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When locks become chains
By Camille Holder
ContributingWriter
I'm holding one of them
now, and its funny how
meaningless it has become. A
couple of years a ago, nothing
meant more to me than taking
my Nazarene vow.
An obedient and most
faithful follower of Rastafari.
It appealed to me in the
beginning because of my love
of nature and my Jamaican
background. At that point in
my life, I was spiritually weak
and I thought I needed a
religion to dictate to me what
to believe. There is absolutely
nothing wrong with going
through the "religious" phase.
It's like puberty, another
essential part of growth and
development.
First, I stretched one of the
twelve-inch locks with my left
hand and picked up the red-
handled sheers with my right.
I washed my hair everyday
and kept it covered up, but
when I sliced one of my locks
open, I found only sand, lint,
and whatever else. After
seeing all that, it only took me
thirty-five minutes to chop off
four years worth of hair.
Smiling, I looked down on the
floor where the tiny serpents
lay, and then back in the mirror
where my dark brown curly
hair measured one inch.
Running my fingers
through my hair, I felt as if a
burden had been lifted from
my shoulders. No longer
would I be expected to wear
cumbersome skirts down to
my ankles, which would
sometimes make me trip. Nor
would I have to wear two
yards of an African printed
material to cover my locks,
the locks that only my man
was privileged to see. I didn't
have to listen to hip-hop
music on the sly, while
pretending that the only
admirable and worthwhile
music was "roots reggae."
Red, gold, and green are
pretty colors, but I live in
"Babylon" now, not Ethiopia.
I used to wear the Star of
David and praise Jah, but what
makes him better than me? We
both walked the sacred ground
of this earth. I too had the
ability to shuffle through the
scriptures and explain why it
was only right to eat
vegetables and fish, smoke
herb for "meditating", and
allow my hair to lock.
Religion has too many
restrictions for me; I'm too free
and spontaneous to have been
tied down long. To feel secure
with my relationship with my
creators, I need not be
grouped with a bunch of
obsessive and righteous, for-
show people.
Geoffrey Chaucer wrote
in The Canterbury Tales about
a group of pilgrims
journeying to be purged of
their sins. Among the group
To feel secure with my
creators, I need not be
grouped with a bunch of
obsessive and righteous,
for-show people.
were a Monk and a Head
Prioress. Not only were they
presumed to be "holier than
thou" by their titles and array,
but they were the biggest
damn hypocrites of the
church. In spite of their love
of God, they demonstrated
how lustful they were, their
weakness of venality, and
their desire for secular
possessions.
That sums up how I view
religions now, whether they
have on headwraps, kemars,
habits, or yamikkah they
symbolize "identify me
everybody, I'm a deep
religious fanatic.
I guess you can say I've
canceled my subscription to
Religion Today. "No thanks."
I'll pass on the weekly offering
fees that followed my
becoming 'saved' and all the
other benefits. I have no
desire to be the target of
overly processed veggie
burgers, cheap Egyptian
Musk oils, bean pies, and
flyers for open mic poetry at
a club where candles,
incense, and deep thinkers
are all one. Funny though,
today someone gave me a
flyer to get braids put in my
hair.
I am still a vegan, but if I
wanted a cookie with milk in
it, I'd chomp it down. My
toenails are painted right now
and I happen to love my
mothball smelling bell-bottom
jeans that my father used to
rock back in the day. Now
platform shoes are a bit
binding for me, and I still like
to keep my body covered, but
if I felt like getting a jherri-curl
and wearing tight-ass bike
shorts, fake nails, and make
up I WOULD - but I don't
CHOOSE to.
It's that simple. It's all
about waking up and
appreciating life for what it is;
not dissecting it, and waiting
to pray at particular times.
Like when your in a jam or
can't explain what's
happening and where you
went wrong (or right). . . It's
more so about hugging a tree,
or doing nice things because
you'd want to be treated the
same way, not because you
want brownie points in the
church.
How many times have
you been phony, or held back
on enjoying yourself because
you are religious and don't
engage in such activity? Then
why the hell did you go to the
party in the first place? To
pass out summons, condemn
others, and make them feel
guilty for their freedom? That
is so selfish and unfair.
I now let people live their
lives the way they choose, and
if it's not my thing, then oh
well, I get a good laugh and
keep walkin'. So, in the funky
groove of Digable Planets, "be
free, be whoever you want to
be". My addition to that is
"and let others do the same."
This week’s Street Beat question :
“How do you rate brotherhood and
unity at Morehouse? ”
Geremy Toliver
Sopk omore
Chemistry
Wadley, GA
Darian Tarver
Junior
Mathematics
Memphis, TN
Jason Hill
Freshman
History
Houston, TX
Grab am Drake
Freshman
Sociology
Oakland, CA
Jonathan Hill
Junior
Accounting
Birmingham, AL
“I feel that brotherhood is tight.
Upperclassmen frequently give
advice to underclassmen about
registration, classes and teachers
to take. .And especially, when it
comes to dealing with offices in
’ Gloster Hall.
ip io rrs 1 sioms of gniTomi |
“Below average. Everybody
wants to he to hard, instead of
helping other out.”
“Overrated... On a scale of
1 to 10, I give it about a 5.
Unfortunately, the friendships
you make here are not really
any different from the
friendship you would make at
another college.”
“Establishing respect and
friendship here is hard because
students here try to he so
macho. Also, their egos get in
the way; and therefore, they
close themselves off to
friendships they could have
developed*” t1, A i pcwnt > s
“I think it’s pretty good. I’ve
made some lifelong brothers
by coming here, including both
students and alumni.”