photos: Mutua Matheka
The magic of African hair when it returns to its original shape despite being stretched, ironed, braided, dyed, locked to locs, bent is phenomenal. This can also relate to an African’s character which has experienced so many challenges, pain and trauma that has been linked to identity and history. But we still prevail and find beauty within and around us.
Resilience pushes us to discover what we’re capable of beyond our comfort zone, it gives us a chance to use hair as a language to communicate the nonconformity that society has placed on us.
There are challenges you can control and those you can’t like hair loss due to a medical condition or stress. That can remind us that we’re more than our hair. Our strength lies within, not externally.