 "Photo: Chris Hoff")
If you do not have scissors and a brush, or do not believe in using them, you might want to grow a set of dreadlocks.
This lack of tools is probably why primitive cultures have worn them. Some still do wear them. But in American culture, dreadlocks are either a low-maintenance way to keep your hair or a statement of rebellion.
But who wears dreadlocks? Bob Marley brought reggae music and dreadlocks to America in the late 1970s. White hippies and African Americans began wearing them in the '80s. Dreads became mainstream in pop culture among punks, ravers and rappers in the '90s.
Rastafarians wear dreadlocks for spiritual reasons. They believe their dreadlocks represent not being part of "Babylon," or the capitalistic society. Dreadlocks represent their beliefs about the world, God, and how to live. It is a relatively new religion that came out of Jamaica mostly by way of Bob Marley, the great reggae musician -- and prophet, as some say. Laurie Vasquez is an older white woman who has been a Rastafarian for the last ten years. She says "Rasta" started in Jamaica during the depression in the '30s when people moved to the hills and lived communally, growing their own food and being self-sufficient. The people there started to let their hair grow into long strands the way it naturally would. The British Authority said the sight of their hair brought "dread," thus the name dreadlocks. Rasta elders teach that one of the main precepts of the Rastafarian religion is a "separation from Babylon" and unity with "Jah," or God. These elders also taught that Moses was black, his hair was like a sheep and that Rastafarians should have a sense of black identity and connection to the Old Testament of the Bible.
"Rasta symbolizes the separation from the war machine and the perpetuation of poverty," Vasquez said. "They say we are 'sheep for Jah.' We got the wool. He can find us. Also we can find each other. I can tell a genuine Rasta."
Vasquez says having dreads is a spiritual path. "You know you're not going to get rich having your hair in dreads. It is not a path of glamor. I hope that when people see my dreads, they see that I am probably against war and for equal rights and justice. It is looking like the indigenous people of the world," she said.
The philosophy of having a "natural" hairstyle extends into how Vasquez believes in living. She believes in eating little food from Babylon; the more natural the better. Rastafarians do not drink alcohol or do drugs, and marijuana is only for meditation and medicine, not for partying.
"There are Rastas with short hair for whatever reason; like, in Cuba, they can't have dreads because of the law. Dreads do not make the Rasta," she says. "Because they do not have them doesn't mean they are not Rasta."
Rastafarians aren't the originators of dreadlocks, though. Some theories suggest ancient Egyptians (King Tut) and Asian emperors, John the Baptist, and the Nazarites (Sampson) wore them. Descriptions of Celts and Germanic tribes from early Roman encounters say they had "hair like snakes". Today, Indian sadhus and yogis, tribes in Africa, the Aborigines, and New Guineans all wear them.
Oluyinka Akinjiola is a student at Humboldt State University and said that having her hair in dreads is just simple and easy. She is a young black woman and said it is a practical way to keep her hair because it is thick and curly. Her dreads are in even strands because she originally had them twisted, but now they are starting to "lock" on their own. "My hair doesn't need much prompting," she said.
Akinjiola said they take a long time to dry and they are hot in the summer but it is the easiest way for her to wear her hair. She got the idea from her cousin. "My cousin has pretty dreads," she said. "I think they are neat and pretty."
Felicia Camilla of the Beauty Connection in Eureka does braids, twists and dreads. She said most people start with twists and let them turn into dreads. It is a process that must be managed from the beginning, twisting each strand of hair a little bit each day.
"I love doing twists and seeing the results when people let them turn into dreads," she said. "The smaller they are the cleaner they'll stay, and definitely they need to be washed often. Do it right. Do it clean."
For African hair, it can take about four hours to make the twists, costing upward of $85. Clients will then sometimes come back for a touch-up and more twisting to help set the dreads. "Working with African hair is really fun because it just naturally wants to do this," Camilla said. Camilla can also start dreads in straight hair and in this case calls it "hard-to-manage hair". The starting cost is $100 because it takes a lot of time and is hard on the hands and wrists. It takes a method called "palm-rolling", or rolling the hands back and forth. Longer hair works better, as the hair is sectioned into "small boxes" on the scalp. She applies beeswax into the twists. The hair is then put under a dryer to let the beeswax melt in. "I think they are beautiful if they are done right," Camilla said. If they are not they can be your worst enemy in the world."
Dreadlocks can be washed like one would rinse a sponge. Dreadlocks begin about an inch away from the scalp, so it is easy to get soap and water on the scalp. There is a misconception that people with dreads do not wash their hair. Many of the street people in Arcata have dreadlocks and probably are not able to bathe very often. For this reason especially, it is a local misconception that people with dreadlocks do not wash their hair.
Amanda Smith, 23, decided to dread her hair when she was in high school. She wanted to make a statement that not everyone has to have the "same shade of blonde hair" that is "cut at an even edge."
"It is like growing a forest instead of a garden," Smith said. Smith has had dreadlocks for five years now and said she likes not having to change every hair that is out of place or meet some standard of normalcy to get respect.
Smith said people stare, especially little kids and people of older generations. "Some people are like 'Why do you do that?' and they put opinions on you," she said. "[Dreads] are kind of like a filter system. They keep away judgmental people." She said they are sometimes itchy on her face and they feel heavy. But "they feel like a presence and I would miss their energy if I did not have them," Smith said. "They are comfortable, actually. They are even a portable pillow!" Dreads are a path to glamor and fashion for rock stars. Lenny Kravitz, since the early '90s, was one of the first in the rock scene to flaunt dreadlocks. Faith No More, Incubus, Rage Against the Machine and Korn were other groundbreakers. Paul Garbage, an older, clean-cut man and resident of Humboldt County for a couple of decades, said he thinks dreadlocks are pretentious.
"I saw on a blog: someone made some inane statement like people that go to Reggae on the River should have to pay double if they have dreadlocks, triple if they are up in hats," he said. "I hate reggae and dreadlocks. No, I do not really hate them; I do not think it is good to hate." Garbage said he thinks dreads are a statement of not wanting to fit in. But then he changed and said, "Maybe dreadlocks can look good". He said he is trying to stop making assumptions and analyzing things. "Maybe they are sexy... when they brush against you," he said. "Do they smell bad?"
5 comments
I never heard any dreddies quote scripture or psalm. Its easy to say "blessings" but what r u blessing me with your ego drenched presence, your inner-peace me cant feel dat. Me no really dig that seen.