| After nine years of growing dreadlocks, I'm back to | | | | were more likely to start singing Bob Marley songs to |
| where I started: bald. I've been contemplating cutting | | | | me. I have previously written as to why I think people |
| them for a few months now, but never seriously | | | | called me Bob in the OC, but I'm not sure I will ever |
| thought I was quite ready to let them go. The locks | | | | really know why it was such a common occurrence. I |
| became such a big part of who I was as a person, | | | | will definitely not miss any of that nonsense. |
| despite the fact that wasn't something I considered | | | | Anyway, I truly believe that people perceived me as a |
| when I first started to grow them. My original intent | | | | less threatening Black man when I had dreadlocks, as |
| was to let my hair grow naturally, without any | | | | opposed to when I had a shaved head. I'm not sure |
| impedance from a comb. I wanted to see what hair | | | | why, but I could tell from the way others interacted |
| looked like when original man roamed the planet. Also, I | | | | with me over the years. This was particularly true on |
| knew my hairline was moving back fast and I thought I | | | | the streets after dark. I'll admit, walking by anyone late |
| might as well grow my hair long, while I still had it...and I | | | | at night typically can raise anxiety in any person, but I |
| did! | | | | saw much less over the shoulder looks and purse |
| Back in 2000 I rocked a shaved head and let the hair | | | | clutching when I had locks. I know this was not my |
| grow. Slowly, but surely, the curls started to grow and I | | | | imagination. I have always been sensitive to how |
| had a mini-unkempt afro. I liked the look of the nappy | | | | people perceive young Black men as a "threat" and |
| fro. It was bit wild in style, but easy to manage. As the | | | | was always offended when I was seen in this way. |
| first year ended, the naps started to lock up. I had | | | | Nonetheless, I have always been a peaceful person |
| small dreads that pointed straight to the sky, as if the | | | | that tries to shatter this stereotype. |
| force of gravity was more like the farce of gravity. | | | | Amusingly, I was consistently asked if I was a famous |
| This is when people started calling me Bob. Not Marley, | | | | reggae star or if I was from Jamaica. "Are you a |
| but Sideshow. Yep, Sideshow Bob, the evil genius | | | | musician?" was the typical question I heard, because I |
| character on The Simpsons whose red, poofy locks | | | | think people didn't want to flat out say, "Hey are you in |
| defied gravity's pull towards the Earth. I thought this | | | | a reggae band?" I'm sure if my dreadlocks were more |
| was a bit of an amusing nickname, and I heard it for a | | | | cosmetic in appearance I wouldn't have been asked if I |
| good two years before my locks dropped. | | | | played music. Also, people never stop to think that not |
| By the end of 2003, I had locks that actually | | | | all Black folk donning long dreads hail from the |
| succumbed to gravity and pointed downward. At the | | | | Caribbean. Ha! I always got a kick out of that, because |
| time I lived in Washington, DC, and it was nothing | | | | my face distinctly looks like a person from Eritrea or |
| unusual for a Black man to have dreads. I was not, | | | | Ethiopia. |
| and never was a Rasta. I was just a dude with | | | | Nonetheless, the locks became a bit of an annoyance |
| dreadlocks. I'm not sure if everyone gets the | | | | in the past year as they neared the bottom of my |
| difference, but the distinction is clear. To be a | | | | back. Even when tied up and back, they find a way to |
| Rastaman means living a certain lifestyle and | | | | whip me in the eye while playing sports. They'd get |
| maintaining a particular belief system. Most notably, | | | | caught in the car door at times when getting in and out. |
| Rastas believe that the former Emperor of Ethiopia, | | | | They accidentally took a dip in some meals that I've |
| Haile Selassie, was the incarnation of God, or Jah. I am | | | | eaten and one lock even dove into the toilet when I |
| an Eritrean American and there is no way that I would | | | | bent over to pick something off the floor in my |
| ever believe that a man who directly oppressed my | | | | bathroom. Ewwwww! |
| people for a generation could be seen as part of the | | | | Then the perfect opportunity to chop the locks came |
| Holy Trinity. No way! No how! | | | | up. I got a job offer to teach in the Abu Dhabi in the |
| As the time passed, the dreads grew long and I ended | | | | United Arab Emirates. Although Emirati culture is not |
| up in southern California. Now I was in a place where it | | | | nearly conservative as Saudi Arabia, the hair may be |
| was rare to see a Black man with long dreads. Keep | | | | an issue while teaching in public schools. I heard that |
| in mind that I did not twist my locks or go to the salon | | | | one guy who had hair down to the middle of his neck |
| to maintain them. There was no uniformity to the | | | | received several complaints. Plus, it's consistently over |
| dreads and they grew as they naturally would grow. | | | | 100 degrees Fahrenheit and dreads are hot as hell on |
| This is when I started getting called Bob Marley all the | | | | the head. I was all for cultural sensitivity and a naturally |
| time. Seriously, I was surprised how often people | | | | ventilated dome. So, I did it and chopped the locks! |
| would call out to me with a "Yo, Bob!" In fact, they | | | | |