The Journey to African Locs: A Complex Conversation

Last week, Mane Moves Media hosted a conversation, “The Journey to Locs”, with three influential creatives within the loc community. Speaking on the panel were Kimberly Jones of LocFestNYC, The King of Loc: Thando Kafele and Keisha Charmaine of Love, Light & Locs! The panelist touched on many different topics from the accessibility of loc products in big box stores, to the discrimination of locs at natural hair events, to how we unconsciously spread an idealistic view of European beauty standards through our language. By the end of the conversation, we were all inspired and encouraged to disregard the term “locs” and instead speak truth to power with the term “African locs”.

 

This conversation, “The Journey to African Locs”, really made me reflect on my journey to locs AND how I’ve grown with locs. As I was listening to the panel, I found myself nodding my head in agreeance, but also clutching my pearls in disbelief at how I unaware I have been all these years. And by “all these years”, I mean all my life. While this conversation barely scratched the surface of what the journey to African locs is, what it looks like, and how it evolves; it did create a platform for deeper conversation and reflection. If you have an hour that you can invest (in lieu of scrolling on social media) I would highly recommend taking an active listen to the conversation.

 

Share any “aha moment”s or topics that gave you pause in the comments below— I would love to speak more about your thoughts!

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Jocelyn Reneé

Jocelyn Reneé is a Licensed Cosmetologist, Loctician and Textured Hair Educator. She was born and raised in the Washington DC area and is a graduate of the Aveda Institute Cosmetology Science program. With over 14 years in the Hair Care Industry, from Salon Assistant to Natural Hair Blogger to Professional; Jocelyn is passionate about cultivating healthy hair.

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