NO LYE!!

Lord Jesus Almighty, please free me from these chains that bind me!

I had a very enlightened discussion with my beautician a few weeks ago about NO LYE (no lie). Since I was a small child, it was ingrained in me the ideal that all little black girls have to get relaxers. With society cosigning this idea, I took it as status quo. So with much anxiety, I would prepare my scalp a whole week ahead for the LYE (lie) to be applied on my head. As most black women know, I have repeated this ritual for the past 24 years (I had virgin hair until the age of 10). No matter how much vaseline, hair base, no scratching I did before the application, my scalp would scream in AGONY once those chemicals begin to permeate my skin. As a distraction, I would read a magazine, breathe deeply, or sit as still as possible in the hopes my movements would not agitate the apparent pain I was already experiencing. I was never that girl who could go back into a regular conversation, use the bathroom, buy bootleg CD's, order a plate of wings, and patiently watch my stylist tend to another customer at the wash bowl without wanting to scream at the top of my lungs "MY SCALP IS ON FIRE!!". So on my journey of trying the unthinkable, I've let the LYE (lie) go. In great revelation, two of my cohorts have made similar decisions to embark in this foreign territory. I ask for your well wishes as I TRY to bid adieu to the LYE (lie)!