My non-Black mommy friends think of nappy as any type of hair that is not immediately identifable as Caucasian. If pregnant with a boy, many of them breath a sigh of relief saying, “Thank goodness it’s a boy, I can just cut his hair short and run a brush over it. I don’t know what I would do with a girl’s hair.”

This way of thinking is NOT unique to non-African American moms.

I very much understand their fear. When I first cut off my relaxed hair, the first thing I thought was, ‘Yes! I’m free!’ The second thing I thought was, ‘Ok … now how do I take care of nappy hair?’

I know, this sounds silly coming from a Black woman, but it is the truth.

What’s also ironic is that the Black women I knew all had relaxers, so they didn’t know what to do either! lol

I had to turn to books, the internet, and experimentation.

– Nappy Kitchen