Hair Stories: Biracial Hair Issues

I was asked by a reader a while ago how I felt about locing with having "biracial/mixed hair" and it made me wonder what it all means... and what "biracial/mixed hair" meant to me...

I am biracial-  my mother is European, my father is African.  There are several issues that have come up over the years... and a few things that I celebrate!

"You've got that great biracial hair" :

It's funny how so many people/media assume that if you are biracial, your hair will automatically be a certain way... yet from experience, I know biracial friends who's hair is certainly not the image that most pictures show when discussing mixed race hair care (including my own)... and they love it! To think that biracial people always have loose curls is wrong. "Biracial/mixed hair" is varied and spans the whole spectrum of hair textures/curls/coils/kinks, this should be celebrated! Again, I believe every natural woman/man is unique.

Celebrating mothers on their own journey through learning about Black natural hair care with their children:

Mothers who's children are biracial and have completely different hair from themselves go on a huge journey too! 

Thank goodness for all the amount of books and information geared for mothers who are on that journey with their children to learn about Black hair care. I wish we had them back in the day when I was growing up. It is a new and scary thing for many mothers who don't know anything about Black hair care. 

Speaking on a personal level, I used to envy girls who had Black mothers. Silly right?!? Simply because I wanted my mother to naturally know what to do with my huge mass of afro hair. I didn't get why out of all my cousins, I was the one with this hair type. I wanted her to teach me what to do with my hair when I was young. I feel blessed that she accepted my hair for what it was and kept it natural... she soon sat with my African relatives for many weeks to learn how to braid and style my hair - and then she would work her way through my hair, often undoing the whole style until she felt she got it right. Not fun for me at the time! But looking back, I really appreciate the effort she made with my hair and on learning about natural hair care. Her final touch to my natural hair was starting my locs in 2001, by spending several hours braiding it to begin my new baby locs. This was a huge journey for her and I love her for all the time she dedicated to it!

And it's not just all about mothers who don't have Afro hair... I have known many biracial friends who have Black mothers with relaxed hair who did the Big chop and went natural, after being inspired by their children and learning more about natural hair care for them. How fantastic is that!

Products that are geared for "biracial/mixed hair" work just as well on tightly kinky coily natural hair:
There are several well known natural hair brands that I remember who started off gearing their products for those with "biracial/mixed hair" or to mothers who were looking for products for their children. And now, it seems everyne with any texture is trying them out! Great, These products often do work very well with tighter kinks too! So worth a try.

Accepting your texture is the beginning to really enjoying your natural hair!
I love all the info out there now for styles, products etc. But I sometimes find that some new naturals who I know get really caught up with comparing and wishing they had a different texture type. This links up very well with my first point as I was one of the girls who did just that (before all the youtubes/websites/etc) that would look at other girls and wish wish wish I had looser curls. But the minute I started appreciating my hair the way it is, was the day I worked with my hair type, not against it.

Just a few insights on my hair journey ;o)