Real Life Real Faith Men of Faith November/December | Page 5

Baldness Is My
Natural Way of
Showing I Am
Timeless
have often talked openly about, but for many of us we now live with damaged hair from that period in our life as much
as many women do. It forever changed some Black men into wearing more conservative hair-do’s and haircuts because
of hair and scalp health.

One Black Blaxploitation movie star and music God caught my attention with his hair-do, or his lack of hair. Isaac Hayes
had such a presence and confidence in being Black and Bald I had to give it a try. In the seventies, it was a time when
shaving the dome clean was a bold move when not many other Black men chose to unless they were older gents, and
had lost most of their hair. It does help, however, to have a head that baldness curves around well. I did and I sported
the look. I took a lot of ribbing from other men for doing so. And the women…some women teased that it was
particular, and some avoided me all together. Older women didn’t always see it the same way though. The older
women like the bald look and thought of me as to be handsome and mature for my age. Any individual not seeking to
be like the norm, the move to be bald in itself can be attractive. Thinking back to my Isaac Hayes cool days, that was a
natural time in my life.

Where did I go from there? Where am I at now in my hair sense? Well I made it out the seventies grew my hair back in
the eighty, and styled with flat tops and fades. I cruised through the nighties with just enough hair to trim, line, and
brush some waves in. By the time new millennium come about bald started calling again, but I started seeing locks and
brothers like Maxwell wearing the hair free from constraints. I wondered could I pull that look off. My hair had other
thoughts…it starte d forcing the issues of me going bald again. Three weeks of growth equals a five o’clock shadow.
Don’t laugh.

I am at peace with my baldness. I had started wearing my baldness long before when sports stars were spending
money on their own personal barbers and spending hours receiving the style they wanted. I wish I had an opportunity to
have had locks, but I’m resigned to enjoying that natural look on others, and as for me, I am living in my natural joy with
my clean shaven head. I am feeling healthy with my baldness. I’m expressing my baldness without worry of judgment. I’m
living a peaceful existence letting my baldhead shine, and being proud of my baldness. I’m living my legacy.

Alvin L.A. Horn