My Hair: 1

Product Information

This story really evokes memories for me, of going to the hairdressers as a child. I love that the story busts some of those hair gender stereotypes. Showing the sister getting her high top fade and the short crop her Auntie goes for. Dabiri touches on so many topics that my mind is buzzing with the need to do my own deep dives & research more if I can, not least the somewhat hidden role the Irish played in slavery, the Orisha beliefs (I don't think mythology is the right word), the Oyo Empire and mathematical hegemony not understood or willfully ignored - which now that my eyes have been opened seems so obvious 🤦‍♀️

Overall, this story is telling young readers to accept their natural hair, no matter the style and I love it. Dit boek had ik zo graag gehad toen mijn dochters klein waren! En ik hoor zelfs van volwassen vrouwen, dat ze dit boek graag zelf als kind hadden willen lezen.I don't want to sound too negative. This is wholly my own opinion, and I'm sure many people disagree with me. I did enjoy this book, and I definitely learnt a lot from it - in particular, Dabiri explains some complex issues in impressively coherent language - but I just found it a little disjointed and, as such, had to push myself to keep reading. I imagine it's difficult to teach your reader about extensive periods of history in a personal essay format, which is perhaps where I felt a disjunction -- and that is entirely my own fault, for not already knowing this history. I'm definitely glad I read this book, even if it wasn't what I was expecting, and maybe the book's structure will become more apparent to me on a reread. De illustaties gemaakt door Allen Fatimaharan zijn heel mooi gedaan. De schutbladen en illustraties binnenin het boek zijn heel mooi gedaan en hebben fijne warme zachte kleuren die je echt een gezellig en warm gevoel geven.

Creo que todavía no está publicado el libro en español; sin embargo, recomiendo muchísimo esta lectura. emma dabiri accomplishes something so beautiful in this book; reading people to filth with elegance while also educating us on the historical and societal significance of afrocentric hair. there were some facts and topics that i didn’t know/wasn’t educated properly on, and i really appreciate the fact that i could learn something new while also heal my inner child. reading about someone who also grew up in ireland was so refreshing istg girls it was like reading a biography. i truly believe this book should and will be on reading lists for curriculums in the near future, and if it isn’t i’m afraid i’ll have to intervene🙄 Full disclosure, I am a white woman and I know this book wasn't written for me. Please excuse any mistakes I may make in my review, I come from a position of almost complete ignorance on this subject. Dabiri talked about the aspect of hair as non binary and I appreciated the concept. Just because some choose to wear their hair natural doesn't make those that don't any less. We can not attempt binarize (is this even a word) our relationship with our hair because it is complex.

Now I like to think I can read anything even though I generally prefer fiction. However I had mixed feelings about this book. I found some bits really fascinating and the breath of the research was her inspiring - which unfortunately also meant that some parts of it felt quite disjointed and were quite boring. I think it could have done with a bit more editing to refine it more. Dabiri takes us on a hair journey from pre-colonial Africa through to the Harlem Renaissance and up to the Natural Hair movement, which still discriminates against certain hair textures. She delves into politics, history, philosophy, even mathematics. The last chapter on maths and hair braiding seriously boggled my mind. I had no idea that essential mathematical calculations (even used digital systems) originated in ancient Africa - but it's not often talked about in the west because it doesn't fit in with the 'primitive' narrative of the continent.

But one of the benefits of reading to learn more about being antiracist is that it also encourages me to think about how white supremacy, while not oppressing me, also forces me into certain patterns of behaviour. Reading this book inspired me to reflect on how my relationship with my own hair has changed over the past few years, mostly as a result of my transition. Since that isn’t relevant to my thoughts on this book, I turned that reflection into a companion blog post that you can read if you are interested in my thoughts. I listened to the audiobook version, narrated by the author herself and can highly recommend it. Really enjoy her turn of phrase and cheeky asides, please don't skip this eye opening educational and approachable read. Hair in this book is so much more than something to brush (or not brush) every day. It's a whole history. I can't recommend this book enough! August 2020 By Suzi Button in HIGHLIGHTED, NEWS The Lorna Byrne Children’s Foundation is 5 years old! However, one author is changing this with her debut book ‘My Hair’ which aims to bring about more representation of BAME within children’s literature, while also shining a light on the underlying racial issues that perforate our society. We talk with Hannah Lee about her book, her own journey through childhood, and on what needs to be done to bring about change.En ese sentido, la reflexión más interesante que me deja este libro en lo personal es la necesidad de cuestionar, y empezar a hacerlo pronto. Es difícil, sin duda, sobre todo porque siempre estamos bombardeados de imágenes de Estados Unidos (en el caso de México) y a ciertos patrones de vida y estéticos a los que queremos llegar. Sin embargo, cualquier cambio parte de una introspección y de invitar a los demás a reflexionar sobre lo que hemos dado por hecho. Otro dato que comparte la autora del libro es que en una encuesta que hizo una revista hace unos años entre sus lectores de todo el mundo, preguntando si se sentían bellas, casi el 40% de las mujeres de color respondieron que sí, mientras que apenas el 30% de las asiáticas lo hizo y solo el 25% de las latinas contestó de manera afirmativa. Dabiri asume que el gran porcentaje de mujeres de color que se sienten bellas lo hicieron porque al interior de las comunidades sobre todo afroamericanas y europeas, a sabiendas de las dificultades que el racismo les depara a lo largo de la vida, la familia y la comunidad se apoya y se dicen constantemente que son valiosas. No puedo hablar por la población asiática, pero pensando en los latinos, no me sorprende: toda la vida pasamos aspirando a un patrón, a ser más delgadas, o a tener más curvas, o a tener un cabello impresionante o a hacer sensuales, y dejamos de vivir el ahora y apreciar nuestras particularidades y nuestra belleza, y no solo física sino cultural y espiritual.

Dit boek is dus echt een hele mooie postieve manier om kinderen kennis te laten maken met verschillende soorten haar. En het allerbelangrijkste misschien wel, het zorgt ervoor dat het zelfbeeld postief wordt beïnvloed. What a powerful statement this is. I remember being told things very similar to this being raised in the Deep South of Mississippi. Una lectura muy recomendable para entender no sólo cuestiones fundamentales del racismo en contra de las personas de color, sino también para reflexionar y cuestionar los cánones de belleza que se nos han impuesto desde Occidente y que con frecuencia, nos han llevado a poner en duda nuestra propia valía.Om te beginnen is de cover geweldig en kan je daar hele leuke foto's mee maken🤣 Het heeft hele sprekende warme kleuren en springt dus echt in het oog. This book is a must read to understand not only fundamental aspects of racism against people of color, but also as a first step to think about and question the Western beauty standards that have been imposed in the rest of the world. I've not always understood that my hair is perfect as it is; growing up my mother used to do my hair cornrows, bantu knots, fro babies name it. But like most 4C type hair, mine is really coarse and abhors heat which is something that our mothers never really got. (Hello heat damage!) So I had it relaxed just before going away to a boarding school for my secondary education because I thought and honestly believed that is how beautiful hair should look.