WEAVES= NO CHURCH! THIS IS IN THE BIBLE, WHERE?!

I never knew that pastors now dictated how we look when we come to church and how we wear our hair. SMDH! I am disgusted by Texas Minister A.J. Aamir at the Resurrecting Faith Church has told his congregation of black women that they CANNOT wear weaves. What happened to come as you are?

Yes, I am a black woman who sports natural hair. However, I have worn wigs and weaves in the past. I have also alternated during my natural hair journey with wearing added pieces every now and then. I definitely rock braids and twists as protective styles as well. I guess I would not be allowed in his church.

Me, M. Millie and my fav protective style Senegalese Twists.

What does hair have to do with praising God? Nothing. Not wearing weaves are not in the Bible. SMH!

While, I have met many black woman and know some personally who wear weaves because they do not believe in the beauty of their natural hair texture, that is NOT true for all black women who wear weaves.

As someone said earlier why must our hair be used as a battlefield to oppress us and divide us. Other groups of women wear weaves, but are not persecuted the way black women are. We like any other group of women should be able to wear our hair anyway we want and switch it up whenever we see fit. We too are versatile.

Yes, weaves are not for me. That is my personal preference. I like my natural hair. However, weaves are for some black women and that is their personal preference. Weaves or the lack thereof does not make or define a black woman. Just like twists or my natural hair do not define me. We are not our hair.

Me, M. Millie with my natural hair.

There are many sistahs with natural hair and a processed mind, as well as many sistahs with processed hair and a natural mind.

Yes, our hair is our style and is often times an extension of who we are. However, our hair does not make up our personality and should not warrant us to be mistreated because of our preference.

This is the way it should be. Yet, it is not realistic. We will be judged by our hair, the same way we are judged by our clothes and the way we speak. We automatically judge people upon our initial encounter with them. It is natural it is an instinct.

Despite that we do not need to criticize and demonize each other. That is the difference. People need to stop demonizing black women for their hair. We already get it in the media, in magazines, etc. However, it hurts so much when it comes from our own people. We often times set up the parameters for our oppression and bondage. We contribute to many of the strategies that have been used to devastate us by performing these same practices. We black women have to proactively come together and empower each other more, and stop battling over hair, complexion and the other things placed before us to oppress us.

It is sad. As a black man Pastor A.J. Aamir should strive his best to elevate his church, with positivity. Not, criticize their hair choice and then attack their character. Our ascending is often hindered by our inability to educate, enlighten and help each other. He should motivate the black women in his church, not add to the attacks on their self-esteem they get daily from everywhere else. Many of us are too busy worrying about judging, attacking and hurting each other. This is a practice that needs to stop.

Read more about this pastor here http://www.americapreachers.com/speak-out/pastor-says-no-to-women-wearing-weaves-in-church/

A true Black Women Who Knows Her Worth: Angela Bassett

The day is not over. We would like to wish the amazing, beautiful, inspiration Angela Bassett a Happy Birthday. She turns a wonderful 55 years young today.

Angela Bassett was born in Harlem, New York, but raised in North Carolina and Florida. She is a graduate of Yale University, where she received her B.A. degree in African-American studies. She later gained a Master of Fine Arts degree from the Yale School of Drama. Basset has starred in many notable films and such as What’s Love Got to Do with It, Waiting to Exhale, The Rosa Parks Story, The Jacksons: An American Dream, and Notorious.

Angela Basset(L) as Tina Turner (r)

I love Angela Bassett. She has always portrayed the epitome of woman to me. She has portrayed on film and in person as a woman of strength. A woman, who has had her bruises and mistakes, but has overcome them and come out stronger than before.

Angela Basset in Waiting to Exhale.

I will never forget what she said in an interview a few years back. She was asked first to play the lead female role in the movie “Monsters Ball” that won the actress Halle Berry an Academy Award. However, she turned down the offer because of the nudity, graphic sex scene, and the degradation she felt the woman would be portraying.

Halle Berry in Monsters Ball

I respect that. I respect that she did not cave into money and acclaim. She held her morals and beliefs high and disregarded materialism or vanity from changing her mind. She also expressed that she has turned down many movie offers that wanted her to take her clothes off, or play a victim. She is someone who knows who she is. Although, she is an actor, she does not accept roles that do not express or portray who she is, or send messages that she believes in.

Angela Basset as Rosa Parks.

Wow, she truly is a black woman who knows her worth. She is an actor. She makes her livelihood from acting. However, despite that she stays true to who she is. She does not succumb to others and that is a skill we can all use. Family, do not succumb to the beliefs and wants of others. Stay true to who you are. At the end of the day you have to be happy with who you are and what you are about. Do not let others quantify or create who you are or what you are about.

Remember you create the best and only vision of you. Like Angela embrace yourself shamelessly and love who you are. Happy Birthday, Angela Bassett. Thank You for being a champion of black women who know their worth. ~Know Your Worth~ -M. Millie

P.S. If 55 years old looks this great, I want to be 55 now!  LOL!

 

Rebecca J. Cole: Pioneering Physician

Drawing of Rebecca Cole.

Today we celebrate the life of Rebecca Cole. Rebecca Cole was an American doctor. In 1867, she became the second African-American woman to become a doctor in the United States after Rebecca Crumpler‘s achievement three years earlier. Everyday is Black History. Cole then interned at Elizabeth Blackwell‘s New York Infirmary for Indigent Women and Children. Everyday is Black History.

Cole was born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Cole attended the Institute for Colored Youth, graduating in 1863. She then went on to graduate from the Woman’s Medical College of Pennsylvania in 1867, under the supervision of Ann Preston. Her graduate medical thesis was titled The Eye and Its Appendages. Afterwards Cole interned at Elizabeth Blackwell’s New York Infirmary for Indigent Women and Children.

In the autobiography of physician Elizabeth Blackwell she states “In addition to the usual departments of hospital and dispensary practice, which included the visiting of poor patients at their own homes, we established a sanitary visitor. This post was filled by one of our assistant physicians, whose special duty it was to give simple, practical instruction to poor mothers on the management of infants and the preservation of the health of their families. An intelligent young coloured physician, Dr. Cole, who was one of our resident assistants, carried on this work with tact and care. Experience of its results serve to show that the establishment of such a department would be a valuable addition to every hospital.”

Cole went on to practice in South Carolina, then returned to Philadelphia, and in 1873 opened a Women’s Directory Center to provide medical and legal services to destitute women and children. In January 1899, she was appointed superintendent of a home, run by the Association for the Relief of Destitute Colored Women and Children in Washington, D.C.. The annual report for that year stated that she possessed “all the qualities essential to such a position-ability, energy, experience, tact.” A subsequent report noted that: Dr. Cole herself has more than fulfilled the expectations of her friends. With a clear and comprehensive view of her whole field of action, she has carried out her plans with the good sense and vigor which are a part of her character, while her cheerful optimism, her determination to see the best in every situation and in every individual, have created around her an atmosphere of sunshine that adds to the happiness and well-being of every member of the large family.Although Cole practiced medicine for fifty years, few records survive, and little to no images of her remain.

Rebecca J, Cole was a remarkable woman. Lets honor her today. She had to work through the severe racial and gender biases that existed at the time to become one of the first black female physicians. She is also a woman who knew her worth. Racism and sexism did not stop her from attain success. Black women we must also do the same. We endure racism and sexism now, but should it stop us. No! It should not. It should propel us farther, for we know that little is expected of us. However, their expectations do not define our ability to become the greatness we cultivate. Strive to define you and become great despite the odds. ~Know Your Worth~ -M. Millie

Only surviving image of Rebecca Cole.