hi everyone.  what are some of the cultural stories you've heard to explain locked hair?


i've always loved locked hair. i know many see it as something mystical. i wasn't raised in naija. when my grandma came to visit and heard me listening to a bob marley album one day, she said, "off dat dada man music!"


that was my first time hearing the word 'dada.'  And i still don't understand it. later, my mom said yorubas use that word. she said it's something about demons locking a baby's hair and the child has to have a ritual ceremony to get it cut off.


my kenyan friend said locked hair is good luck or something and should never be cut off if its grown from childhood.  i'm curious to know the other cultural myths about locks.

I personally do not see anything wrong with locking your hair. As for dada it does have a spiritual side to it for many nigerian dadas from maybe 30 or 49 years ago. The problem is not really the dreads which anybody knows comes from very nappy hair not being combed but what people do to these kids when they seem to turn into "dadas". A lot of those kids were believed to have powers and usually had incantations or diabolic things done to them to either get some of their powers or to kill the supposed powers. People I know who were Dada in the past always seem to have issues but I think it was a childhood of being mistreated or being called names. Who knows. I wanted to let me son's hair lock on its own but my mom almost had a heart attack

quote by outstrip:
« #1 on: Yesterday at 09:29:29 PM »

I personally do not see anything wrong with locking your hair. As for dada it does have a spiritual side to it for many nigerian dadas from maybe 30 or 49 years ago. The problem is not really the dreads which anybody knows comes from very nappy hair not being combed but what people do to these kids when they seem to turn into "dadas". A lot of those kids were believed to have powers and usually had incantations or diabolic things done to them to either get some of their powers or to kill the supposed powers. People I know who were Dada in the past always seem to have issues but I think it was a childhood of being mistreated or being called names. Who knows. I wanted to let me son's hair lock on its own but my mom almost had a heart attack

wow. so who was doing these things to these children? their parents? elders?

I would imagine it would be usually parents or family members

erhm, they look like tree roots

anyways, i love the modern dada, like sister locks. africhika, you got 1 right?

^ yes. i have sisterlocks. www.sisterlocks.com