel
🍸 A heavy-handed pour internalized white supremacy
🍸 A sprig of IDGAF for garnish
You’re two years wiser, thicker, longer, and stronger. Here’s to you! 🥂🍾
I’m thinking about turning this into a series. What would you like to see first?
💁🏾♀️Locs vs Dreds
💁🏾♀️Living with Locs & Dermatitis
💁🏾♀️How I Manage My Locs Solo
💁🏾♀️Freeforn vs “Fashion Dreds”
Reply in the comments.
Love you, Ru!
