Lucky Number Nine by Ayesha Casely-Hayford

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About Afro Archives

Afro Archives explores heritage and identity within UK society. It investigates images of black women through promotion of self-expression and confidence to be who we naturally are. This project seeks to promote and celebrate afro hair by having inclusive discussions about hair and hair-related experiences with people of all ages, backgrounds, cultures and creeds.

Big Thanks to Wandsworth Radio, in Battersea, for hosting us. Wandsworth Radio is a local Community Radio Station. It covers Battersea, Putney, Balham, Southfields, Earlsfield, Wandsworth Town, Roehampton and Tooting. The Station exists to celebrate the borough’s greatness. “Over 300,000 people call Wandsworth home and they deserve a community radio service providing local news and other content showcasing the people who live here”.

Creator Ayesha Casely-Hayford is an actress, award-winning voice artist and employment lawyer of Ghanian descent, born in London and raised in Kent. With her roots in law, specialising in discrimination, and as former chair of the board of trustees for The Act For Change Project, a charity campaigning for greater diversity in the arts, she is uniquely positioned to see the social, performative and legal issues facing black women in the UK today.

Photo credit: Helen Murray Photography

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Show Nine Transcript 6 July 2018

Read More: https://ayeshacasely-hayford.com/wandsworth-radio/ Listen: https://www.mixcloud.com/ayeshacaselyhayford/magic-number-nine-show-nineafro-archives-6-july-2018/ Playlist: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLKIJpUA_vJKMIZkqWcgaD37UwKOpD1dFt

Transcript:

[Faaji intro] ACH This is Afro Archives and we are on Show number 9. I had a feeling that 9 was a magic number so I did some research. And lo, it is true. mysticalnumbers.com says: Nine is the number of magic. Nine is a sacred number. Nine is the number of completion and fulfilment. Nine is a symbol of wisdom and good leadership. Nine is the number of heaven. In Hinduism nine is the number of Brahma, the Creator. The ninth day of the Chinese New Year is the birthday of the Jade Emperor. I liked going through all of this, because last show, with my guest Dawn Estefan, we discussed the Ori, the head, the Yoruba concept of how we see the head as a sacred place, our hair is not to be touched often and by just anybody because, our head, as sacred, is our divinity, our intuition, our connection to God and the universe. And so it seems fitting that on Show nine, our magic number, we have a complete celebration of the sacredness, of our connector to the on high, the divinity of our hair and heads. ÂŠ 2018 Ayesha Casely-Hayford

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[song: “This is Who I Am” Ahmed Soultan feat Noella Wiyaala]

This is Wandsworth Radio, I’m Ayesha Casely-Hayford and we’re here on Female Friday with Afro Archives. Our Magic number 9 show. Our song to open was “This Is Who I am” by Ahmed Soultan from Morocco and featuring Noella Wiyaala from Ghana, a Pan-African track. They both use their native dialects and that song is just so positive and full of self love.

Because this is our ninth show, I’ve been looking up all things magical. Even mathematically, nine is lucky. My mind doesn’t naturally flow with digits but from my wikipedia research I can tell you that 9 is the first composite lucky number, along with the first composite odd number and only single-digit composite odd number. I hope that hits the heart strings of someone out there. For afro hair, I feel this is all perfect. There are many magical things about afro textured hair. A few years back, in 2014, Ama Kyawson published her inspirational children’s book “Sunne’s Gift: How Sunne Overcame Bullying To Reclaim God’s Gift”. In the book, Sunne is a magical being or

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magbee with beautiful spirally afro-textured hair that grows towards the sun. Sunne has the power to make the sun rise and set and so Sunne’s hair is magical.

In an article on her book, Ama Kyawson wrote 20 reasons why afro-textured hair is magical. As it’s our magical show day, I thought it was perfect to share those with you here. Number one: Afro textured hair defies gravity by growing up and not down. The bug bear of many of us growing up in the West, that our hair would not flick. Or as I have heard described recently by my guest Dawn Estefan on the last show, our hair is not flat. So we can flip that, and see that hair growing up, towards the sun, is very very amazing and magical. Number two: As Nehkena Evans has told us. afro-textured hair has the same spiral as electricity, tornadoes, whirlwinds, DNA, and galaxies. That one for me, just makes me feel magical completely. Like I am ready to take off and fly. This, if I reflect upon it for long enough, makes me feel vital and alive. The very essence of a heartbeat.

On to number three: Short afro textured hair styles, also known as teenie weenie afros, tend to show off gorgeous facial features. Just ask Danai Gurira, Lupita Nyongo, Philomena Kwao or the young lady below. The young lady below being referred to is a black woman called Deirdre Small, you can take a look in the link in the transcript to see for yourself. I’m wearing my afro hair short at the moment. My mum says it’s the shortest it’s ever been. I’ve not specifically chosen this style, I transitioned my relaxed hair to natural hair and as it re-grows, wearing it short in a natural afro, works. I do feel I see my face more. And I do get more compliments on how I look. A good friend recently shaved her hair and now has her hair very short and she says it is the most attractive she has ever felt. So there is definitely something in it. I find, embracing this, as © 2018 Ayesha Casely-Hayford

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a fact of magic, helps because for many years, images of long flowing hair have been all around us, and that is a struggle when it comes to feeling attractive, we are always striving for an ideal that can never be achieved, naturally. But by embracing what our afro hair does naturally, including wearing it short, has certainly helped me feel on a journey to self power and acceptance. Now that’s magical.

[song: “I put A Spell On You” Nina Simone]

A bit of Nina Simone to make sure we are on the right flow. That was I put A Spell on You. This is Afro Archives on Wandsworth Radio and I’m Ayesha Casely-Hayford,. We are enjoying all things magical today, and before we continue, and just because he’s one of my favourite guys ever, I’m going to get another song in there, a bit of MJ because this is also, the ninth year or his passing. Michael passed on my birthday, 25 June, and I will forever love him. Rest in perfect peace MJ, Lucky number nine:

[song: “All I want to say is that they don’t really care about us” Michael Jackson]

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number 4: Like many things in nature, afro-hair grows towards the sun and provides shade from it too! What more can you ask for, afros are a natural visor! I do love the way my hair responds to the sun. How it shrinks or expands depending on temperature. It can make me hot and also cool me down. It’s amazing. Number 5: Forget to check the weather this morning, did you step out of the office just to see a light drizzle that may soon turn into a full fledged storm? No problem!! Afrotextured hair is water resistant! Just ask Michael J? Ama, the author of the article, did then awesomely give an MJ shout out and has a pic of MJ with his afro out, in his teens, with the water just bouncing on it. Perfection. I love getting my hair wet, now that it’s natural. My hair loves it and it really is water-resistant, beyond dope. Immensely magic. Number 6: Locked afro-hair is associated with divinity in many cultures. Number 7: Afro-Hair grows to unimaginable heights. Just ask Guinness World Record Holder Aevin Dugas. Now this I DID NOT know. Aevin Dugas, you have to check out her website. Her afro is a beautiful beautiful beautiful awesomeness. Dugas is from Luisiana and like many of us, got her hair permed when she was young, 11 years old. It didn’t go well and she soon said no, to the chemicals, and yes to her natural fro.

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In 2011, the Guinness Book of World Records first introduced the Largest Afro category and at the time having been growing it for more than 12 years, Ms Dugas’s afro was 4 feet 4 inches around. I’ve put a load of links about her hair and how she taught herself her own hair regime, in the Afro Archives On Air Show 9 transcript. For now, here’s the beautiful Tracy Chapman.

[song: “Baby Can I Hold You Tonight” Tracy Chapman]

Welcome back, this is Afro Archives on Wandsworth Radio, I’m Ayesha Casely-Hayford. It’s show number 9. 9 is a lucky, magical number and we’re on our 8th reason why afrotextured hair is magical, as listed by Ama Kyawson in her Buzz Feed Article:. Number 8: Afro-Hair can grow unimaginable lengths. Just ask Guinness World Record Holder, Asha Mandela. This is our second afro-textured hair mention in the Guinness Book of World Records. Length, is a topic covered a lot in the natural hair community. There is a book on it even, perhaps more than one, but the one I know of is the one I have, the author of which was on our second Afro Archives show. BBC London Journalist Ms Valley Fontaine. Her book is called “How to Grow Longer, Healthier, Natural Hair whilst wearing Weaves, Wigs and Braids, Like I did!” and you can catch more about that and listen to Valley in our podcast and transcripts for Show Two. In the meanwhile: number 9: Afro Textured hair grew out of the heads of greats like Malcolm X, Marcus Garvey, Yaa Asantewaa, Martin Luther King. Kwame Nkrumah, and Harriet Tubman. If they were able to change the course of history while rocking afro-textured hair, so can we. I love that number 9 lists greats, and of course we all have greats to list just by mentioning and calling upon our ancestors, who by the very fact of our existence, are great warriors, survivors and heroes. It took me a long time to come closer to my hair. and by that I mean see it as a connection to my heritage and ancestry. Now I see it very much as © 2018 Ayesha Casely-Hayford

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that. There were two specific conversations I had, with people with caucasian hair, who both at different points in my life asked me, when I had my hair chemically relaxed, why I didn’t wear my hair natural. To both of them I scoffed in response and said they had no idea how hard it was to manage afro hair. But they each calmly said to me, but it’s your heritage. It’s who you are. And they were absolutely right.

[Song: “Formation” Beyonce]

Welcome back. That was Queen B with Formation. We’re on magic number 9 of our Afro Archives shows and discussing all things magical about afro hair. We’ve hit midway, number 10 of BuzzFeed contributor Ama Kyawson’s article on the topic of 20 reasons Afro-Textured Hair is Magical. Number 10: If you thought afros were just a ‘black thing” you my friend, are sadly mistaken! People of all races and cultures can be Afroproud! This is so true, Afro-textured hair is not restricted to black people and in fact some people of Black African descent cannot grow an afro at all. On our Afro Archives “A Performer’s World” series one of the featured actors is Nicky Goldie, who talks about her Jew fro, (as she describes it) who loves and celebrates her fro and says it sets her apart from other white middle aged women. In the coming weeks I’ll also be having a white British actress guest on to the show, Wandsworth based actor Avril Gaynor, who on spending time in the caribbean, struggling with trying to keep her curly hair straight, gave into the sun and let the fro she never knew she had, be free.

Number 11: Afro-textured hair holds braids like no other type of hair. Number 12: Afro-textured hair holds twists like no other type of hair. Number 13: Afro-textured hair holds cornrows like no other type of hair.

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Number 14: Afro-Textured hair holds locs like no other type of hair. I’ll be looking forward to getting into the locs here on Afro-Archives very soon, with our sister locs special. and to bring that to the heart of the matter, a queen of locs, Valerie June:

[Song: “Workin’ Woman Blues” Valerie June]

That was Valerie June with Workin’ Woman Blues. This is Wandsworth Radio and I’m Ayesha Casely-Hayford bringing you Afro Archives, on the topic of magic number 9 and all things magical about afro-textured hair. We’re going through an article by Ama Kyawson who listed 20 reasons AfroTextured Hair is Magical for BuzzFeed. We’ve reached number 15 and we’re in our final quarter. Let’s go. Number 15: Afro-textured hair holds shape like no other type of hair. Yup. We know that for sure when the wind blows, right?! Number 16: Afro-hair provides great cushion especially for the times when you just can’t cope with another excel spreadsheet and need to take a power nap in the muddle of the day, not that I am encouraging this type of behaviour #Imjustsayin! ha, ha! Thanks for that one Ama, we hear you. 17: Afro-textured hair is your natural crown Queen. 18: Afro-textured hair is beyond glamorous!

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19: Afro-Hair comes in all shapes, sizes, lengths and colours. It’s beautiful and beauty is magical. [Twofold: Reverence:] Before we reach our last why afro-textured hair is magical share, number 20, it’s time for my feature, my T.G.I.F. - That Girl Is Fine - an en pointe afro hair do in the media. This week I have chosen Noella Wiyalaa, a sister from Ghana, and who we opened the show with, by her song with Ahmed Soultan “This Is Who I Am”. In the photo I have chosen, which was posted on 26 June, Noella has divided her hair into a multitude of sections and braided each part singly so that each braid is separate. The braids are going up, all straight, out to the sky and all around her head by about 6/7 inches. They look, from how they are secured at the ends, that they have been each threaded too, that’s a traditional Ghanian technique using extra strong cotton, which

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enables the hair to stand alone and keep upright, straight up. and also moulded It’s a celestial look. Bold, creative, energised., like the sun. A sun queen. It says, I have the power. Noella Wiyaala is my T.G.I.F.

[song: “Whatever, Dear” Y’akoto]

That was Whatever, Dear by Y’akoto. I’m Ayesha Casely-Hayford and we’re reaching the end of the ninth Afro Archives Show. We end with number 20 of 20 reasons why afrotextured hair is magical as delivered to us by Ama Kayawson. Reason 20 is: Like all types of hair, afro-textured hair is magical because God gave it to you! Boom. That’s our perfect ending, for perfect number 9. Thanks for joining, thanks for listening and until next time, here’s George Talbott with Evening Wandsworth. Keep it Fro Real.

[song: “I’m coming Out” Diana Ross]

Bed Music: Intro “Faaji” from Lo-Wu https://soundcloud.com/lowusounds Act 1 The Birth of Afro Archives: “Mood” (w/Kiefer) from Lo-Wu Act 2 Sankofa: “Faaji” from Lo-Wu T.G.I.F “Reverence” by Twofold https://soundcloud.com/twofold/reverence

References & Links: https://www.buzzfeed.com/amakyawson/sunnes-gifts-20-reasons-afro-textured-hair-isma-nv0n?utm_term=.fne25emn6#.hk9dJmpoE https://www.modernghana.com/news/707449/wiyaala-is-the-next-big-international-actto-emerge-from-gha.html © 2018 Ayesha Casely-Hayford

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https://mysticalnumbers.com/number-9/ https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/9 http://aevindugas.com/ https://www.huffingtonpost.co.uk/entry/aevin-dugas-has-the-world_n_1098129 http://www.curlynikki.com/2013/08/aevin-dugas-shares-her-natural-hair.html

ÂŠ 2018 Ayesha Casely-Hayford