Carolyn Malachi - Beautiful Dreamer

Beautiful song and message from singer Carolyn Malachi. To learn more about the singer, visit her - 

Website

Facebook Page

Alicia Keys - Un-thinkable (I'm Ready)

Alicia Keys has an amazing song out called "Un-thinkable (I'm Ready)".  Along with the song, Alicia made a very powerful video, that touches on the racial tensions that surround interracial relationships. The video begins in the 1950s, where Alicia's character faces anger and disapproval from her community for dating someone that is of a different race. The video covers over 6 decades, to the present day, showing that not much has changed since that time. 

This video really impressed me because I could feel a lot of the emotions from the scenes that reminded me of what I went through in my own life. My relationship with my boyfriend, who is a different race, is amazing - because he is amazing!!  Not because his skin is a different color than mine. Being a part of a interracial relationship is no different then being in a relationship with someone of your own race. The only difference is that there are people in the world that choose to treat you with hate, because of their own ignorance or self hatred.

"This is my and my boyfriend's song. Its unfortunate that others can't see the love we share for each other. instead they see a Latin and African American together and start to judge. Love is deeper than skin color."

- Nancy  

"In the video (from the 50s to the 2000s), people have not been accepting interracial relationships. She [Alicia] just shows that prejudice has not changed much since 60 years ago." - Caitlin H.

"It's crazy how not much has changed since back in the day. I use to think racism was dead until this summer when my mom found out my boyfriend was black. She freaked out. Race doesn't matter. Let's be more open-minded than previous generations and end racism! Finally." - MGL

"Interracial Love is beautiful! This song isn't attacking black men nor white men or anything just stating a truth, as to how it once was and in some areas, still is!!! Please grow up and recieve knowledge and understanding becasue IGNORANCE is not a pretty trait!!!" - Y.A.M

"I think that interracial love is beautiful, and also natural. We live in the 21st century, and I would hope to think that you would be able to date anyone, no matter race or origin, without being judged for your own decision. Just because you prefer white men over black man does not make you self hating, just as preferring black men does not make you a racist against white men. It's just preference, I think that the whole point of the video is, that LOVE is colorblind." - B.B.C

This song is one of many great songs off of Alicia Key's album "The Element of Freedom".

Easy Loc Braid Up - from Franchesca

Franchesca Ramsey create a great video tutorial for a cute braided updo. The style was inspired by Model Sepsenahki.

Chunky twist-out Tutorial

To get this look, check out the video tutorial below, from Hydratherma Naturals. To see more information and tips, go to Hydratherma Naturals Website.

"In Love with Locs" Video

Check out this great video created by Keisha (aka - 'decor8mylife' on youtube).  Thank you for creating this Keisha and for including me and so many other natural beauties!

"Mommy"... "you have hair like me!"

Joe-Hannah Louisma's little girl, Gianna, was teased at school because she didn't have long straight hair.  When Gianna came home to mom and dad, they both tried to reassure her that - she and her hair where beautiful. But Giana would look to her mom's permed hair and say I want hair like yours Mommy. This struck a nerve with JoAnna. So one day Joe-Hannah went to the salon and cut it all off.

Her daughter was there with her and was so delighted. The little girl said "You look beautiful Mommy. You have hair like me!" 

This is one great example of how we often teach better, through our actions,  instead of just words.  It is a beautiful message and I am so happy to see that the little girl in the end, talks about how much she loves her natural hair.

Rochelle Richie, how narrates this story for us, was told that she needed to get extensions in order to be and get ahead as a news reporter. She did it and saw her career grow, while wearing the hair extensions for 6 years. But as shown in the video below, she noticed how much damage the extensions caused her hair and just had enough. She cut her hair off and is proud to say that she loves her natural hair. And that she will be working as a reporter from now on with her natural hair.

Can I touch your hair?!?

I originally saw this video on Holistic Loc's, and loved it instantly. I have gotten some of these questions. And yes, folks do just come up and just start touching my hair! Thank you Chescalocs for creating this video.

Plaits!

I went to the salon this weekend. O my goodness... what a treat! I have not been to a hair salon on almost two years. I usually just do my own hair to save money and time. At the salon, I ended up getting my hair braided into plaits (aka - braids). The loctician I saw was Roy from follicles, in Oakland, CA. He washed and conditioned my hair, and then braided it into sections.

When ever I do this style, my hair is always kind of limp. So I love how my hair came out. It has a lot of volume and great curl. I love it!

Six Flags Denied!!!

Sadly enough, my family as supported Six Flags by buying season passes two years in a row. But today, I read a post about Six Flags on a cool blog called Loc Rocker, that there is actual discrimination happening in the company against people with dreadlocks. Six Flags will not hire people with dreadloc's! I am appalled by this, and will not spend money with their park, until they have changed their policies. I plan to write a letter to them expressing my disappointment. And to let them know that this form or discrimination is unacceptable and they have lost a customer because of it. Check out the video below, that describes the incident that brought this news to light.

RE: Suggestions?

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**I just watched this video again... lol. I sure did say "you guys" a lot. Well it is a bad habit of mine. I do know that the majority of the readers for this blog are women. So I do apologize if the phrase 'you guys' was a bit annoying... :-P. I will try to watch out for that the next time I do a video. 

~ Love, Peace & Happiness to everyone ~
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Styles by Bronze Goddess

BronzeGoddess on YouTube, has tons of great videos, she created, to show loc styles in various cute looks. I originally saw one of her videos on Keep It Kinky, where she showed how to do a cute Loc Bun. Below are a few of her videos, and she also has a lot more on her Youtube page. *(FYI: She also has some makeup tutorials on youtube as well).

Re: Miss Tyra Banks

Thank you UrbanCurlz, for sharing this video of Tyra's "real hair" premier on her new season of her show. See the previous post regarding Miss Tyra Banks. Tyra looks great, and I hope she continues to rock her own hair throughout the season. But the idea that her hair's natural texture was shown, is probably false. It looks chemically altered. But I still appreciate her not always wearing the wigs, while at the same time preaching to others about accepting themselves as their are. It was a contradiction. So perm or no perm, this is a nice change for Tyra.

Afrobella has a few words to say regarding this episode of the Tyra show:

"Where were the women with kinky, coily, natural hair textures? Why not feature a woman with a TWA? Why not expose her hair as it truly is — unaltered texture and all? Maybe, despite the hype, Tyra wasn’t yet ready. And that I can almost respect that.

Going natural shouldn’t be a fad — it takes dedication, commitment, and courage. Maybe this was a baby step for Tyra. I’m gonna hold out hope that someday she’ll do an episode that truly displays a range of hair textures and explores the deep feelings associated with natural hair. If not now, then hey — there’s always the premiere of season six."

I just want wish Tyra luck. I will always be a fan. Wig, perm, natural hair... what ever. No matter whats going on with her hair, she seems to be a genuinely good person. And she is entertaining.

Also, as shown on the blog Divine Life Collection, Tyra is getting ready to start a new online magazine. Click here: tyrabanks.com to check it out.

Handmade Peruvian Jewelry

Naturally Flyy introduced me to cool site where you can purchase cute jewelry for cheap! Take a look at some of what I bought:

I purchased a total of 16 pair of handmade earrings for only $35 dollars (including shipping and handling). That comes out to $2.19 each! To see more about the site, check out the Peruvian Earrings and also see the Youtube video by Naturally Fly below.

Ambrosia's Transitioning Video

Ambrosia created two videos, that showed a cute style that you can do if you are transitioning from from permed hair to natural hair. Naturally Leslie featured Ambrosia's video on her blog, back in July '09.

Video Reponse from Shianna

Good morning! In a recent post, I showed a picture of a style re-created by Shianna. She has also created a how-to video. Take a look -

Two Updo how-to's

Franchesca, aka - Chescaleigh on Youtube, has posted a new hair how-to styling video. I like that she gave two variations, and the styles are quick, easy and cute. Check them out:

Too cute!

Spoken Word - Alicia Keys

Thank you Sergio, from Runway Wonderland for sharing this. It is a spoken word piece from Ms. Alica Keys
called "Prisoner of Words."

Interveiw with Angela + Cute video!

I saw this really great video of Angela (below), doing a creative and cute hair tutorial video - and it came out great. Love the music, personality and the way she put it together. I contacted Angela, and she agreed to do an interview for NBH Blog.

1. What is creativity? Feeling free enough and comfortable enough to go outside of the box. Being innovative and not being unafraid to do something different to make a statement.
   
2. How do you express yourself through art? I express myself through crocheting mostly. I paint and draw occasionally too.
3. How long have you been Natural? I have been proudly sporting locs for two years as of June 8th 2009!
   
4. What's been the low and highs of your natural journey with loc'd hair? The abs worst thing about having dreads was the 1st 7 or 8 months when they were new. Maintaining them and babying them for that long was a pain, but it was well worth it after! The best part about them are they are beautiful, and fun. AND they're the easiest hair i've ever had! (minus the 1st several months). - :D♥OH

Natural Beauty Spot light - Harleighblu

This weeks Natural Beauty spot light is Harleighblu. She is a young singer from United Kingdom. Here is a little bit about what inspires her (message from her Myspace page).

My Inspiration? Whatevers going on in my life. In the peoples life around me. The world. It's the Era for the singer/songwriter now... it went in the 70s and is now back for the 00s, its our time to shine!! :).

♥ 'All successful people have a goal. No one can get anywhere unless they know where they want to go and what they want to be or do. Aim for the highest. Expect the best. Reap the rewards. And continue in success.