• Skip to primary navigation
  • Skip to content
  • Skip to primary sidebar
  • Skip to footer

Afrobella

Natural Hair, Beauty, Fashion and Makeup Blog

  • Hair
  • Beauty
    • Makeup
  • Reviews
  • Pop Culture
  • Style
  • About
    • Awards and Acclaim
    • FAQs
  • Contact
  • Privacy Policy

Afrobella On Newsweek

by afrobella

537x480.aspx

If you visited Newsweek.com’s Human Condition blog today, you may have been greeted by this beautiful photo of two bright eyed, big haired girls. Those adorable little afrobellas are my nieces. Dominique and Isabella! And the article was my response to the latest rebuttal by Allison Samuels.

Hey response to the bloggers, if you will, was titled We Are All Team Zahara, and reignited ire throughout the blogosphere.

One of my favorite bloggers, Latoya Peterson tackled the Baby Z hair police head on in Jezebel. (LOVING all Latoya’s work over there, BTW).

Post Bourgie cosigned Latoya’s take, and Ta-Nehisi Coates took on the topic for The Atlantic.

Then Newsweek invited some bloggers to respond on their site.

Tami of What Tami Said wrote Natural Hair Is Not Unhealthy.

Author Roslyn Holcolmb who blogs at Stormcrow wrote Hair Don’ts Hold Us Back.

Nichelle of 55 Secret Street wrote Its Time To Fully Embrace Natural Hair.

And now you can click here to read my final thoughts about Zahara’s hair. If you could leave a comment on Newsweek’s site, it’d mean so much to me!

I hope that puts an end to these shenanigans, at least until the next trip to a toy store, where this little girl will emerge held by her mother, and surrounded by bodyguards, gawking onlookers, and photographers by the dozen.

51jay-uzGFL._SS400_

If you’ve got a little girl in your life dealing with similar hair issues as Zahara Jolie Pitt and even Chris Rock’s little girls — struggling with loving their hair in its unfettered state and appreciating their natural beauty — you might want to get them an inspiring book for Christmas. Of course there’s I Love My Hair by Natasha Anastasia Tarpley, the sometimes controversial Nappy Hair by Carolivia Herron, and Happy to Be Nappy by bell hooks. Now you can add I Love My Cotton Candy Hair by Nicole L. Updegraff to the list. The book takes into account the diverse background of a modern interracial family, the hair issues of biracial kids, and ultimately it’s “a story about loving yourself just the way you are.” A message any kid (and most adults) should be able to get behind.

Related Posts Plugin for WordPress, Blogger...

Filed Under: Uncategorized Tagged With: Afrobella Around the Web, allison samuels newsweek, Blog Sister Love, zahara hair, zahara jolie pitt, zahara jolie pitt newsweek

« Artist Summit Weekend = AMAZING!
And the Q-Tips Giveaway Winner Is… »

Reader Interactions

Comments

  1. farah

    at

    Trying not to turn into white girl derail here.

    I just want to tell you how grateful I am that you are challenging this idiocy. I have fairly typical Jewish hair. Thick and frizzy. Despite going to a Jewish school I emerged with serious esteem issues thanks *precisely * to the kind of “care” Alison Samuels described (and I don’t come close to the experience of one of my schoool friends whose mother died her daughter’s hair blonde from the age of five). It took a Jamaican friend to persuade me–in my late thirties–to go natural. Now I watch my little sister: Jewish father, Jamaican mother, straighten her hair to death.

  2. Kweenie

    at

    The article was well-written and I agree with you 100%. When I have my kids, people can say about them (and me) what they want, because I will not be conditioning them to believe the hair they’re born with is unmanageable or unworthy. Thank God Z’s parents don’t respond to that nonsense! She’s a beautiful girl and she stands out from the rest precisely because she’s such a natural beauty!

  3. Dominique DjeDje

    at

    First off, your nieces are too cute, love the dreses too and the fabulous afros. And Ia gree there is absolutely nothing wrong with how Zahar’s hair looks here or in any other pic, as long as it’s healthy. The thing that caught my attention was what Zahara asked of her adopted mom. I am a mother of a 3 yr old girl. She has yet to ask me about her hair, but when I heard that Zahara asked this question of her mom, why her hair isn’t like her siblings, I was more curious of what Jolie’s answer was, not so much Zahara asking it. I think that kids ask tons of questions as they grow, but we as adults add the loaded issues to some of it. For example, take the difference between a child asking why the sky is blue and where babies come from. We for some reason have a hard time asnwering one of them more than the other, but we have to remember that the uncomfortable feeling we have comes from US, not the child. It’s funny how if Zahara were to ask why does the sun rise each day, we would give her a simple honest straight-forward answer. But when it comes to hair, we all get tense. I’ve been natural my whole life, that’s due to my mom being natural herself since I knew here and giving me simple straight forward answers to my questions, whether it be hair or anything else. If my daughter ask why her hair is different, I’ll tell her simply it’s because she is West African, and people from that part of the world have this hair texture. Then I would go onto explain why Asians have long thick black hair, because of their origin, and even show her white people who have curly hair just like her, for example Jews. Zahara’s question came out of curiosity because kids that age are curious, I don’t necessarily think it automatically means that she wants her hair to be like everyone else, but does want to understand why she is different. Remember people, different isn’t bad, it’s actually quite special. I’m very different from those like me (my sistahs) and those not like me. I’m unique. My mom taught me that too. Who wants to look like everyone else, honestly. I think ultimately whether it’s hair, skin color, etc. the ultimate point is that we are all different and that’s what’s so great about us. Let’s please pass that onto our children, they will be much happier and live more peacefully with every speical person on this planet.

  4. Alicia Kiltz

    at

    I love my hair! I work in a company that sells all-natural African products for hair and skin. Safe for kids and the environment!
    AfricaImports

  5. Monica

    at

    Bella,
    You are much more gracious than I.

  6. Debo Onabanjo

    at

    Your nieces are beautiful and the clothing looks nice on them. Just in case you need more elegant African pieces for your nieces, made in Africa. Check out http://www.dupsies.com. They have some really nice stuff for children and well as adults

  7. Sardar Jokes sms

    at

    For most recent information you have to pay a visit world-wide-web
    and on internet I found this web site as a
    best web page for most recent updates.

Primary Sidebar


Visit Afrobella Store

Popular Posts

  • January 2025
  • December 2024
  • November 2024
  • October 2024
  • May 2024
  • October 2023
  • September 2023
  • August 2023
  • July 2023
  • May 2023
  • April 2023
  • March 2023
  • November 2022
  • September 2022
  • June 2022
  • September 2021
  • August 2021
  • June 2021
  • May 2021
  • January 2021
  • December 2020
  • October 2020
  • September 2020
  • April 2020
  • March 2020
  • February 2020
  • January 2020
  • December 2019
  • November 2019
  • October 2019
  • September 2019
  • August 2019
  • July 2019
  • June 2019
  • May 2019
  • April 2019
  • February 2019
  • January 2019
  • November 2018
  • October 2018
  • September 2018
  • August 2018
  • July 2018
  • June 2018
  • May 2018
  • April 2018
  • March 2018
  • February 2018
  • January 2018
  • December 2017
  • November 2017
  • October 2017
  • August 2017
  • July 2017
  • June 2017
  • April 2017
  • March 2017
  • February 2017
  • January 2017
  • December 2016
  • November 2016
  • October 2016
  • September 2016
  • August 2016
  • July 2016
  • June 2016
  • May 2016
  • April 2016
  • March 2016
  • February 2016
  • January 2016
  • December 2015
  • November 2015
  • October 2015
  • September 2015
  • August 2015
  • July 2015
  • June 2015
  • May 2015
  • April 2015
  • March 2015
  • February 2015
  • January 2015
  • December 2014
  • November 2014
  • October 2014
  • September 2014
  • August 2014
  • July 2014
  • June 2014
  • May 2014
  • April 2014
  • March 2014
  • February 2014
  • January 2014
  • December 2013
  • November 2013
  • October 2013
  • September 2013
  • August 2013
  • July 2013
  • June 2013
  • May 2013
  • April 2013
  • March 2013
  • February 2013
  • January 2013
  • December 2012
  • November 2012
  • October 2012
  • September 2012
  • August 2012
  • July 2012
  • June 2012
  • May 2012
  • April 2012
  • March 2012
  • February 2012
  • January 2012
  • December 2011
  • November 2011
  • October 2011
  • September 2011
  • August 2011
  • July 2011
  • June 2011
  • May 2011
  • April 2011
  • March 2011
  • February 2011
  • January 2011
  • December 2010
  • November 2010
  • October 2010
  • September 2010
  • August 2010
  • July 2010
  • June 2010
  • May 2010
  • April 2010
  • March 2010
  • February 2010
  • January 2010
  • December 2009
  • November 2009
  • October 2009
  • September 2009
  • August 2009
  • July 2009
  • June 2009
  • May 2009
  • April 2009
  • March 2009
  • February 2009
  • January 2009
  • December 2008
  • November 2008
  • October 2008
  • September 2008
  • August 2008
  • July 2008
  • June 2008
  • May 2008
  • April 2008
  • March 2008
  • February 2008
  • January 2008
  • December 2007
  • November 2007
  • October 2007
  • September 2007
  • August 2007
  • July 2007
  • June 2007
  • May 2007
  • April 2007
  • March 2007
  • February 2007
  • January 2007
  • December 2006
  • November 2006
  • October 2006
  • September 2006
  • August 2006

Footer

  • Afrobella Radio
  • Ask Afrobella
  • Beauty
  • Body
  • Books
  • Events
  • Featured
  • Food
  • Hair
  • Health and Wellness
  • Issues
  • Jams
  • Life
  • Makeup
  • Monday Manicure
  • Pop Culture
  • Popular
  • Randomness
  • Reviews
  • Skin
  • Style
  • Travel

Copyright © 2025 · Foodie Pro & The Genesis Framework