India Arie - I Am Not My Hair

[goldengirl82]

i think india arie is a true natural beauty...not letting other people tell her what she should be or look like....

[SangoTheHoe]

This song is so incredibly inspirational to me. I know it means more than the literal sense, but this is basically telling my life, especially India's first verse. Tried relaxing my hair, straightening all of the time, because people tease you all the time because it's curly and big. But I realized my hair just became crappy and flat when I did that. It looked so nice curly, because it made ringlets, and that my hair looks best when natural. However, now my hair is too short to even show much D8

[ayodele1118]

Lovin it! Can identify...remembering how it was never US that defined our hair...it was OTHERS that put value or devalue on our hair. Thus WE made decisions about our hair to fit in, be accepted, loved, or even proud our selves. THEY did it to us...we in turn do it to ourselves and it has gotten TOTALLY out of control. The human spirit has no color...AND wears NO HAIR!!!

[M1ssling]

This song deals with black identity and awareness. India invites us, black women, TO BE our hair, to be our roots, to be black!!

[singing2394]

let the words sit in your soul and allow them to float to the surface. give yourself independence from material chains. who are you really? what does the voice in your head say? "they" don't care how you feel; define yourself and let beauty live on.

[19melina92]

It's about all these things,

illness, and the fact that inside is more important than your looks.

[BeNotNormal]

I guess it can be interpreted that way, but I think it's about illness. Cancer. How much stock we put in our looks, when what really matters is that we are okay, and other people's comments cannot hinder us. The outside is not us. I AM NOT THIS SKIN.

[litlkutie]

love this song. but i am my hair....long and beautiful

[willamaralcj]

even if you are bald you are beautiful!!

[rayday562]

this song is about certain stereotypes dealing with certain hair types and styles like dreadlocks lots of people think they all smoke weed

[kalexus1989]

Ppl who aren't Black can relate to this song to because it's about not judging ppl based on their appearance. ANYBODY CAN RELATE TO THAT.

I had a high school teacher (Black guy) who said that Black girls who straighten their hair were ASHAMED OF BEING BLACK, and that it was wrong for us to change our hair.

NOT TRUE: I also know a Black girl who wears her hair all natural in a big, BEAUTIFUL afro. However, SHE'S INSECURE because she's dark-skinned and thinks she's ugly.

IRONIC HUH?

[Niecy1022]

LOVES IT!!

[stefie01]

wow

i love this song

makes me feel better about the fact that i'm gonna shave my head

[ishmanirocks97]

i kno this whole song by heart i luv india arie

[JazzieTotz]

This song is a so gd its unbelivable i haven't heard it in a while finally happy i found it =D

[soloflyer028]

Its so good, but i find it kinda ruins the song when you think its about hair, no?

[mycaligurl]

no, if your a black american than you probably understand. :)

[stefie01]

i think it's about black people on a whole, especially women

[Gr8Teaist]

solo.. The song is really about the person we are underneath - inside. It is too bad we are judged by our outer appearances before someone gets to know us for who we really are.

[oneUNITED7SS]

It's not about hair. I think you know that. The message is much deeper. It means that she isn't her appearance, and her personality is not conveyed by her looks. She is herself, and she doesn't care for the insults she is given. The insults I'm referring to are in the original version of this song, without Akon, in which they show the stages of her discrimination, from them making fun of her, to slowly understanding her, and eventually admiring her for her personal strength and willpower.

[eliesze]

she just makes clear that the inside matters more than the outside. And hair is conspicuous, lots of people judge you just by hair. Ridiculous right? but it's so true.

[HCMattingly]

been relaxing my hair for years....this song has inspired me to go all natural. thanks India! your right, i am NOT my hair!

[j2thamo]

beautiful song, so much depth

[kemetstry]

Great song

She is truly the female Stevie Wonder

[lalee33]

I am not my hair...

[8esb]

love it she is so great