Please Vote (For Adam)

Adam and I have riveting conversations. Night after night we can be found talking about the deep things of the world, questions pondered by the masses...we take them on and talk until our hearts are content. You wont find a household of deeper thoughts than the one at 2788 Madison. Last night for example we talked and talked about the things we had encountered that day...Hillary, Obama, blogs we'd read, California's same sex marriage ban being struck down, Palestine and of all those topics the climactic point boiled over into an argument over who would look worse with a Jheri Curl...Adam or me. Now at the end of this blog I will ask you to cast your vote in the comment section letting me know who indeed would look the worst, but first lets talk Jheri Curl...

If you are unfamiliar with the words Jheri Curl or "activator" click HERE for an understanding before continuing...

The Jheri curl often mistakenly spelled Jerry Curl was, for those of you who are unfamiliar, a BIG mistake in the history of African Americans. As a people we have had some great successes. We have come together to evoke change in times of great suffering...the Montgomery Alabama Bus Boycott and Civil Rights are some great examples alone but something happened in the 70's that would, in my humble opinion, put sort of black mark on our history.

In the late 1970's a man by the name of Jheri Redding invented the Jheri Curl and ruined about a decade and a halve of lives. Some of my own family members were affected by this tragedy...you know who you are...actually, I HAVE to throw them under the bus....so I will go ahead and name them...

1. Ernie Joe Banks...AKA...My Dad... As a young child I realized that my dad thought he was the ladies man of all ladies men...the blue Camero, the tank tops... and he had all this confidence WITH a Jheri curl...(my mom obviously fell for it) As a child I thought that my dad resembled Eddie Murphy (with better teeth) and when I saw Coming to America in the Prime of my youth, the moment they introduced "Randy Watson" I forever had a hyperbolic image of what my dad would look like in the future if he did not take action against his curl.

THIS is Randy Watson...and classic video at that!


2. Yolanda Kay Pace...AKA...My dear aunt...introduced me to fashion and Prince and for that I will always be grateful, BUT under the bus you go!! Becoming South Garland High School's first black cheerleader must have been a joyous occasion, but a smudge was left on her legacy because the only picture I remember of her in uniform was the one of her in the splits with pom poms and a Jheri Curl... (Think Texas summers and cheerleading camp) I rest my case.

3. And finally because I can't dig up enough evidence to prove that my very own mother had one I will end with our family's reigning champion...Ruby Faye Morris...AKA MAW MAW!! Maw Maw literally just got rid of her curl a few years ago. As a believer I often wanted to remind her that Jesus says His "yolk is easy" and His "burden light" and that as a believer she shouldn't have had to carry around the weight of an activator filled curl for over a decade. She is now free and I can honestly say that she has never seemed happier.

Well, even though my family was truly affected I can't blame it all on Mr. Redding...this man had alot to do with why so many people had the Jheri Curl...


His fame was just too great for people not to emulate this look...I will leave you with one man's story of how Michael Jackson's style encouraged his love for the curl...and then I would ask you to vote...and white Americans...I would ask you not to judge because the curly mullet was the EXACT SAME THING as the Jheri Curl...

Listen to the words of writer Michael Venable...

"As a child at Michael Jackson's height, I had everything I needed to be Michael. I had the jacket, the gloves, the socks, the penny loafers, a few buttons, posters and so on. Yet there was one final piece necessary to make my Jacksonian tribute complete. I begged and pleaded with my mom for a Jheri Curl, and she was having none of it. (I thank her tenfold for this now, since I, unlike so many people I grew up with, have no incriminating Jheri Curl photos to haunt me.) Weeks went by; she would not budge. So I decided to give myself a curl.

Right before school one morning, I figured that if I could just activate my hair's natural curl, we'd be in business. Surely there had to be something lying around the house to shock my hair into cooperation! As mom was getting ready I found my muse: a massive tub of petroleum jelly. I dug my hand into the jar and scooped out an entire handful, smearing it all over my head. I repeated and repeated until my head was almost leaning to the side, heavy with Vaseline. (Can you imagine getting ready for work and your kid's school and discover a shiny halo of Vaseline over his head?) In an impressive display, my mom managed to spank me and wash my hair at the same time.

Weeks later, Michael's hair caught on fire in a Pepsi commercial. I remember seeing it on the news, and, Michael being my personal deity, I was nearly in tears. Will he die mom? Will he be ok? She didn't say a word. She just shot me this glance that said, 'See? That's what happens when you wear Jheri Curls. Your head catches on fire.' Needless to say, me and the curl were done."

One person spared...Thank God. If you are still rocking the Curl or know someone who is...its not too late for help. Now go vote!

Til Later,