By Phumzile Twala I hate being called names. I grew up in Soweto, where people come up with interesting and new terms just about as often as taxi drivers cut off other motorists on the road every day. I’ve been called all sorts of names over the years. But none have baffled me as much […]
hair politics
Posted inGeneral, Lifestyle
Digging through hair and dysfunction
Since crèche started, bath time has been a nightmare. Every evening while I struggle through my daughter’s coarse hair with feeble attempts to get the sand and tiny stones out and off of her scalp I imagine what being a sandstone miner might be like. It was a long time coming, but after three days […]
Posted inEquality, Lifestyle
The hair debate must end
While watching Gillian Schutte’s documentary “It’s my hair … I bought it”, I thought the hair debate must come to an end. It’s banal and redundant. Talking about black women’s hair needs to stop being a question of national importance. Our hair is not all of who we are. Why have I never seen a […]