About 9 months ago, my three little African American girls were created. I created them for the purpose of little girls having t-shirts and other items of African American girls instead caucasions designs all of the time.  However, I realized that I wanted to do much more.  One thing that many black girls lack from family members or people in general are sincere compliments for things other than their physical appearance be it good looks, bad looks, or indifferent looks.  When I speak to adult sisters, so many of them say my family didn’t say encouraging things or applaud me on work that I did well. I was expected to those things, it was my job. Once they grew up, many of them didn’t know how to accept compliments because they were not familiar with receiving them.  Also, we hear quite frequently and we see just as often the negative of African American women and girls. Pregnancy, HIV, gold digger, video vixen, you name it, according to society, we do it.  If you type in African American girl, or black girl check out what comes up.  More demeaning and derrogatory terms and more negative information than positive.  So I decided to focus on the good only.  There are enough people out there speaking on the bad or providing information on the negative.  Am I saying we should not address those things? No. I’m simply saying that there needs to be a balance between the good and the bad. From this mindset, Afro Puffs and Ponytails was born!

• It was to the point that, if my hair was not done, I wasn’t going to school. Go out in public in-between micro braids, NEVER! What would people say if they saw how short and nappy my hair was? I would look like a slave.Extreme, of course not—ask any black girl! My close friend thought I was crazy. “Get over your self,” she rudely yelled, “it is just hair”! Her annoyance made me question my concerns. How could she understand? SHE was Black and Puerto Rican. She had good hair, she could wet her hair, apply gel and look flawless. All the boys showed their interest. I on the other hand needed my hair to be fixed, it grew-in broken. Read More