Revised - Phase Three Writing

Rethink Locks: A Homegrown, Organic Movement

Once upon a time, growing locks meant something—it had conceptual significance.

Thick tufts of rolled, matted hair denoted liberation, devotion,
commitment, and a dedication to spirituality. Locks had nothing to do
with hairstyles. Rather, locks declared freedom and symbolized the
breaking of psychological slavery, imperialism, and colonialism.

Since then, locks evolved from personal expression to product, sales,
and trend. You can buy them in a package. The standard locking
procedure for many people nowadays feels canned and comes with a
warning, by me: a five-year, organic-only locking maverick. You go to
the hair shop, order up, and "PING!" What do you have: generic,
mass-production-style locks caked with product, forged together with
heat, and done with impersonal care; 75 dollars on average to start,
and 50 dollars every other week to maintain.

Committing to locks compares to having a child. A lifelong,
time-consuming, and sometimes disappointing and frustrating
commitment, your locks will need attention, care, nutrition, guidance,
discipline, and training. That said: why not rethink before starting
yours? Why not grow your own organic locks?

Typical of mass production, quality gets lost in the fray of cranking
out multiple versions of the same things. Natural hair shops line
urban streets like trees line suburban streets. Locktician is actually
a word and an occupation! The result: people paying top dollar for
natural hair. Don't get caught up. Do them at home. Grow them
naturally; discover homegrown locks.

With a twist.

Contrary to the dread stereotype, there will be no dusty, dirty
hair—just clean, healthy locks, chemical-free and guided by nature.
You'll also save a buck or two and learn to pamper yourself through
hair.

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I see you bubbling all over the place -- you're yeasty, and I think it's grand!

The Last "Phase Three"

Like Mark said: Either the movie works or doesn't. You move on. You revise.

Onward, then, means a focus on the end—the last Phase Three Words & Images project I have to think about. Yay. (Not that I didn't love this class—I did and learned a lot. I'm convinced that this class could possibly be the only course of this grad program). am ending the semester on a breezy note: with a simple topic that I can rattle on about for hours.

My topic: how to grow dreads. My title: Rethink Locks: A Homegrown, Organic Movement. I'm posting the introduction to my booklet for your perusal. I have not yet sent this to Stephanie, so comments are welcomed. (Though, to be honest, I'm happy to just throw something on paper to say it's done).

Rethink Locks: A Homegrown, Organic Movement

Once upon a time, a decision to grow locks held weight—it had conceptual significance. Having thick tufts of rolled, matted hair denoted liberation, devotion, commitment, and a dedication to spirituality. Back then, locks were not a hairstyle; rather, locks were an expression of freedom and, often, a symbol for breaking the psychological effects of imperialism, colonialism, and/or slavery.

A choice to lock hair must celebrate, commemorate, honor, and act upon the history, meaning, and intent of such an iconic hairstyle.

Not that locks nowadays don't have meaning, but instead of seeing bursts of individual expression atop dread heads, locks now are mass-produced, "genericized," something to get done, a trend—a meaningless move for no other reason than that locks have mainstream acceptance.

A choice to lock hair must also embrace the 21^st century and future generations of people who will create new reasons for donning dreadlocks. Times change; people change; history changes.

This guide will marry the two ideals with a return to homegrown, organically cultivated locks—regardless of concept. Rethink locks. Why? For the sake of preserving tradition? Yes—but also because synthetic locks are an oxymoron.

Like most mass-produced products, quality gets lost in the fray of cranking out multiple versions of the same thing—such rings true for locks. Natural hair shops line urban streets like trees line suburban streets. The word locktician actually has meaning—and those people earn money from that vague title. The result: a phenomenon of people who pay top dollar for a "natural" hairstyle—locks caked with gel and forced together by heat. Does that not defeat the purpose?

While the best-case scenario would bring the dreadlock revolution completely back to its roots, reality says that mainstream locks and the unoriginal concepts behind those locks will prevail. Fine—but at least consider growing locks instead of making locks. You owe the revolution that much.


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I see you bubbling all over the place -- you're yeasty, and I think it's grand!

Show & Tell: Process

In addition to what I'll present in class, I wanted to share some other process examples I found. I don't imagine these are exceptionally obscure given that I found them via Google without navigating past the first page of results, but what the hell — I'll feature a few articles I came across from two websites: How To Do Things.com and eHow.

One thing these websites taught: wow, almost everything has been process-ized.

http://www.howtodothings.com/sports-recreation/how-to-be-an-astros-fan-in-2008

http://www.ehow.com/how_2203875_amuse-toddler-youre-working-idea.html

http://www.howtodothings.com/religion-spirituality/how-to-believe-in-god

http://www.howtodothings.com/religion-spirituality/how-to-be-a-good-atheist

http://www.ehow.com/how_2079713_be-prisoner-love.html

http://www.ehow.com/how_2034170_apply-makeup-seventies.html



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I see you bubbling all over the place -- you're yeasty, and I think it's grand!