Originally posted on
8/8/12, during the Summer Olympics in London.
Four years ago, I
wrote a post that ordinarily would have feted Gabby Douglas on the occasion of
her having won two Gold Medals. She exercised her considerable and magnificent skills for having
rendered stellar performances in winning an individual Gold Medal, as well as a
Gold for the all around best performance in Women’s Gymnastics.
Instead, due to a perverse spike in news coverage, I decided to write about a case of black hair shaming
of Olympian Gabby Douglas. She was
subjected an all out Twitter assault as a result of her appearance at the
London Games. We are now a week into the
2016 Games in Rio de Janeiro, and Gabby is back on the scene as a member of a
dominant American Gymnastics team, and inexplicably, once more, on blast. Her hair is front a center, yet again. Since my thoughts on such self-debasing
behavior haven’t changed one iota, I decided to re-post the August 8, 2012 Edition
of “Break It Down!”
I am going to leave the 2012 story, unredacted, below. But I do want to at least address briefly
this doubling down, if you will, on Gabby and the Terrible, Horrible, No
Good, Very Bad Hair Day. If the
uproar in 2012 was disappointing, and it surely was, then this week’s meltdown
is disappointing on steroids. That is to
say, in the unlikely event, anyone under the sun did not know better in 2012,
in the name of everything that is not arrested development, having gone through
2012, they should know better by now.
Today, as then, it is largely a Twitter upheaval. I am not going to link the comments this
time. If you really must know, consult
your favorite Search Engine, or of course, Twitter. With minimal effort, you can find all the
sobering ugly details.
Lots of people have a fundamental issue with natural hair. Put a microscope on that and take a closer
look, and many African Americans have an even larger problem with it. Refine the review even more narrowly, and it
is a near certainty that African American women as a group, not every single
one of them, of course, have an even greater problem still…with natural hair. First and foremost, I am not picking on black
women. My mother was a black woman, God
rest her soul. I love black women. I even understand, to some degree, the notion
that the issue of hair is one that black women take quite seriously. That is especially true when we are talking
about other black women. In an odd sort
of way, black women are viewing this through the prism of a Sovereign
Sisterhood, and they enthusiastically seek to protect their brand. And yes, I put it that way largely because
much, if not most of the chatter has emanated from black women. To be fair, at least this time, there has
been substantial pushback reported.
The thing is, my beautiful Nubian Queens, while Gabby is still, and
always will be your sister. At this
moment in Rio she is a 20-year old athlete, singularly focused on going for
Gold. By the way, that means she was
only 16 when she was subjected to this madness in London in 2012. At any rate, to wind this down, Gabby is on a
business trip, and her athletic prowess and execution are the story, not her
edges. End of story!
PS. Donald Trump and Hillary Clinton can thank the Gabby Hair Haters;
otherwise, I’d be writing about the defection of 50 Security experts from the
ranks of Trump voters, and his controversial Wilmington, NC Rally statement
about “the 2nd Amendment people,” and how they might intervene
against Hillary Clinton…or any Supreme Court Nominees she might submit, and/or
how Hillary is still trying to come to terms with answering questions about her
email and the fact that the father of the recent Orlando shooter was seated
behind her at a recent Kissimmee, FL Rally.
Not to worry; we have nearly 3 months left to explore what’s happening
with the campaigns. Undoubtedly, we will
return to politics.
Meanwhile, GO TEAM USA!
There is no doubt Gabrielle
Christina Victoria “Gabby” Douglas is a star in the vast firmament of gymnasts!
I promise to make this
short and sweet. Ok, maybe short will have to do.
It is possible; I might
have been persuaded before the start of the 2012 Summer Olympic games, to believe that
I would craft a post about the games. However, under no circumstances
could I have imagined it would have been about gymnastics, Women’s Gymnastics no less.
I’d like to say Gabby
Douglas’ history-making performances made the difference, and served as the
catalyst for my choosing this topic. Alas, sadly in fact, while her
performances were scintillating indeed, it was not her
mastery of the craft, or her superlative artistry that sold me on this
topic.
No, it was not that an
amazing athlete plied her skills with power, poise, and
precision that caused me to choose this topic, though she was amazing and her
routines were powerful, poised, and precise. It was not the
history-making nature of her performances; yet she was the first African
American to win Olympic Gold Medals in both the individual
and team all-around competitions. And it was not that Gabby
blended seamlessly with the other four members of the Fab 5 to turn in a series of sterling performances for Team America,
despite the fact she did…in fact, she was, or did, all of the above!
I decided to write about Gabby’s
Olympic exploits because so many of her “Sisters,” and I use the
term guardedly, shamed themselves by deciding
to make a spectacle of themselves, rather than revel in Ms. Douglas’ spectacular accomplishments. To put
it tersely, a group of “Ugly Americans,” far too many of
whom were African American women, elevated Gabby’s hair to “News
of the Day” status, when all she did was show her Championship mettle. I love black women, but “Sisters,”
this was, to put it mildly, “not your finest hour.”
As I thought about the
conversation which trended in the Twittersphere and proliferated on other social
media for several days, India.Arie’s tune, “I
Am Not My Hair” came to mind. Released originally, November
15, 2005, the nearly 7-year old standard should be required
listening for each and everyone who got “caught-up” in Olympic Hair-gate. Gabby’s
hair, her ponytail, and/or her “kitchen” (and y’all know what I mean...if
you don't, see definition #3), simply should not have been a concern.
Gabby went to the London Olympics to compete with
her teammates and peers from 204 countries around the world. She
was tasked with vying for medals against the world’s best
in their respective gymnastic disciplines. That she won two
Gold Medals confirms that she passed her tests with flying colors (Red,
White & Blue, of course).
Gabby’s combination of performance and personality has
spurred analysts to predict she will cash in on a marketing bonanza once she returns stateside.
As a matter of fact, her likeness appeared on the Kellogg’s Corn Flakes box the day after
her individual Gold Medal triumph. It is anticipated that she will
earn millions in endorsements, trading on her historic Olympic success.
My short-term prediction
is that when we see Ms. Douglas next, in her post-Olympics life,
she will be appearing on The Today Show, The Tonight Show, and the TV circuit in
general. Moreover, to the great pleasure of her recent critics, she is
certain to be elegantly coiffed, splendidly dressed, and looking
like a million bucks…which she’ll be worth...literally.
Can't you just imagine Breakfast
at Gabby's? You can be sure, in this version of the story, her "kitchen" will feature prominently, Kellogg's
Corn Flakes; along with her smiling picture, (laughing all the way to the
bank, eh), adorning the box.
Oh yeah, She will
definitely introduce herself, proclaiming, "My Name Is Gabby Douglas: I Am Not My Hair Redux!"
I’m done. Don't just
holla; holla back!
Read my blog
anytime by clicking the link: http://thesphinxofcharlotte.blogspot.com.
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