Raise your hand if you are 100% black with long hair!

[PinkPeony]

There must be some maternity or paternity fraud against whomever of your parents is white. Everyone knows true biracials can shave their head today and have waist length hair again next month.

Hmmm... my mom DOES look somewhat suspect
I always thought this was b/c of our jewish roots but no.... she must be passing
This would also explain my fragile type 4 hair would it now?
I guess I've been living a lie

 

[AvaSpeaks]

Hmmm... my mom DOES look somewhat suspect
I always thought this was b/c of our jewish roots but no.... she must be passing
This would also explain my fragile type 4 hair would it now?
I guess I've been living a lie

Now, ya'll just making fun

 

[Solti]

Churrrrch! Good Lord, just when I thought my thought process was alien. This is a great post.

MESSAGE TO EVERYONE STRUGGLING WITH STEREOTYPES OF BLACK HAIR: You cannot know what your hair capable of until you have mastered a good regimen and given things time. If your regimen is fantastic and four years have gone by and you're still neck length, then ok--now we can talk about losing all hope. Until then, letting the idea that 100% African hair cannot grow bother you is ridiculous. Speculating about genes when you have not yet done your part is pointless.

I don't fit the criteria so I can't post.

 

[Miss*Tress]

I think this thread is really encouraging, too

I consider myself to be 100% black but I won't answer out of respect to the OP and her intentions for this thread.

Great thread, though.

Totally agree.
And like sonce says so eloquently, until we make the effort to give our hair the maximum care and attention, we can't say it doesn't grow.

 

[gone_fishing]

OP, I like your thread! I have some grandparents that take me out of the running for answering but I really like what I'm reading.

I wouldn't otherwise post this because I know how badly some folks want to come in and bash (well actually I've never really been one to hold my tongue). erplexed

But, I was really upset with my SO about two weeks ago. We were talking about having a baby. And maybe I started it...I don't know but I told him if we end up with a son with super curly african hair I still expect him to take him to the brotha's barber shops because supercuts isn't gonna be able to do it. I was joking with him about what our kid might look like and I told him that if he wants any of his genes to show up he better pray real hard because he's all recessive traits. Blondish brown hair, blue eyes, etc. We know each other's personalities so we knew we were just joking...(so don't need any input from the peanut gallery) but he replied saying...well you're not ALL black so that should help.

I said that should help what?

And he said well with you not being ALL black that should help with hair and some other traits.

Oh you KNOW I had to get an explanation right because I was superhot. erplexed

I was like, what do you mean that should "HELP". Help what? I don't get it. What needs HELP?

(I was about to, "off with his head"...well not THAT one but the one on his shoulders).

So he was like I only meant that you said my genes were recessive and that "black" genes are dominant traits, i.e. brown eyes, kinky hair, etc. (you'd have to know that my grandmother who is cuban has bright green eyes by the way and he knows this) that some of my genes might still show up. I am not saying your black genes are bad genes. I love ALL of your genes. Him=

So I was like......ok...

Ok, I guess if you mean it THAT way.

Poor guy...I was ready to defend my AA genes and the fact that my non AA genes were NOT "helper" genes but I guess I get what he's saying.

I was really just joking about the recessive genes anyways when a child is 1/2 white - it's pretty obvious - not all the time - but most so he shouldn't have anything to worry about.

Po' baby...he got scurred.

 

[rosie]

What is your current length? Past APL working on BSL by end of year
How long has it been that length? Almost two years
What is the longest length you had as a child? I could get a finger ponytail. I guess that would be about 5 inches.
as an adult? About 6 inches. I improved by an inch.
What do you contribute to your length/retention? Leaving it alone and taking good care of it.

Thank you in advance!

I have some Indian and Chinese in my family about 4 generations back. A couple of my great-great-great-greats were biracial. What does that make me. About 5% non-black. Not enough to count genetically. I am a black with 4b hair. Don't think there is really any 4a in it. It may be those 30 grey strands that keep popping up in the front of my head, but that's it. And I want to pull those out.

I struggled on hair boards for years. Back in the mid 90's. Some of these ladies were on then. Long before LHCF was even thought of. It wasn't until 2003 when I went natural the last time, that I realized that my hair grew. If I stopped jumping on everyone's bandwagon and just cared for my hair. Some things I do are old school, some are new age. But I have a regimen that works. About two years ago, I tried some new things and my hair hated it. that is why I have been the same length for 2 years. Now I'm back on track and going for BSL this year.

It will come, just give it time.

My hiar is not long by this board's standards, but by most of black society, it is.

 

[kweenameena]

OP...thanks for posting this because although I am considered "mixed" I don't have the stereotypical biracial hair. I've posted that my hair is 3c but I need to change that because I've realized that I have a lot of 4a and 4b all up and through!
I need threads like this as well!!!

ETA: I understood who you were trying to target when you posted this thread and I don't think you were trying to offend anyone. Hopefully you'll get the responses that you need to inspire you to grow that hair to your bootay!

 

[strenght81]

I am 100% black. The back of my hair is currently past shoulder length, but that is due to the fact that I never wanted long hair and I'm scissor happy.. My mom on the other hand had beautiful, thick natural nearly bra strap hair (until she decided to cut it like a guy and got a texturizer which looks fab on her); therefore I know I have the potential to grow my hair that long. After my next haircut I plan on growing it out to either APL or Brastrap we'll see.

Thanks for starting this thread.

 

[aloof one]

I can't respond to the post either, I'm half Nigerian and half American and the American side of my family is black with some Taiwanese from my great-great Grandmother. Oh well.erplexed

I just wanted to say that not all Africans are 4b, and by Africans I do mean Africans. And since most (somewhere around or more than 80%) African Americans have some European ancestry as a result of slavery... its not like they're 100% anything. Hair isn't directly correlated with skin color. There are white folks walking around with hair we could classify as 4b and coarse. There are "mixed" people with nappier hair than those who claim they are 100% black. I don't think its fair to use "race" as a determining factor when clearly a lot of people can be more than half white and still have that kind of hair. Its about genetics. There are black children (and dark ones) walking around with blue eyes because their great-great-great-great grandfater was white and their great grandmomma was half or something. There are white people popping up "nappy" hair who find out they're not 100% white as well. There is no way to be able to determine someone's hair type based on "race" and there is no way to determine someone's race based on hair type. Nobody really knows exactly what they are these days, especially when not everyone in Africa is 100% anymore either. So why not just ask if any 4bs with coarse hair have maintained length? There are plenty, and it isn't impossible.


ETA--- BTW: I do get where you were going with the thread and no offense seriously to anyone, I just wanted to point the above out. I do get what kind of hair you're talking about, I just thought it woudl be easier to ask if folks had 4b hair, thats all.

 

[MsCounsel]

I agree ....My Grandmother is white but I have 4b hair....so I don't believe that little bit of white helped a sister out!!

Preach! My maternal grandfather is a German West Indian (Trini) and my hair is
4a-z and 1/2. The joke in my family is that I have had the length but definitely not the texture. All my cousins (seven girls) have short 3a-c hair. I have the longest hair in the family. My Mom's hair made her look like a Samoan. Not sure that hair typing will help either.

 

[locabouthair]

Contrary to most, I like this thread. IMO, even after being on lhcf for almost a year, I still believe people with diverse pedigrees can grow their hair faster, because their growth rate is naturally faster than people who mostly have African or Carribean ancestry.

Too bad, I can't post. My hair isn't long at all.

not trying to start an argument, but i disagree. people of other races, who may have straight or curly hair are able to retain length better because their less kinky the hair is the more the oil can spread evenly down the shaft=less breakage=more length retention.

Growth rate is different for each person not race.

 

[Lovelylocs]

Yes. Unless you're counting genes from thousands of years ago. Lineage is important in my family and there are those who know our ancestors as far back as 9 or 10 generations. No joke. They are all 100% African--in fact, they are all 100% Yoruba (meaning of my tribe, which is just one of Nigeria's hundreds of tribes). If anyone is fully black, I am and unless there was paternity fraud going on (and with who else would a Yoruba woman surrounded by Yoruba men cheat, anyway, if not a Yoruba man), I am 100% Yoruba.

And even then there's no guaruntee because there are white Africans.

A recent development.

You go! I'm so proud to have members like you on the board, sonce. You guys know what the OP meant. She clearly stated it in the very first post!

Plus, I believe that you can be "100% black". Since race is a social construct, in this country at least, you either are black or your not. Scientifically speaking, I may not be 100% negroid, but I can be still be 100% black. Does that make sense?

 

[TowsonGirl]

totally possible i know many ppl like that

 

[br0wney3z]

Great post, I often wondered about this too when I first got joined, but was afraid the LHCF police would come after me.

My answer won't be of much help to you b/c even though I fit the criteria (100% African, Sierra Leonean), my hair is by no means that long....YET. But since I stumbled on Sonce's fotki and a few others who have wonderfully gorgeous, healthy, long hair, I know that it's possible. Plus my hair is just growing like a weed over here.

OT: Sonce...I just love the way to speak...urrh write. So eloquent!!!

 

[DaPPeR]

what up my nigerian sista! I'm 100% too. But my hair is not long now The longest it's been is APL a few yrs ago

50% Nigerian and 50% Liberian here! Two parents from Africa. I have yet to see the day my hair reaches APL. But I have been to Nigeria and have see quite a few women with thick 4b hair that was either BSL and beyond. I just stuck up my nose like " and they say black people can't grow hair and I'm standing right here in the Motherland, where there is an abundance of long haired women".

 

[janeemat]

Contrary to most, I like this thread. IMO, even after being on lhcf for almost a year, I still believe people with diverse pedigrees can grow their hair faster, because their growth rate is naturally faster than people who mostly have African or Carribean ancestry.

Too bad, I can't post. My hair isn't long at all.

I can agree with you on this and I do understand what the original poster is saying. I can think back to when I was in school and there were not many little black girls with long hair. Me included. Even in my graduating class, there was ONE girl with mid back length. And yes she was light skinned and my parents said that her mother was half white. The others were around shoulder length. I can remember when I was in school the white girls asking us why our hair looked like that and why it would not grow. It was just not a common thing to see little black girls with APL or mid back. But I do believe that we are now able to achieve longer hair because of our knowledge now. We have access to hair products and means that were not available then. My hair is right at APL now and it's definitely the longest it has ever been. It's all because of this extra proper hair care. And I am all black American. No white genes in my family except for Kunta.

 

[bLackButtaFly]

I'm sure i'm not 100% black, but I'm pretty close since I think only my great grandmother was half indian, so that probably has very little effect on my hair. But I did have long hair as a child, and my hair has always been able to grow, so I guess I missed that point. I'm only apl now, so I don't have long hair as considered by this board, but it is growing. I think w/ proper hair maintenance and care any type of hair can grow, but I know what the OP means, and I'm not offended.

 

[fiasca]

I'm 100% black My parents are both from Africa but I was born and live in France.

What is your current length? APL

How long has it been that length? few months

What is the longest length you had as a child? something between APL and BSL

as an adult? past APL

What do you contribute to your length/retention? wash my hair twice a week, texlaxing, moisture, stretching relaxers

 

[TCatt86]

Well I consider myself %100 black even though technically I'm not, I'm from New Orleans where race mixing was the norm, but just because my great-grandmother is white or whatever it's so far down the line it doesn't show in me. I digress, I have 4a/b/c hair and when I was younger I had hair that almost touched my but, my hair was at least BSL until middle school when, like most people, I found gel, curled my hair everyday and was a fan of glitter. In college my hair go to be APL but I cut it once I started transitioning. I will say that most black Americans are not technically %100 black, but because the mixing of ancestry happened so far back most will consider themselves black. I know I do, and so does my dad, you try and tell his yellow behind he is not black and you will get it.

 

[ladylibra]

funny that you'll have a 30+ pages thread with people getting offended when they are confused (or secretly flattered) with another ethicity, stating with pride they are mainly black, yet the first pages of your thread are filled with 'we are all mixed' , there is no such thing as really black

Man you learn something new everyday, apparently i'm mixed

I think the Op was talking about full black as not having direct 'other' ancestry (parents or grand parents); and sorry, most peopole won't consider you mixed if your great great grand mother on your cousins side was indian

i don't find it flattering when people ASSume that i'm something i'm not just because of how i look. my Native American ancestry is so far back i don't even think it should really count at all... but to look at me you'd think my one of my parents were actually Cherokee. so people consider me mixed, and ironically most of my mixed friends are darker-skinned and have more prominent African features than i do. erplexed

i just don't like stereotypes. i understand the point the OP was trying to get across, and she said she wasn't trying to offend so i didn't take it as offensive. we're just stating our opinions.

 

[*5+5]

I’m 100% AA and my hair is nappy as f*** yes it grows & I LOVE IT! I feel where the OP is coming from and I commend her on her bravery to pose this question b/c I was pondering the same idea but I knew the police would come after me to Browney3z. However I can’t respond b/c I just chopped it off to start over in 08’. My hair has never been longer than grazing SL so hopefully this thread will hang around and we shall see…

 

[secretrose]

50% Nigerian and 50% Liberian here! Two parents from Africa. I have yet to see the day my hair reaches APL. But I have been to Nigeria and have see quite a few women with thick 4b hair that was either BSL and beyond. I just stuck up my nose like " and they say black people can't grow hair and I'm standing right here in the Motherland, where there is an abundance of long haired women".

Yay, more nigerians. I wonder how many there are on this site.

 

[HAIRapy]

I think this thread is really encouraging, too

I consider myself to be 100% black but I won't answer out of respect to the OP and her intentions for this thread.

Great thread, though.

ITA, this is a VERY good thread. I cannot answer either. My father's mother is Hispanic. BUT I do want to say, to look at me and to see my natural hair you would NEVER in a million years think that I am slightly mixed Hispanic looking at all. My naps (and I don't mean that in a derogative way) can rival anyone that's 100% Black any day...

 

[HAIRapy]

I’m 100% AA and my hair is nappy as f*** yes it grows & I LOVE IT! I feel where the OP is coming from and I commend her on her bravery to pose this question b/c I was pondering the same idea but I knew the police would come after me to Browney3z. However I can’t respond b/c I just chopped it off to start over in 08’. My hair has never been longer than grazing SL so hopefully this thread will hang around and we shall see…

You know what, I think you can open just about any topic you want on here, I guess it's just the way you word what you're saying. The OP worded this thread very well, it's done tastefully too. It get's to what you want to know, but you're not being ignorant about it.

 

[MrsQueeny]

What is your current length? Brastrap
How long has it been that length? I don't know
What is the longest length you had as a child? I don't know but it was always long
as an adult? Past brastap
What do you contribute to your length/retention? A great regi, and just babying my hair. Q

 

[sonce]

Yay, more nigerians. I wonder how many there are on this site.

We're everywhere!

 

[lovenharmony]

This is a great thread, especially for those who have never had long hair in their life such as myself!!

Most of the ladies here on the boards have stated that as a child, their hair was APL, MBL or even waist length, but when they started taking care of their hair themselves, or got a relaxer etc. it broke off and are trying to get back their length.

I've NEVER had long hair, even as a child and that's one of the facts that people will hold over your head proving that it's in a Black persons genetics whether or not they have long hair. Of course it becomes more difficult to believe that your hair will ever get long if most or all of the "non mixed" Black people you see on a daily basis have short hair.

And supposedly, my 3c/4a looser texture hair is supposed to increase my chances of being able to grow my hair long

 

[kweenameena]

We're everywhere!

I know!!! Ya'll got a daggon mafia up in here!

How can I be down? My step-dad is nigerian....does that count?

 

[scarcity21]

I'm 100% black. 100% African from Nigeria, to be exact. By black, I do not mean black by the generous American/One Drop Rule definition. I mean black.No admixture whether immediate or distant (and I know all of my ancestors back to six generations ago, with no reason to think that before then (pre-colonialism) any admixture could have occurred). Black enough?

21 inches and MBL to WL, depending on which area you pull.
For the past several months. I've been keeping it at this length with 1/2" cuts monthly.
Apparently, I had quite thick natural hair as a child (don't remember). However, when my mother relaxed it, it all broke off and never exceeded neck length (5" at the longest, about 1/2" at the back due to severe, perpetual breagkage).
Until I went natural 4 years ago, I was relaxed and my hair never exceeded neck length.
Going natural, having a good regimen, not letting anyone fill my head with nonsense about what 'black hair' can or cannot do (and boy did people try).

MESSAGE TO EVERYONE STRUGGLING WITH STEREOTYPES OF BLACK HAIR: You cannot know what your hair capable of until you have mastered a good regimen and given things time. If your regimen is fantastic and four years have gone by and you're still neck length, then ok--now we can talk about losing all hope. Until then, letting the idea that 100% African hair cannot grow bother you is ridiculous. Speculating about genes when you have not yet done your part is pointless. All my life, I was told that I simply had hair that did not grow and I believed it. But when I went natural, I decided to just let my hair grow and see what it could do. I didn't even set any goals. Just took good care of it for the first time in my life, and let it show me what it was capable of. Almost two feet later, it's still growing. Stop the madness, do your part, and just let your hair show you what it is capable of.

OT...but hey Sis...Naija in da house....I believe im 100% blk too...I definitely do not consider my hair long but it is the longest it has ever been (CBL)...and No i didnt have long hair as a child...I give myself 2 more yrs tho...nah make it 3(my slow *** growing hair)..and ill be where SONCE is right now

 

[scarcity21]

what up my nigerian sista! I'm 100% too. But my hair is not long now The longest it's been is APL a few yrs ago

hey SIS