I Am Not My Hair Summary

When India Arie released “I Am Not My Hair” and featured Akon on her track, it swept the hair care world by a storm and her message was clear, saying that hair did not define an individual and should not determine their status in life. She expressed her passion for hair and how it was to generate her own happiness, and not the satisfaction of others, similar to when we spoke about Madam CJ Walker in class and her passion for hair. Being that Madam CJ Walker was subjected to the treatment that people of color was given, she used hair as an outlet. India Arie brought light to the fact that people of color are generally judged by their appearance and put into a separate category, such as when she mention in her song: “good hair means curls and waves, bad hair means you look like a slave. At the turn of the century, it's time for us to redefine who we be.” In addition to her statement, Akon’s approach was similar and touched on the fact that young black males are often discriminated upon, denied jobs, and struggle in society overall the same as when people of color were discriminated upon during the Harlem

Renaissance era, based on their hair and other features by using lyrics such as “See I can kind of recall, little ways back small trying' to ball, always been black and my hair I tried it all, I even went flat, had a gumdee curly top and all the crap, now. Trying to be appreciated. Nappy headed brothers never had no ladies, then I hit by the barber shop real quick, had them give me a little twist and it drove them crazy. Then I couldn't get no job, corporate wouldn't hire no dreadlocks.”
After addressing several issues of society when it comes to people of color, India Arie posed several questions and made a short statement of how hair should not be used to define anyone, but rather as a creative expression, using lyrics such as, “Does the way I wear my hair make me a better person?

Does the way I wear my hair make me a better friend? Does the way I wear my hair determine my integrity? I am expressing my creativity…” Regardless of being referred to as less attractive due to the color of skin or the texture of her hair, we interpret that she is basically saying “I still have a mind, I am not less of a person. My hair nor skin does not define me”. In the chorus of the song, she express that with the lyrics she uses, “I am not my hair, I am not this skin. I am not your expectations. I am not my hair, I am not this skin. I am a soul that lives

within.”