Jennifer Keane-Dawes, Gleaner Writer

Me dear mam:

Me prayaz did deh wid yu de other day when Gustav buss weh pon yu a yard like mad man. But mek we gi thanks. For Massa God, patient an longsuffering, still merciful fe spare we life from one breath to de next. Suh whenever we life spare, eena hurricane or outta hurricane. Eena accident or outta accident. Eena we deep sleep or outta we deep sleep. Fram Him spare we life, we duty is fe try fine out why an do weh Him seh. For Massa God hab a reason.

But stick a pin. A me go talk bout reason. A wah de reason mek most black ooman like meself. Weh nuh mix wid nutten. Nuh Indian. Nuh Chiny. Nuh Jew. Nuh nutten. Hab suh much problem fe get a good hairdresser who can mek we look eena de looking glasss an feel good when dem done wid we hair? Cho. For missis, starting out fram me was a lilly pickney a g'a St Jago High School. A nuh lilly bit a cuss fe me madda cuss an galang bad wid de hair dresser ooman. After she very well tek me madda five shilling fe wash, press, an curl me hair.

Vaseline

But kindly sen me home wid de whole a me neck back blister up under de curl. Plus me lef aise bun to stripe fram de hot comb teet. An den, hab de heart come blame me seh she did tell me fe hold dung me aise. An a me lety go. But me dear mam, after me madda cuss an wear off. An after she sarry fe me. Put little Vaseline pon de part dem weh scorch an memba me nuffy tie dung de lef aise wid de tie head. By de next week me gone back to de said hairdresser. For guess wah? She hapaligize. Gi me a free wash de next time. For she was de only hairdresser.

Come back again, when me tun young ooman an a work. Me still fine meself wid de hair dresser problem. Well, yu muss memba Peter Tosh weh dead but used to sing wid Bob Marley. Well, one day me siddung pon Peter verandah rail an me an him a talk bout life-an-back-to-Africa an such de like. Suh me decide fe go natural there an then. For dem deh days, everybaddy who was anybaddy did a wear afro an a eat Ital. No more créme nor nutten fe fly me g'a wash basin when me head start ketch a fire. Well, between yu, me an de door post, fe me Afro did only spell "Af." For after me wake up de fuss mawning wid me "Fro" flatten roun a me head back like bammy. Me begin manhunt dung fe hairdresser said time. Well, me an Peter yeye neva buck fram dat.

Well me search fe hairdresser still a galang. An me is now a big ooman. For de other day when me g'a dis salon, is a white ooman come out to me. Now fram me bawn a white ooman neva go eena me head. Fe go do wah please? Suh yu can imagine de shock. Plus de more shock when she ask me if it okay fe she use conditioner pon me hair. Well, me finally find a good black one fe de time being. But me seh all dis fe seh das regardless a de kine a hair we hab. Nuh worry. Fix it an smile. For dat a nuh de reason why Massa God patient wid we. A de soul deep within me an yu Him a wait pon.

Tek care!

Dr Jennifer Keane-Dawes has been appointed Interim Dean of the School of Graduate Studies at the University of Maryland Eastern Shore, a constituent institution of the University of Maryland System. Send your email to: jkd876@yahoo.com.