Freeman’s school informed him that his hair was too long, and violated the appearance codes of the private educational institution. His father Shawn has told the New York Daily News that  “it’s a form of not being culturally aware, a form of stereotyping”, and fully expects to have his son removed from his current school.

Although the school has allegedly decided to implement diversity training  by ‘reconsidering’ making changes to the hair policy next school year, Shawn Freeman refuses to allow his son to attend West End Christian School under any circumstance.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HxyxXRsb1ao

B. Clark

]]> https://www.melanoidnation.org/black-child-ordered-by-his-school-to-remove-his-locs/feed/ 194 https://www.melanoidnation.org/is-self-righteousness-plaguing-black-society/ https://www.melanoidnation.org/is-self-righteousness-plaguing-black-society/#comments Thu, 20 Aug 2015 06:42:24 +0000 http://melanoidnation.org/?p=662  If there’s ever been a time in our history when the tension has been at its highest, then it could be now.

In the midst of our shortcomings, oppression, and our attempts to dig ourselves from hundreds of years of it all, Black Society as a collective might possibly be up against yet a new thorn in our sides: Self-Righteousness.

We’ve seen it time and time again. In spite of our humanity, we as Melanoid people are expecting each other to reach some sort of “moral high ground” that we’ve yet to verify even exists. Granted, this isn’t stated to give the green light to counterproductive and ratchet behavior, but rather to highlight the recent wave of finger pointing that has run rampant throughout Black Society.

 Sadly enough, we’ve disrespected each other to a level that’s nauseating. If a notable Brother or Sister in Black Society doesn’t necessarily live up to everything that we as individuals prefer them to be, then we are ready to dismiss them with yesterday’s garbage. For example, if a Sister in Black Society doesn’t have a natural hairstyle, yet she opens a business that will employ several dozen Melanoid people in her local community, then some of us (not all) choose to focus on the texture of her hair. In another example, if a Brother in Black Society is known for owning an extensive collection of high-priced sneakers, yet he is legitimately training young Melanoid men in his community a profitable trade, some (not all) of his peers in Black Society would forget all about his uplifting efforts, and wouldn’t be able to get past the Brother’s choice of footwear.

The general consensus among all racial backgrounds in this country over the past decade-plus is that former president George W. Bush’s term was less-than-favorable to state the least. In spite of this fact, we’d still be hard-pressed to barely count on two hands the number of individuals in the dominant society who would go above and beyond their call of whiteness to thoroughly slander and destroy Bush’s political legacy, or his character as an individual, for that matter. What does this tel us about some of the oft-maligned public figures in Black Society who have dedicated a large proportion of their lives to working on behalf of their fellow Melanoid people, yet their honorable–and much needed– contributions seemed to have gone in vain because of our refusal to look past certain human faults that could’ve typically been easily dismissed?

Of course, no one is above being reprimanded when committing acts of wrongdoing, and this includes Melanoid people. However, unless a Melanoid person goes out of their way to “ask for their escape” from Black Society, then there is no reason to waste precious time harping on the dysfunctions of Melanoid people without acknowledging–and seeking to counter– the system of racism/white supremacy that created the very same dysfunction in the first place.

B. Clark

Angelica Sweeting, and her husband Jason, started to observe how their daughters “wanted to have yellow hair and white skin (according to Angelica)”, which moved Mrs. Sweeting to create Naturally Perfect, a doll that exhibits the natural beauty of Black females. With its kinky hair that was actually tested for 8 months to ensure that it could withstand the various natural hair styling methods, the Naturally Perfect doll also boasts the classical African/Melanoid facial features and skin tone, which is a far cry from the synthetic look of the Black dolls created by manufacturers of the dominant society.

This is only the beginning for the Naturally Perfect doll, as Mrs. Sweeting’s Kickstarter campaign actually exceeded its funding goal of $25,000 earlier this week. We can boost our young girls perception of beauty and self-esteem by continuing to support Mrs. Sweeting’s movement.

Check out this video below that shows the Sweeting family explaining the Naturally Perfect doll.

by B. Clark

Earlier this week, the Transportation Security Administration (TSA) agreed to stop profiling Black women because of the diverse hairstyles that Black women are known to wear, particularly those hairstyles of the natural persuasion. Complaints surfaced from Northern California, when Novella Coleman–a staff lawyer with the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU)–filed one in 2012, after reported cases of searches executed on her by TSA agents.

Coleman stated that she was being searched by the TSA due to them being required to check passengers with hair that appeared to have “extensions” or “abnormalities”. Another woman by the name of Malaika Singleton experienced the same caliber of harassment from TSA agents. Singleton, a Sacramento, CA based neuroscientist, was in the process of departing for a business trip in London, England at the time she experienced the same harassment as Coleman.

As a result of the inconveniences the women experiences, the TSA is making claims that it will implement “anti-discrimination training” for its employees to follow to prevent this from happening again.

Here  is an older video clip of Black women giving commentary on how they were violated at the airports by TSA agents because of their hair.

by B. Clark

In light of the disparaging remarks that E! News on-air personality Giuliana Rancic directed toward up-and-coming actress/singer Zendaya, it is apparent that we have witnessed yet another member of the dominant society’s open expression for their love/hate fixation with Melanoid hair.

Despite Rancic’s public apology, the damage had been done already, yet we can’t help but to re-visit the hot-button topic at hand: natural hair, and the role that Melanoid women play in embracing their natural hair. For the past several years, we’ve seen a rapid increase in Melanoid women resorting to their “roots”…their hair roots, that is. A report released last year showed that hair relaxer sales have dipped as low as 26 percent as of 2014. Perhaps these figures are telling of a trend that’s here to stay.

There has been a long-standing fascination with Melanoid hair among groups in the dominant society. I myself as a Melanoid man was once a teenager who sported a relatively large afro when my hair wasn’t braided in cornrows, and could recall attending a predominately white school, in which the white students always asked to touch my hair. It’s safe to assume that the same inquiries of members outside of the Melanoid community are considerably higher in regards to Melanoid women seeing as how they typically (not always) have more hair than their male counterparts.

The Black hair care market is estimated to be nearly a $700 million industry. A 2006 documentary created by award-winning filmmaker Aron Ranen titled Black Hair shows that Koreans own nearly a 60 percent slice of the Black hair care industry pie.

Because the survival of Melanoid Nation is based upon increased ownership of thriving businesses in our communities, will there be a chance that the women of Melanoid Nation will corner this section of the beauty care industry? It’s evident that many more of our beloved Sisters are making the decision to consume natural beauty products by the day, but will this encourage our women to own & control these products to ensure that future generations inherit businesses and other institutions that emphasize the necessity of Melanoid embracing their natural hair? Time will tell, but one thing that the world envies, yet realizes–even if we ourselves have not totally accepted it yet–is that “Black is indeed beautiful”.

by B. Clark