thatgirlisfunny.com

 

Adventures in living a healthy, juicy life

by Cheryl Ragsdale

Someone tweeted a video featuring an “afro blow out kit” the other day. I watched it and was reminded of my own afro wearing days.

College Freshmen Sept 1976

That’s me wearing the Cambridge shirt in the back row.

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From Young Girl to Teenager In An Hour and A Half

My family and I were visiting relatives in Chicago before leaving to spend five years living on a military base in Germany.

My cousin’s girlfriend offered to take me to the hairdresser’s to get my hair done. Trusting that the girl would take good care of me and my precious locks, off we went with my parent’s permission.

I don’t remember anything at all about sitting in the chair having a metamorphosis occur on top of my head.

Once the stylist had completed her creation, she spun me around in the chair so I could see her handiwork.

I don’t remember what the original intention was. All I remember was being shocked and wondering what my parents would say when they saw me.

I didn’t know if I liked it or hated it.

I noticed that everyone was looking at me.

A goofy girl walked through the doors of that beauty salon on Chicago’s South side. An hour and a half later, a young woman was born.

As we made our way home on the bus, people turned around and stared at me. I was afraid to move my head, in case…what? I had no idea. I was horrified.

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Before

Pre-Teen Cheryl, the Late Bloomer

We walked through the door and everyone’s smiles dropped from their faces.  You could have heard a pin drop. People looked at me. Then back at my cousin’s girlfriend. Then back at me. She was in the dog house, big time.

It was a bit much to digest. That grown-up, super-funky, political statement, hair-do on a gawky, clumsy teen-age girl.

But for me, I was secretly delighted. I was suddenly noticeable.

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After

That’s me in the front row.

From the left: my sister, Jackie, then my best friends,

Cindy – who at 4′ 9″ is having trouble seeing over the top of my fro – she’s standing, I’m kneeling.

And Jean, who is the same height as me.

This picture was taken more than a year later. I did a lot of growing up during that year. I remember it as a confusing time. My hairstyle marked me as something I really wasn’t. People teased me and called me Angela Davis. But I wasn’t political. Just a regular teenager.

Well, not really. I was a transplanted British girl who had just spent three years in the states courtesy of my mother’s new American husband. We were now living on an American military base in Germany.

That hairstyle mixed me up and it mixed everyone else up. I still had a British accent and there I was sporting an enormous Afro. From the moment my hairstyle changed, people who didn’t know me took one look at me and my hair and came up with an idea about what kind of person I was. They were usually wrong.

Wikipedia: “Such large Afros were famously sported by African American entertainers and sociopolitical figures; political activist Angela Davis, actress Pam Grier, rock musician Jimi Hendrix, and the members of the musical groups The Jackson 5 and The Supremes are prominent examples.

The Afro became a powerful political symbol which reflected black pride and a rejection of notions of assimilation and integration — not unlike the long and untreated hair sported by the mainly Caucasian hippies.

The Afro-Master was invented in 1972 by Frank Harvey, a barber of Richmond, Virginia. The Afro-Master comb was an essential part of the Afro age.”

I still have my original Afro-Master! I’ve kept it ever since 1973. I don’t think I own anything else older than that. The Afro Sheen is old, but not nearly 40 years old.

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A Recipe For Grooming A Teenage Girl Like They Did In The 70s

Well, as you know, things were different back then. But here is the formula my parents followed for me. I would love to hear how you came to be the way you are based on the messages you took to heart as you moved from child to teenager.

Please leave your comments! Comment box is on the right-hand side of this post about half-way down the page.

The Soul Train Dancers video is my favorite of this set. Every week, we were glued to the screen picking up new dance moves and practicing them all week so we could showcase at the high school dance.

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How To Giggle: Goldie Hawn

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How To Behave Around Boys: Betty and Veronica

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Family Values: John-Boy Walton

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How To Dance: Soul Train

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How To Say No Even When Let’s Get It On

by Marvin Gaye Says The Opposite

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Success! Time to Celebrate at the High School Dance with Kool and the Gang

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Cheryl Ragsdale practices martial arts for fun and physical fitness at Florian Martial Arts Center. She was recently promoted to Brazilian Jiu Jitsu Blue Belt by Keith Florian and Kenny Florian, both Black Belts. Stand up for yourself and stay young from the inside out. Check out some of my other posts strictly for UFC fans and fighters.

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