Update: I [tentatively] plan on attending and will be discussing the event in the MyNHCG group Through the Looking Glass: Naturals in the Media.

  "Melba Tolliver, the first black woman to anchor a major TV news show, will be one of the speakers at an upcoming celebration and discussion of black hair.

The event — “Heads Up! A Soulful Celebration of our HAIRitage” — will gather women and men of all ages for an evening of dialogue, film and performance at 6 p.m., May 20, at the Kumble Theater for the Performing Arts on the Long Island University campus in downtown Brooklyn.

Despite Tyra's usual well-intentioned drivel, the show definitely proved... interesting (really isn't saying much, is it?) I didn't expect it to be a deeply insightful discussion of the topic, but I was annoyed by the sensationalist checklist that obviously guided the casting of guests:
- Totally unaware, self-hating vain woman who thinks that her hair possessing "white girl flow" makes her hair amazing and that relaxers aren't harmful to hair (Shay)
- Somewhat aware, but woefully inarticulate woman who doesn't believe her natural is manageable or socially acceptable (Akiyah)
- Dreadlocked woman who is charged with discounting so many black hair myths that she inadvertedly (or is edited so that she) appears "militant" and defensive to those who aren't fully educated about natural black hair. (Kelly, from Nappturality)
- Woman who had a child with a non-Black man to produce child with "good hair" because she thinks nappy hair is low class(Shante)
- Child who has good hair and is teased for it (Kalaysia)
- White woman with biracial child who doesn't care to deal with her child's natural hair (Dawn)
- Black woman who relaxes her 3 yr old's hair because Raynasia's (the child) hair got nappy at 2 1/2 yrs old (Michelle)- Additional variants of above types

 

Over the last two weeks, I've undergone a transformation, 22 years in the making.  Sounds odd, right?