Blonde hair has always been very popular in the Black community and recently blonde hair has had an influx of participants. I have to admit that it looks good on most, but it's really not about vanity. I used to be a huge fan of blonde highlights in beautiful brown hair, but never wore a completely blonde hairstyle because I don’t believe that look compliments most Black Women that well. I've had a few different issues I want to address about the recent epidemic of blonde hair; how it's worn and how and why some people have even discovered it.
Some Black Women just wear the color because of reasons such as, well white people wear it or the ever so popular, there are Black people with natural blonde hair, completely lacking knowledge of it's origin. It seems to me the only time some of these Black blondies research a little bit of their history, is when it comes to validating wearing blonde hair. Do you want to wear the color because of culture or because you want to identify with white women? Suddenly, my beautiful Brown sisters become the hair historians they should have been before the obsession with the blonde, but they simply stop at finding a picture of a Black person with natural, blonde curls. Black Women can’t wait to claim the Aborigine Australian people, but not Africa, which of course, is where the Aborigine people of Australia come from. Then most of them rock the blonde hair in the form of a straight lace front plastered to their foreheads. If you look at the entertainment industry and their devout followers, it's pretty much straight and blonde and plastered. I truly believe the only time a Diaspora African Black Woman Actress can wear their hair when it’s naturally curly, kinky, or coily, is when they are on vacation or if they’re playing a slave or some busted characther. Furthermore, current styles are not a predominant look when it comes to Black Women in entertainment.
The average Black Woman will vigorously defend these styles, providing googled images to support their argument, yet will never wear a natural curl. I feel like those types of Black Women do not delve into anything else to discover the other amazing things about their culture, but to wear blonde hair. I've had conversations with some and I know from personal experience that the knowledge is limited. Black Woman, if you are going to claim all of this history just to wear a blonde wig or lace front, then embrace all parts of your rich African culture. Discover the history of all the braided and loc'd styles and curly textures. If you're going to wear the blonde color and use the Aborigine people as a reference, then why not wear it how they wear it, in a nice blonde fro or curls.
I've done a little research on these African Aborigine (meaning a person, animal, or plant that has been in a country or region from earliest times) Melaneisan people just so we can all can get a better understanding of the history of these beautiful melaninated, NATURALLY blonde haired people.
Situated in the south-west Pacific, about 1800 km north-east of Australia, are Solomon Islands. Most of the inhabitants of this island country are dark-skinned people called Melanesians. One of the intriguing features of these people is the naturally bright blonde hair, which about 10 percent of them sport. Surprised at the co-existence of blond hair with dark skin? Well, a number of hypotheses like bleaching by sun and saltwater, a diet rich in fish, and the genetic legacy of Europeans or Americans have been considered for the origins of their blonde hair. A new study has found that the naturally blond hair in Solomon Islanders is due to variants of a native gene called TYRP1 that plays an important role in the melanin biosynthetic pathway. This gene encodes a melanosomal enzyme that belongs to the tyrosinase family and plays an important role in the melanin biosynthetic pathway. Defects in this gene are the cause of rufous oculocutaneous albinism and oculocutaneous albinism type III. The findings were arrived at after analyzing the genetic makeup of 43 blonde and 42 dark-haired Melanesians. Note that the variant of TYRP1 gene is distinctly different from the gene that causes blonde hair in Europeans. This variant is not present in the Europeans.
I urge everyone to click on the underlined links I've provided about our beautiful, blonde haired African people. The information about that TYPR1 gene is quite enlightening as to how albinism genetically happens. Africans populate the entire EARTH. No matter what continent we are on, We are the majority, contrary to popular belief. We need to embrace our roots like every other culture does and return to our throne, spiritually, mentally, and physically. Asé.
With Love...