❤️ Hair Love for the win!! ❤️
Earlier this week HAIR LOVE won an Oscar for Best Animated Short Film at the 92nd Academy Awards-- and we are HAIR for it! haha... Hair Love is a 2019 American animated short film written and directed by Matthew A. Cherry and co-produced with Karen Rupert Toliver.
On Valentine's Day - the ultimate day of L.O.V.E. - wanted to make sure that everyone is feeling LOVE from their hair to their toenails. That is, we hope that you are enjoying the sentiment of the day, whether you have a significant other or not, that LOVE is one of the most powerful forces on this earth! The best part of LOVE is that it takes so many forms -- for your partner, for your family, and most definitely for YOURSELF! Love every fiber of yourself. Even the parts that you may not always like. We are all beautiful creatures that deserve to radiate love. Which is why films like Hair Love are so critical in our image-infused society. We must raise the flag that WE are enough, WE are beautiful, WE are are powerful, and WE are beyond capable of living the lives that we dream of!
We love this on so many different levels and congratulate Hair Love and its creators for its big win! If you have not seen the video, **spoiler alert** and the link is below.
This is a story of a girl who wants to have a perfect hairstyle for this particular special day. After failed attempts she called in reinforcements and with the help of a video hair slayer (who appears to be her mom) gets her dad to help her with her hair style of choice. He struggles, and he overcomes!
If that in itself is not a triumphant story, we then learn that the girl and father are headed to the hospital to pick up her mother and bring her home after what we believe is a cancer treatment, or something that leaves her with no hair. She is wearing a head scarf as she waits in a wheelchair, looking a bit defeated. Upon arrival, the daughter gives the mom a drawing showing her wearing a crown with her bald head. Mom then removes her scarf to reveal her bald glory, embracing her beauty as seen through the eyes of her adoring daughter. It’s a wonderful story of family and of self-love.
If you have ever had to lose your hair, or know someone who has gone through losing their hair due to a treatment, we know that this sense of loss can be very difficult to embrace, on top of whatever illness may be endured. I've read articles where this is amongst the toughest part of an illness. My own family member who had breast cancer was devastated when she lost her hair to chemotherapy. There were only two times in the whole 11 month recovery when I saw her cry - the first being the realization that she would lose all of her hair. (The she-ro that she is promptly shaved it all off and never looked back!!) We love the underlining message here that beauty comes in all forms.
We also see that although the daughter, Zuri, is fixated on having her own perfect 'do for the day, she also loves her mom and sees her as the QUEEN that she truly is - no matter what's on her head. Zuri has a mature and innate understanding of what defines beauty, an inspiring message that is right on time for all ages but in particular the young queens that were the intended audience for Hair Love.
Last December I coincidentally purchased the book version of Hair Love for my young cousin. I searched for a book that would celebrate Black hair so that she, having newly entered a predominately white school and was one of the only Black girls in her second grade class, could practice self love. I was in the same position - THE only at the same school - having to defend why my hair was different. Like "wire," I was told. I was happy to find the book that I was looking for, and I hope that she was able to receive the message. I hope that she will see herself, and all of the queens around her, in their true majestic light. Representation matters, and HEARING that you and all of your glory are perfection is the best gift that we can pass along.
Hair is hair, and all hair, or none at all, can never dull our beautiful shine!!
Happy Day of Love, my friends. Love yourself. Love on each other. And let's make this a more loving place...
Watch HAIR LOVE: https://youtu.be/kNw8V_Fkw28
Shades of Color Inspirational Gifts: Click Here
- Written by Janine Kai Robinson