SUNDAY THOUGHTS: "SUPERNATURAL” at PGAAMCC Q and A

1. What is your role as an Artist in Residence at Prince George's African American Museum and Cultural Center?

2. What is the definition of "natural hair"?

3. What is your role in the SuperNatural Hair Festival at the PGAAMCC ? How does art therapy connect with embracing/reclaiming natural hair.

4. What is/are the goal(s) you hope to accomplish for attendees?  How is this event a celebration of hair, heritage, and hope?

5. How is this festival important for Black culture and the overall American history/experience?

A1. My role is new and was quite a welcome surprise, when Monica announced it at the opening reception of my exhibit. Currently, my role is to create art, collaborate with other artists, and meet community members and museum patrons. Once the school year begins, I'd love to host classes to give teachers another option for providing students with artistic experiences outside of the classroom. 

A-2. "Natural hair" refers to the fibers emanating from one's scalp be they curly, straight, thick or thin. It's hair in its purest state.  I remember when the Afro, or Bush hairstyle was also referred to as a "natural. I love the flexibility, the choices, the range that natural hair can yield. It hasn't always been celebrated, though. It seems to go through seasons of appreciation.

A3. Much of my art boldly features natural hair although hair is not a principal theme. I love the process of painting natural styles. I've heard "bushy," "nappy," "unruly," "bad hair," "untamed" all my life. So it feels a bit defiant and cathartic for me to recreate the cloud--the crown--that is the Afro, though I perceive that black natural hair still is more readily accepted and celebrated in images than on actual people in the spaces they occupy. 

A4. The voices we hear growing up deeply impact our self-esteem. We reach adulthood still not believing that who we are and what we have is enough, though the whole world is seeking to imitate, emulate, appropriate, and even sell it back to us! 

Events like this help people enjoy the company, advice, and experiences of like-minded (and like-coiffed) people while also celebrating their uniqueness and freedom to present themselves in the way that's that's best for them.

A5. I'm a baby boomer. 

I remember "Say It Loud, I'm Black and I'm Proud," "Young Gifted and Black," Blaxploitation movies, Soul Train, Christy Love, Julia, Friday Foster, Pam Grier, Angela Davis... 

I remember people yelling out of windows, Paul Revere style, if Black people were on TV. 

I got the "You have to be twice as good..." speech. 

I remember feeling as if the goal in life was to be one of the "good" Black people. Be articulate; look the part; know when to turn it on, and when to turn it off. Avoid appearing foolish or clownish. Be conservative, whatever that means. 

It's exhausting. 

There was an urgency to prove you were nothing like the stereotypes. How confused we should be! Thankfully someone decided, "Enough already". Someone pushed back against self-loathing; reminded us how "fearfully and wonderfully made" we are--strong hair and all. 

Natural hair has always been a source of fascination. I think that's why we love it. It's special, and worthy of love and admiration. And it's imperative to love self first, if we ever hope to truly love others.