Terminology philosophy...

lol or for those of us who do have ny opinion one way or another, we say our part, you say yours, and we very quickly "agree to disagree". Damn hippies, always going with the flow

 

LOL my moms friend came over and she didnt see me for a long time...
The second she seen my and had some free time to talk to me, see asked me if i was makeing my hair into a "mop"...
I knew what she was asking. And I said yea, and said its called dreadlocks...
But maybe im going to use that, just for laughts...

 

I can see both poitns of view and agree with both of them. its kinda a less extreme analogy of the word "nigga" or "******" being pushed into mainstream. Black people call each other that and some are offended if a white person says it in the same contect that they use it in. I have a lotta black friends and some of them dont mind if I use the word around them and some do. Also I kno of some who dont like other black guys callint hem ******. Its just a whoel lotta mixed feelings and what not... But again tahts a much more extreme analogy than the use of the word dreadlocks. Especialy in America.

 

IMO, dreadlocks is just a word to describe a hairstyle, it's just associated with Rasta's with today's society. Knappy's, dreads, locks, dreddies, what ever you call them there all synonyms of the word dreadlocks. Just because your not Rastfarian,doesn't mean you can't call them dreadlocks, because thats what they are.

Peace

 

really, swampy? Is your hair a tenet of your religion, a symbol of your dedication to your covenant with Jah? Do you wash your hair with only pure water, and never mess with it?

I'm not saying locks are for only one race, or aren't individually very spiritual. It is because of the same reason that I grow my locks, but I am not a Rasta. For the same reason that the Jews wear a yarmulke and the Moslems wear a kufi is why I always wear a hat in public. But as a European-American Buddhist, I exist in a different culture and lingo than my brothers and sisters of other cultures. I love and respect their cultures, and as I strive to understand them, I learn much.

But I would never want to take their power away from their words.

Namaste

 

But the term "dreadlocks" was not coined by the rastas, nor is it exclusive to them. From what I know (and I've studied religion extensively, having grown up in the home of a lifelong Religious Educator and Unitarian Universalist minister) the Rastafarian spiritual outlet that is dreadlocks is rooted in the process and the lifestyle, not in the word. The term "dreadlocks" was originally coined by (mostly white, non-Rasta) people in Jamaica and Africa, in the last 50's/early 60's as a derogitory comment - a way to instill fear in people at the sight of a natty brother or sister. There was nothing spiritual about that.

I have extensively conversed and debated religion with people of many faiths - including Rastas. Honestly, whether or not I should use the term "dreadlocks" has never come up in these conversations. A couple of times, instead, the question of whether or not I had a RIGHT to wear dreads has been called into question. In both of those instances, the people I was talking to came to see that my journey is no less spirtual, and my right to it no less real. BUT, had I been alive and walking around like this 40 years ago, the derogatory term "dreadlocks" would still be used to cut me down - just as it was for them.

Blah, I have a headache and wasn't planning on any essay-writing today... I guess I just got on a roll...