Mutabaruka talks about the history of Dreadlocks

Muta says “the Pharoah and the judges that are written about in the Bible wore locks and yet the Speaker in the house of Parliament in Jamaica, Mr. Pearnel Charles is saying he is proud of the old wig that he wears. Even though it could have germs in it as it is not known if the wig is being washed”.

He says we came up with our own thing as we wanted to create something to liberate our minds, and the white people are trying to tell us that their way is the right way. He believes they are not always right and it is time for Black people to start doing things in their own way now. It is not good for black people to keep on believing that everything they have is not good enough as they compare themselves with white people and keep on believing that everything they have is not good enough.

Muta believes there are a lot of Jamaicans who don’t like the bongo congo locks in anyone’s hair, and now there are members of parliament who are now wearing locks. Even though they don’t mind seeing the sister locks.

There was a teacher at Wolmers who didn’t want afro in the school and they had to demonstrate about it. The hair has been a problem for white people and it filtered down to the black people.

He says maybe there should be a day when they examine the heads of MP’s who are wearing locks in the parliament. Every September this issue about locks comes up and he is not satisfied with the attorney general being a Member of Parliament, as she won’t be able to represent the people properly.

Mutabaruka believes the police force was put together to protect the Slave Master’s property and Jamaicans are living with a delusion that they are there to protect and serve them. He says many people in other places were wearing locks before Jamaicans started wearing their hair like that. 

The Chairman of the school the little girl attended said there is no law that states that the little girl with locks should not be in school. He said his daughter was ridiculed in school in Montego Bay when the teachers felt that there were lice in her hair.

However, it was a child that had no hair who had the lice, but everyone assumed that only the child who had locks could have lice in her head. There was someone who said why he allowed his daughter’s hair to be locked. He said he told them that he didn’t do anything to her hair, he had just left it to do its own thing. He doesn’t see why he should use combs, cremes, and the other things they use to change how the African hair looks, in his daughter’s hair.