Elizabeth Acevedo - "Hair"

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www.acevedopoet...
/ acevedowrites

[@turquoisetortoise1102]

"You can't fix what was never broken." Awesome way to end the poem

[@madicrawford5729]

I find it beautiful when people embrace their natural hair. I think hers is so beautiful.

[@BeingTiffany]

as a dominican darkskin girl who recently abandoned hair relaxers and flat irons to embrace the natural hair life, this poem speaks to my soul :')

[@goobhatestomatoes]

Marshfield Being black and being Dominican are two different things. Yes, she may be a dark skinned Dominican, bit this doesn't mean that she's black. There are obviously different shades of skin tones, but ones appearance doesn't depict their race/ethnicity. I agree that black I beautiful, but being dark skinned doesn't necessarily mean that your are black. 😊

[@mefrrrr]

@@goobhatestomatoes yeah it does wym??😭😭 never herd of Afro-Latina’s? A mix between black and Latin. That’s what she is since her hair is curly and her skin is dark

[@dancingwiththegods2978]

@@goobhatestomatoesTaino, African & european mix with a lil’ spanish = dominicano. Adios.

[@icepelt1001]

her hair is fucking amazing

[@elizabethacevedo3486]

Thank you, Katie!

[@icepelt1001]

You're very welcome!!

[@lex5768]

Really Id kill for it✋

[@jennym732]

My mother tells me to fix my hair....And so many words remain unspoken because all I can reply is say "You can't fix what was never broken." OH my! that hit the stop, this was really good :)

[@colleengrant6313]

I really don't think this is just about hair. I heard something different. I heard a story about having your identity and being proud of it. Being proud of who you are and where you come from, and not being ashamed by trying to fit in. I heard accepting yourself, and making yourself perfect for you and not for your mother or society. And although her hear is fab, hair or no hair, what radiates comes from within.

[@tyshuanthomas3228]

I thought the deeper meaning here was about the self hatred engrained and rooted in the Dominican culture. So many Dominicans don’t realize that they have African roots,. I took it as her reprimanding is about the ironing out of our culture and how we often try to assimilate.

[@aquariaaustin2077]

You're right. It's about accepting yourself as you are, and that you don't need to contort yourself to fit some idiotic racist standard. She's beautiful, as she is. Yes, the outside is attractive enough, but her real beauty comes from within. That's what matters.

[@charleneo.8570]

"You can never fix what was never broken."

[@anyelaperezgarcia4928]

As a self-identified Afro-Latina Dominicana, this poem is just so beautiful and powerful!

[@Bad_gyal_wadi]

My mother tells me to fix my hair. And by “fix,” she means straighten. She means whiten. But how do you fix this ship-wrecked history of hair? The true meaning of stranded, when trusses held tight like African cousins in ship bellies, did they imagine that their great grand-children would look like us, and would hate them how we do? Trying to find ways to erase them out of our skin, iron them out of our hair, this wild tangle of hair that strangles air. You call them wild curls. I call them breathing. Ancestors spiraling. Can’t you see them in this wet hair that waves like hello? They say Dominicans can do the best hair. I mean they wash, set, flatten the spring in any loc - but what they mean is we’re the best at swallowing amnesia, in a cup of morisoñando, die dreaming because we’d rather do that than live in this reality, caught between orange juice and milk, between reflections of the sun and whiteness. What they mean is, “Why would you date a black man?” What they mean is, “a prieto cocolo” What they mean is, “Why would two oppressed people come together? It’s two times the trouble.” What they really mean is, “Have you thought of your daughter’s hair?” And I don’t tell them that we love like sugar cane, brown skin, pale flesh, meshed in pure sweetness. The children of children of fields. Our bodies curve into one another like an echo, and I let my curtain of curls blanket us from the world, how our children will be beautiful. Of dust skin, and diamond eyes. Hair, a reclamation. How I will braid pride down their back so from the moment they leave the womb they will be born in love with themselves. Momma that tells me to fix my hair, and so many words remain unspoken. Because all I can reply is, “You can’t fix what was never broken.” Elizabeth Acevedo

[@XxxMuseluverxxX]

Thank you for the transcript!!!

[@SinnyNavarro]

+Zawadi Nehamba *In a cup of morisoñando. **what they mean is “a prieto cocolo”.

[@Bad_gyal_wadi]

***** I did not waste my time. I simply commented the whole poem for those who would like to know it word for word. I honestly think reading it while she says it was helpful for me I was thinking about what she said in a deeper meaning.

[@karlyfin1269]

+Zawadi Nehamba I'm glad you did this because the video wouldn't play for me so I was still able to read what the video was going to say!

[@lornafeliz9619]

+Zawadi Nehamba I will help you with the spanish words. The first one is: a cup of "Morir Soñando" die Dreaming (A Dominican drink made of orange juice and milk). The second one is: What they mean is, "Prieto Cocolo" ( in our country we call like this to people with deep african features like dark skin). Im dominican by the way! Hope that it has helped you.

[@Jaz_mxs]

Im Chinese. "normal" hair for a Chinese girls are thick, straight black hair. Well in my family it is but me i have that thick black hair but the one thing that separates me from my family is that my hair is not straight but wavy and sometimes even curly. All through the 13 years of my life i have been told my hair it too big, too messy, too much to handle, that i should just straighten it, cut it off. When i went to get my hair cut my mother forced me to get it straightened and layered. I didn't see the point after i washed my hair it would go back to the original wavy state. I love my hair. How it it wavy and curly i accept my hair but the older generations of my family don't. Which does make me sad because they always have to comment on it. I wish they would understand.

[@Jaz_mxs]

+PiZzA ZiZa Thank you and i will 😊

[@AlanTorres-tl4ms]

I love how this poem mentions Dominicans. I hate the racism ground into the culture of the dominican republic, it frustrates me to no end to see oppress peoples oppress themselves and others. Most people say I'm not dominican because I'm light skinned, and then they shame those that are too dark skinned, its a sad schizophrenic state of self hatred.

[@danirican5731]

+Dominicanita Linda Hes talking about what happens in the Dominican Republic.

[@danirican5731]

Dominicanita Linda mama go check it out its all over youtube im 33 i know and seen it in puerto rico and in the republica dominicana,it was even in telemundo and al rojo vivo,you look like a little girl prob thats why you dont know about this.

[@danirican5731]

Dominicanita Linda What are you talking about the news was from the dominican republic...so you are saying its all a lie??? its from your country not america.

[@joselapotencia146]

Dani Rican no le hagas caso a los boricuas que ellos odian a los dominicanos. Aqui estamos orgullosos de tener nuestro cabello rizado y siempre lo hemos demostrado. Vete pal carajo boricua y no te lleves de las noticias que nos quieren tirar abajo porque no aceptamos a los hijos de haitianos. VIVA LA REPUBLICA DOMINICANA!!! LIBRE Y SOBERANA!!!

[@joselapotencia146]

Hey Dominicanita Linda don't pay attention to all these peoples opinion. We have always been proud of our heritage, the international community is against us because of the Haitian situation. We will always be proud to be dominicans!

[@s0oupy]

i saw elizabeth acevedo today at the auckland writers festival, she has opened my eyes to slam poetry im hungry for this new found type of art (new 2 me, obviously i know how huuuuge slam poetry is)

[@ReenaAlter]

"They say Dominicans can do the best hair .. but what they mean is we're the best at swallowing amnesia"

[@tegansantana2910]

+Dominicanita Linda It's true. Reading your other comments, it appears that you are representing the butt hurt.

[@joselapotencia146]

tegan leva you are representing the hate that the international community wants to spread around the world. Even Oprah Winfrey straightens her hair, Beyonce does it as well. All black females does it. All these people talking bad about our country is because we are kicking this Haitians out. We are always proud of our heritage and has always been. Stop spreading lies.

[@ReenaAlter]

+Dominicanita Linda she is just reiterating a stereotype to make a point. This line is more about how Dominican women change their hair to look anything but Dominican. That's why the part about swallowing amnesia is so important.

[@joselapotencia146]

Reena Berroa even Oprah straightens her hair.

[@ReenaAlter]

+JOSE EL PATRIOTA of course she does but why? When did it become normal to do that and why wasn't her natural hair the acceptable style to begin with?

[@AnnaMassonElizabethOwenWedding]

Transcript: My mother tells me to fix my hair. And by “fix,” she means straighten. She means whiten. But how do you fix this ship-wrecked history of hair? The true meaning of stranded, when trusses held tight like African cousins in ship bellies, did they imagine that their great grand-children would look like us, and would hate them how we do? Trying to find ways to erase them out of our skin, iron them out of our hair, this wild tangle of hair that strangles air. You call them wild curls. I call them breathing. Ancestors spiraling. Can’t you see them in this wet hair that waves like hello? They say Dominicans can do the best hair. I mean they wash, set, flatten the spring in any loc - but what they mean is we’re the best at swallowing amnesia, in a cup of [Spanish], dreaming because we’d rather do that than live in this reality, caught between orange juice and milk, between reflections of the sun and whiteness. What they mean is, “Why would you date a black man?” What they mean is, “[Spanish]” What they mean is, “Why would two oppressed people come together? It’s two times the trouble.” What they really mean is, “Have you thought of your daughter’s hair?” And I don’t tell them that we love like sugar cane, brown skin, pale flesh, meshed in pure sweetness. The children of children of fields. Our bodies curve into one another like an echo, and I let my curtain of curls blanket us from the world, how our children will be beautiful. Of dust skin, and diamond eyes. Hair, a reclamation. How I will break pride down their back so from the moment they leave the womb they will be born in love with themselves. Momma that tells me to fix my hair, and so many words remain unspoken. Because all I can reply is, “You can’t fix what was never broken.”

[@elizabethacevedo3486]

Thanks for transcribing, Anna. And for the clarifications of terms by Mabel and YoDanyrd.

[@trulynaya6876]

Elizabeth Acevedo do you have any more poems on KZbin?????

[@Tiaxxxxxooooo]

"Why would two oppressed people come together" ,oh my gosh I love this poem hands down ! Negrita

[@destinygonzalez9549]

I've listened to this twenty times, and there was not one time that I have not gotten chills. She hones a gift, an undeniable gift.

[@misstafara1916]

You can't fix, what was'not NEVER broken." Queen💞💕💘💕💓💞

[@westwaste]

i'm dominican and my mother is dark skin and she had a baby with a white man so that i wouldn't look like her but i did and she gave me skin lightening cream and keratin treatments and i just feel so robbed of how beautiful and how much of ME i would've been

[@hannakidane3868]

+Life wow your so pretty needed to say that

[@westwaste]

aw thank u so much that means a lot

[@emilygrant7288]

I love her hair so much

[@cuteunice94]

I used to hate my hair. I hated how thick and curly it was. I wanted thin straight hair so badly. I really did think I had ugly hair. This girl I knew had curly hair but it was really pretty and I asked her how is your hair so nice when its curly. She gave me advice on hair and then I started watching a lot of KZbin videos about girls with curly hair. My hair changed and is now way better then before. It's so curly and thick and I love it. I'm also a,twin so my sister went through the same thing I went through and her hair is way bigger then mine. I love my hair bow and express it more.

[@BlackPDigitalMedia]

"this shipwrecked history of hair" 😳 omg thats a depth that many dont even understand.. had to find the source from an ig post🙌🏽🙌🏽🙌🏽

[@alexandrae8519]

Love how you ended the poem. My mom tells me to fix mine all the time, and when I don't, yup, it's curly and wild and I love it!

[@Abanchess]

As a Dominican-American... This poem changed my way of thinking... thank you Elizabeth

[@jakepuffenbarger]

She is my English101 instructor at UMD, she is great

[@valiumpump]

this poem is everything.

[@origamiSnow]

I wish the world had more of this kind of view. To echo her point: curly hair is honestly so beautiful.

[@XENA1682]

Yesssssssss!!! This is the story of my life!!!! But I showed them. I embrace my tangle , married un Moreno, and brought a beautiful cafe con leché into the world!!!! I Still go home and rock a fro and to hell with what anyone says as I lay on the roof of my parents sisterna ( an above ground well, used to store water bc water is scarce in our town) getting as morena as I can get!!! Girl if you were teaching English at my collage while I was going I may have learned something useful. Instead of avoiding it all together.

[@jdane2277]

Powerful. Shivers. Why should anyone "change" their hair? "You can't fix what was never broken." Brava.

[@cherikatwinderles5144]

i can't fix what was never broken ..powerful words

[@Livii2100]

Literal chills… i have hair just like hers this poem is part of the reason i learned to accept my hair thank you.

[@teendetective013]

What's interesting is before I watch this an ad about girls with curly hair. 4 out 10 like their hair. That has to change.

[@teheheheheta1336]

my mother tells me to fix my hair too but she means i should actually comb the shit. it's a lot to comb my hair everyday

[@keymoneblake3372]

tehehehehe ta Your comment literally made my day :) lol

[@yello.universe4164]

She is so beautiful and her hair is life

[@allikortea8900]

Goosebumps everywhere.

[@reneebullie4175]

"YOu can't fix what was never broken"

[@lilyvaughn6766]

Yes, this is my grandma all the time. She tells me you need to do your hair but I love my hair hair when is natural.

[@a.c.n.9421]

You KILLLLLLED IT!!! #LoveYou

[@divineebony8632]

speak baby! ❤️❤️❤️❤️

[@Funsizedsmall]

AMEN GIRL!!! SNAPS SNAPS AND MORE SNAPS!!!!!

[@dkhary1010]

thank you so much for your voice and perspective

[@imaniprice8275]

I got shivers

[@incognitoriaanonymousita]

AWESOME!!!!!!!!!!!!

[@TomiaMacQueen]

I just fell in love with this poet!!! Can't wait to show my girls this! Go 'head sista!

[@liasmith5070]

I'm Puerto Rican and proud of my hair

[@belmarisg3579]

I've been in love with this poem forever, makes me want tear up because I have the same story

[@WildaMarieRivera]

Brutal!

[@eccentriclullaby1357]

This is fantastic and so emphatic 💝💝💝😍 Natural hair pride!!!

[@latinasrizadas1279]

This is so beautiful!

[@EmanMustafa]

speechless

[@mislarington8430]

Beautiful poem ? So glad were reading this in class

[@tianam2302]

That ending gave me chills

[@FluidlyWillful]

You - and/including/with the roots of your hairs' strands - are beautiful :)

[@TanaCorporonlaw]

WOW!! Utterly amazing! I have ducky-bumps everywhere!

[@danielledarden5611]

her hair is so beautiful😍😍😍

[@chianasmith496]

Her voice is beautiful

[@hailymccoy9785]

"All I can reply is, 'you can never fix what was never broken'."

[@terriyoung7136]

Emotional Beauty. Gorgeous poem love it

[@fifik7394]

0:48- 1:00... The figures of speech used in this to describe the Dominicans complexion via their traditional drink and weather...👌

[@eleni_w]

OMG this is beautiful, BEAUTIFUL

[@dadecountyboiz]

I love this queen

[@blackgirlmagic7893]

YAS QUEEN!!!!!!!

[@Lightconsciousness]

Beautiful and chilling

[@shutuplove]

Yes you can't fix what never was broken!

[@LEELEE141]

FINALLY !!! OMG

[@mzenji]

Dear Elizabeth You mesmerize me with your beautiful wild hair. That runs almost as wild as your spirit. I embrace it with the same intensity that others choose to fear it Your coconut brown skin That tells the story of how long ago your great great great grandmother and mine were parted But continents and seas can't erase the bond between us that mother nature started So let your curly Dominican hair and my now nonexistent former African naps, Come together and maybe.......... just maybe...... perhaps, Culminate in wild children who run free Like their mother's beautiful hair that tells the story of their ancestry Before you and I were destined to be separated by land and whips and sea So I guess what I'm saying is...... Elizabeth Acevedo, will you marry me? :-)

[@brianapersaud4873]

Wow that was great. She came to my highschool today.

[@mileshardin6906]

what a simp

[@sabrenabarksdale]

I love her intensity i love this spoken word. POC we are beautiful and our hair is our inheritance.

[@HannahCruickshank]

She's so good

[@gangsadnessonyt]

I'm Caucasian and I have the exact same curly hair. boys at my school call me a monster and this one girl told me to fix my hair, and by fix she meant straighten. and when this girl said the exact same line, my heart melted. I've straightened my hair at least 8 times in my lifetime. I'm 14 years old and I've done many treatments hoping that someday my hair will be what everybody says is normal

[@allister8971]

Curly hair is beautiful I have extremely curly hair also, mine are looser curls like hers but I love it and never straightened it. try different shampoos and conditioners I have diva curl and it makes my hair so nice. people pay to have amazing hair like us. this wild curls are like our spirit cannot and will not be held down put in line or straightened out for anything or anyone. I have a nickname for my hair and I love it. I call mine a mane because lions have manes and they are strong proud creatures. embrace your curls you are beautiful.

[@aaliyah9745]

as long as u know ur hair is beautiful

[@toniobagaye5297]

"My mother tells me to fix my hair And so many words remain unspoken Because all I can reply Is you can't fix what was never broken "

[@zigma10473]

Awesome video I gad to share & put on my favorites!

[@ifeadenrele9389]

This is amazing.

[@elizabethacevedo3486]

Thank you!

[@Blessed78043]

Love this

[@aap2310]

Brilliant.

[@judithjohnson8406]

Powerful!

[@pinky2627]

i love this poem because it speaks to me... i always leave my natural curly hair out and everyone tells me to flat iron it, to braid it, or at least 'tame it'.

[@alexkatty8809]

amazing.

[@MetaVerseTechy]

Amazing

[@keilievelasquez1116]

Wow, this was great

[@jordanvanetten7887]

This is fucking, electrifying.

[@sunluv6115]

Your hair is gorgeous!!!😍😍

[@taylorspagner7620]

Here for my daughter just a reminder for me and her My afro Latina baby

[@StruwwelHexe]

holy shit that hits hard. She speaks so powerfully. So moving. Thank you.

[@andreaellis2062]

I LOVE your hair

[@esmeraldaacevedo6744]

We have the same last name haha! Too cool

[@philosopher2king]

I grew up in the DR and I NEVER heard this about curly hair. I can't speak for Acevedo's experience and I think her hair is absolutely gorgeous, but this seems more like Dominican-hating from the children of the diaspora.

[@elisaamaro8210]

Yo también soy dominicana y sí lo he escuchado, actualmente es más aceptado, porque ahora el pelo rizado es tendencia y eso. Pero el 85% (aprox.) de las chicas con pelo rizo aquí vamos al salón semanal a lacearlo. Y es cierto, el dominicano es un tanto racista, prefiere los rasgos caucásicos y menosprecia los africanos. Seamos realistad, por favor.

[@philosopher2king]

Elisa Amaro Muy en descuerdo, Elisa. La preferencia por los rasgos caucásicos no es un problema dominicano, eso es pura mentira y propaganda muy de moda ahora. Ese vestigio lo tienen TODOS los paises de latinoamérica y hasta en la misma comunidad afroamericana donde mientras más clara la tez negra más atractiva es considerada la persona. El dominicano no es racista, pues la mayoría tenemos rasgos africanos. El dominicano tiene PREJUICIOS, como lo tienen los haitianos, cubanos, americanos, rusos y todo el mundo. No hay que cegarse a nuestros prejuicios, pero tampoco hay que simplificar, especialmente cuando ciertos sectores nos quieren tachar de nazis y racistas sin conocer los detalles de nuestra muy compleja relación con Haití.

[@elisaamaro8210]

+philosopher2king Yo sí he visto en mi día a día, como se discrimina por el color de piel y el tipo de pelo y también veo el afán que como dominicanos tenemos por parecer más caucásicos y refinar la raza. Todo lo que ella detalla también lo he visto presente aquí. Es cierto lo que dice de los prejuicios, están en todo el mundo, pero lo que ella detalla en el poema sí ocurre, sí pasa. Negamos nuestras raíces, queremos “arreglar la raza".

[@philosopher2king]

Elisa Amaro Lo que mencionas es anecdótico, no es prueba. Yo mismo he visto hartos prejuicios en RD, como los he visto en todas paises donde he vivido y viajado. Tú estás hablando de una actitud racial antigua, esa jerga eugenesica era popular en muchos paises, incluyendo a EU, a mediados del siglo pasado. La gente ya no habla de refinar la raza ni sonseras así porque, cientificamente, las razas no existen. La diaspora, de la que Acevedo es parte, ha tomado todos esos chismes historicos que oyeron de sus padres y los citan como verdades para acusar a RD de ser PARTICULARMENTE "racistas"/prejuiciosos. ESE es el problema; es querernos hacer el cuco racista citando actitudes que son residuos coloniales en TODAS las américas. Si la mamá de Acevedo le tenía tirria al pelo rizado ese era SU problema particular. Eso no es ni fue una actitud dominicana.

[@philosopher2king]

Well, that is a shame, and too bad because your tight curly hair is probably beautiful, I got the same treatment about my nose. But again, to equate that to Dominican racism as may have done here is BS. My complaint all along has been this cockamamie idea of particularizing general racial tendencies in the Americas and making them seem particularly Dominican.

[@mars-kx4lc]

*"You Cant Fix What Was Never Broken"*

[@ronnieb1958]

truth!

[@RegentDeMarquis005]

Yep been there.

[@inmytime0fdying]

“what they mean is, why would two oppressed people come together? it’s two times the trouble.” OH FUCK THATS GOOD

[@etherealentity7675]

Over 9000

[@REGGIE_BXNY]

That was hot!

[@BautistaIsolina52]

Amen..

[@axe4135]

My gosh..... her hair is amazing

[@tiaclarke6320]

That's exactly how I feel. 😤 powerful

[@tiaclarke6320]

I STILL LOVE THIS

[@lucesmith3627]

I have hair like her 💜

[@thairibisantana]

Como se le llama a este tipo de recital ?

[@naraposthumus8478]

❤❤❤

[@oraliesanchez945]

💜

[@Blessed78043]

Yeah

[@samarariascos9817]

I love being a Latina 💃🏽✨✨