Because if/when the fad fades, its possible that some of the acceptance for kinky hair will remain. <P>See this is not just about wearing our hair naturally - many people who are labeled or accept the label "black" do not have kinky/nappy/course hair. There is a distinction made btwn "natural" sistas with the thin/looser curl pattern hair and those with the very thick/tightly coiled kind. That's why some of us celebrate Kelis' fro while rejecting others. During the 70s many black women wore afro wigs, not their own nappier variety. <P>I think this is about the acceptance of the blackest and nappiest among us - the original people - as having THE CAPACITY to be equally beautiful as their lighter or keener featured or kinkier haired counterpart. Its about moving away from being that everything associated with whiteness is closer to whiteness is better. Right now, that simply isn't true and I think a lot of the progress made during the 70s is being lost and we're slipping back to accepting/validating the color hierarchy. The glorification of mixed black & lightskinned latinas (notice how its never darkskinned latinas that get love) OVER blackskinned women is disturbing. Its not that those women shouldn't get love but something is wrong when the men are so fascinated with women that couldn't have been their mamas, yknow. Soon we'll be right back to having paper bag tests and hoping that if you can atleast have long flowing hair if you can't be light. The black community is full of beautiful sistas of every shade, but you wouldn't know it. <P>That Lox video "Ride or Die Chick" is a perfect example. Seems like the only time you see darkskinned women is in a HotBoys video or in the lowbudget ghetto types. The more money spent on the video/film, the less black looking the females become. Blackness of skin/nappiness of hair is becoming associated with aggressiveness, danger, masculinity, low morality, poverty, crime, etc.<P>There are studies showing that the lower down the economic scale you go the darker the people...even within the black community. <P>Hair & skin are extremely political.<P>Thanks for the wisdom in your posts. <P>Peace.