John Travolta: Hair’s The Thing…
It’s sort of an open secret that big screen star John Travolta is folically challenged. If you didn’t know this fact, it’s because for years he’s painstakingly taken steps to hide his baldness with lace front wigs and other manner of hairpieces. But a few days ago John was photographed without his hairpiece and you [...]
Read More →My “Target” Moment: How I Left TV News Behind
It’s funny how the most disastrous events have a way of bringing things into focus like nothing else can. Last summer, my then TV agent talked me into going for an audition to read news for a cable operation. Maybe it was the bump on my head I sustained trying to reach past the jeans [...]
Read More →WOMEN AND HAIR: ARE THE TIMES FINALLY A’CHANGIN’?
Hey all you GEM’s.
Hope you’ve recovered from all the turkey and Black Friday shopping!
So two interesting pieces of videotape crossed Good Enough Mother’s desk, just a day apart. The first concerned a young woman, an African American reporter in West Palm Beach, Florida, who made the decision to start wearing her natural hair on TV.
Read More →MEET RENE: DALLAS!
The Hair Affair Continues: Big D Here I Come
The thing about us Good Enough Mothers is that we are multi-faceted; GEM is not just an acronym, it’s a description! Like you, I have many sides/passions that make up who I am. Many of you know breast cancer and early detection is one of those things. Imperfect parenting is another. But the third leg of that stool would have to be hair awareness, or more accurately, natural black hair.
Hair is a big deal for women in general but even more so for black women many of whom have spent the majority of their lives fighting with it. It’s more than just a look; it’s about chasing a standard of beauty that we thought was necessary to fit in. Like many professional women (and nearly all black women in TV news), I spent most of my years applying chemicals to my hair to remove the natural curl and make it, in my mind, more manageable. It also beat the life out of it. My epiphany came after a hospital stay and one relaxer too many that caused my hair to get thin, dry and fall out! Not a good look for someone who makes his or her living in television. So I stopped the chemicals, went natural and in the process fell in love with my hair. It was one more step in becoming my wholly, authentic self, my transformation if you will. Now, not a day goes by, not a mirror do I pass that I don’t steal a glimpse of myself and say I-LOVE-MY-HAIR!
Read More →HAPPY HAIR ANNIVERSARY TO ME!
So today is a double celebration! Good Enough Mother cannot believe it but it’s true, today is another hair anniversary for me! Now I know anniversaries come once a year but since I fought so hard for this hair I’m going to celebrate at the 1½-year mark. Any excuse to eat cake! So the back-story [...]
Read More →THE TRANSFORMATION OF RENE
GOOD ENOUGH MOTHER was rushing around yesterday, having been called into CNN at the last minute. That meant I had about 30 minutes to shower, change out of my sweaty workout clothes, slap on some make-up and get behind the wheel of my car and point it toward the big city.
I made it, like I always do and as I was walking into the studio, I caught my reflection in the building’s large window. My hair was wild and untamed, a perfect reflection of my personality as it is now – and my clothes, easy and carefree, a reflection of what I want my personality to ultimately be. I am about 180 degrees from what I was when I left the world of TV news behind four years ago. Gone is the timid woman I used to be, trying to please corporate bosses who didn’t understand me or really want to for that matter.
CNN had asked me to come on and talk about a blog post I wrote on Rod Stewart becoming a dad once again. I used that news as a jumping off point to talk about my own life being married and having children with an older man.
Read More →HAIR, HAIR, IT’S ALL ABOUT THE HAIR!
Summer is officially upon us and you know what that means? Lot’s of swim and sun. We wear sunscreen for our skin but what do you do to protect your hair? This is doubly important if you color it! Come on, you spent $350.00 for highlights and don’t do anything to keep them from turning green in the overly chlorinated vacation swimming pool?
I found this great article on summer hair care and it’s chock full of good stuff. Love the tip about wetting hair before you get in the pool. Who knew?
Hair is a big deal for me. As a former television anchor, I was quite partial to mine, until it started falling out of my head by the handful! In late 2008 I was hospitalized with asthmatic bronchitis. When I got out I went and had my hair straightened, which I had been doing for 32 years. But the combination of the chemicals and the medication I was on, caused my hair to break off and fall out. Needless to say it was horrifying! But sometimes in life, good things are borne of trauma and it was then that I made the decision, like so many other African American women, to leave the chemicals behind and embrace my natural self.
That was almost a year and a half ago and I have not looked back. I love my hair because it fits my personality; each curl wildly unpredictable, just like I am. I have yet to have a bad hair day since going natural because I am allowing my hair to do what it was designed to do, instead of trying to mold it into something that it is not.
In fact here’s a little video montage I made celebrating my new natural style!
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