Brandelyn: Lyrical Contradiction

There is a disturbing trend here in Oakland that I feel is my duty to address. This afternoon I was walking back from the library where I was doing research and simply enjoying this absolutely beautiful day. As I’m walking, getting down with the Ipod, my sense of smell is bombarded with a painfully familiar and distinct smell. I whip my head in the direction of the offensive smell and I see it. A grown woman with a jheri curl. Yes, I know, you are as astounded as I was, but let me tell you, this is not the first ‘curl’ I’ve seen recently. It seems as though my beloved city is reverting back to the 80’s in more than simple clothing decisions, it seems as though hair styles are suffering from the time travel as well. Now I have to admit, I have rocked my fair share of side ponytails in my day, but the jheri curl? My computer doesn’t even acknowledge the spelling of this word it’s so played out so why Oakland are we doing this? As I stared at this sister, watching the juice drip down her neck I could only shake my head at the madness. Please Oakland, I beg you, please do not bring the jheri curl back. It might be semi acceptable for your pimp named Peaches on the corner to rock the super long shag jheri curl, but not your average sister on the street. It’s just wrong. I don’t know what to do about this, any suggestions would be greatly appreciated, but something needs to be done. If you have a loved one who is rocking the curl or thinking about rocking the curl, talk to them, there are support groups out there who can help. This is a community effort and we need to save ourselves. Friends don’t let friends get curls. Be a friend and speak the truth...

Peace Y’all

B