Dreads, locks, twists,
no matter what you've heard them called,
chances are, you probably recognize the style when you see it.
Whether splashed across Bob Marley album covers,
or seen in everyday life,
locks, also known as "dreadlocks" are one style that has a knack for capturing attention.
And while most of us have encountered locks on other people,
there’s still a lot of folks who don’t know about the actual style,
or the people who choose to wear it.
One factor is that for some, education about locks begins and ends
with how we see it portrayed in pop culture.
While it’s true that groups like Rastafarians may opt for locks,
they’re only part of a much larger community.
One person who is currently raising her voice when it comes to locks
is Ashley Akunna.
She’s the creator and host of "The Grapevine,"
a web show that is geared towards creating meaningful discussions between cultures.
And today, she’s going to share with me what she wants the world to know
about how she chooses to wear her hair.
it’s one of the world’s most highly recognizable and often misunderstood hairstyles.
Now it’s time to dive beyond the surface of dreadlocks minus the dread.
This is "Mane,"
and today we are diving into the real stories behind locks.
How did this happen?
Like, what was your hair journey like, starting from a child—
Yes.
How did you wear your hair and how did you get here?
So, when I was a child I had a perm like most black girls.
My mom put a relaxer in my hair every two months.
I would go through the pain of the heat when you put the relaxer and the new growth.
And I found a hairstylist, this Jamaican lady
and she was like, “you need to put a perm in your hair, like once a month."
And I was like, "okay."
It didn’t sound right to me, but I was like "okay,” and then my hair started to thin.
And I went from like long hair up to here, thick hair, to like
had to cut it like up to here and I was like, "F this, I don’t want to do this anymore."
So I put micro braids in my hair and I started the process of going natural.
And then I kind of got tired of the afros.
And then I went to a festival in Philly, called the Odunde Festival
and I saw all of these women with beautiful locks and I was just like, "wow"
like, I want this for myself.
I was just in awe of all the different colors—
I remember this woman, she had really long locks—they were burgundy.
And I just remember feeling like, I thought locks were limiting.
And they really are limitless.
And that’s what I realized when I went to the festival.
I think I was just able to view myself as
a woman.
And coming into my own and you know, having gone through
having a mother who wanted me to have a certain type of hair and
always kind of dictating what I want to do to my hair.
And then finding my own hairstylist and totally &*%$#@# that up.
&*%$#@# my hair up completely.
And then kind of realizing that, okay let me go back to who I am, shave it all off,
look at myself in the mirror and say,
"Okay, this is me, I accept it."
Faux locks.
Yes.
Faux locks, see, I have a love hate relationship with faux locks because
they look beautiful.
I just kind of feel like it’s the look without the struggle.
”The struggle"
Because I really do feel like when you lock your hair, it’s a process on self-love
because you have to learn to accept yourself the way that you look in its raw form.
n your raw form.
And I feel that you know, when you kind of skip that,
you get all the glory?
Yeah, you get all the glory, but you don’t get the internal glory.
You know, which I think is worth it for especially black women.
But I don’t judge anybody who gets faux locks.
You know, a lot of Jamaicans— Jamaican aunties and uncles who are more conservative
look at locks as a form of, I don’t know, negativity.
They call them dreadlocks, dreadful
that’s why I don’t use that term, I just use "locks".
How has your haircare regime changed now since having locks?
I get my hair done once every two months.
I grease it, I oil it, that’s about it.
I went to my hairstylist, she’s been doing my hair since I was a child.
Oh, amazing.
Yeah.
She was proud of me, and she’s seen so much of my hair journey, so she was happy.
So yeah, she started and then when I was done,
I didn’t like it.
When you lock your hair, it kind of shrinks.
Right.
So it just like
was here.
Mhm.
And it was just very awkward, but I stuck with it.
Why?
I stuck with it because
first of all, I wanted to prove everybody wrong
and I knew what the end result would be if I continued to lock my hair and keep my hair healthy.
But she definitely washes it— thorough wash, that takes some time because I have a lot of hair.
And then she starts the re-twisting,
and the re-twisting is just kind of a like a circular motion
to re-twist a new curl,
so that it looks smooth and forms with the rest of the hair.
And that hurts a bit.
Because you know, you gotta get in there
and get everything, so it’s a bit painful.
And then I style it, so all in all it takes about three and a half hours.
And that’s every two months?
Every two months.
What’s the difference between you maintaining your locks versus someone who may freeform their locks?
Um, so freeform tends to be
it’s more so— you let your hair grow in whatever state it is.
Like, you just let your hair have a life of its own.
Someone like me, I keep my locks maintained, I get them re-twisted once every two months.
Okay.
So they’re more neat.
Mhm.
So freeform, you know, they’re totally different.
We see asian people with locks, white people with locks, and their journeys and their experiences tend to differ.
Do you personally have an opinion on people outside of the black community?
We can’t police how people do their hair.
Right.
I understand the frustration, but for me, again, we have certain universities where—
like black universities where you can’t wear locks and go to their business school,
Absolutely.
You can’t be on their cheerleading team.
So with stuff like that, that’s very hurtful because you come to—where you're supposed to be home
with your people and they’re telling you "no"
these African-centered hairstyles are not welcome, so that for me is more painful and more important.
You know, going natural was saying like, “I don’t want to look like a white woman," like
”I’m perfectly fine with the way I look"
and there’s a power and a confidence in that that I want black people to reclaim.
And I think we are.
I definitely was fearful,
but I don’t regret it and I’m very happy, it’s been a great journey.
Thank you so much, Ashley—
No problem.
Thank you—
Absolutely!
And one thing we seem to understand:
locks make an impression on the world,
and that’s a testament to just how powerful a voice this style has the ability to command.
And while locks will continue to evolve, the legacy of love and acceptance will continue to endure.