Kroes Hare (4c) Muyon Mafulu

by Muyon Mafulu

Mama: My mom had thick and coarse hair when she was young. She often wore wigs. She always relaxed her hair to make it straight and would also dye it. Now my mom has straight hair and still dyes her hair.

Muyon: I know Sundays were always hair wash days, walk me through how you and granny did your hair on Sundays.

Mama: My mom would wash my hair over a basin. I would often cry as the soapy water would go into my eyes. She didn’t like that I cried and would shout at me to keep quiet. She would then comb my hair which was painful as I would have lots of knots in my hair. My mom would then put my hair into curlers, and I would have to go sit in the sun to dry. In later years, I sat under a drier to dry it. When it was dry, she would comb my hair and put it into a bun, which I hated. At night I would have to turn my hair around on my head and put a cut stocking over it so as not to mess it up and make it manageable the next morning.

Muyon: As a child how was dealing with my hair since our textures were so different?

Mama: It was challenging as you had thick coarse hair and it was not easy to manage. I would try and get your hair braided just so that we didn’t have to manage it every day. You hated braiding your hair cause the ladies who braided your hair would pull your hair and you would cry a lot and I didn’t like that cause it reminded me of what I went through. Instead, I tried to keep your hair short to manage it better.