You may or may not be aware that last Friday was the inaugural World Afro Day, a day of celebration and education about yes, Afro hair. If you’ve been reading this blog for a while you’ll know that Boy1 has been growing his fro for nearly two years now. Whilst he’s trimmed it down and slightly changed the shape of it, he still has a head of lovely think tight-curled hair and I love it.

I actually commented in a piece for the Independent about the comments and treatment people with Afro hair often have to put up with. I also spoke to BBC Radio Leicester’s Afternoon Show about the topic (feeling like a minor celeb haha!)

But as a mother, I thought it more important to share the experiences of my Afro-sporting son, over on Huffington Post. But I’ll post it on here too.

It might seem odd to celebrate hair, but there’s a reason why even in this diverse and supposedly liberal and tolerant world, we still need to educate people about Afro hair. Frustratingly, there is still a lot of ignorance, naivety and even prejudice against – not just from people who aren’t of African or Caribbean descent. Yes, there are people with Afro hair who feel embarrassed by it.

World Afro Day, whilst it was just the one day, was a chance for everyone to acknowledge and embrace diversity in hairstyles and cultures; chance to learn more about something which is so often overlooked by mainstream hair & beauty media; chance for young people to feel proud of their natural hair; and a chance for Afro-lovers everywhere to prove that we aren’t going anywhere.

Well done to the organisers of the events, which were all down in London. After their success, I’m hoping there will be more ‘up North’ next year.