For those that didn't know, Jacksonville, FL is the largest city geographically in the US.  Meaning, you could drive I95 for 30 minutes and still not be out of the city.  Like most cities, Jacksonville is divided into areas/quadrants.  The Northside is, for lack of a better term, "straight hood."  I use that term endearingly and I'm sure half the young brothas here will appreciate the reference.

On this side of town it's often more common to see brothas with dreadlocks than any other hair style.  Most of these young men opt for traditional or freeform/organic dreadlocks ("Rasta Locks").  Where I love seeing so many people embracing dreadlocks, I'm sorry to say that all dreadlocks are not beautiful.

Now before I start getting hate mail, hear me out.  It's not the style of the locks that are the problem.  I mean after all, Bob Marley, the quintessential and most recognizable Rastafarian figure, had freeform dreadlocks...and he and his locks were beautiful.  Many people try to mimic his style, unfortunately, far too many fall short.

As I make attempts to promote the business and site to these young men, I'm invariably met with the same comment regarding the state of their dreadlocks.  Unfortunately, many of the "locticians" in this area tell their clients not to wash their hair too often until it's fully locked.  What these so-called "locticians" fail to realize is that when you tell a person, particularly young guys, to refrain from shampooing their hair, not only will they adhere to this advice, they'll go hard at it.  I have met more men who have gone 6 months or more without letting a drop of water touch their locks (aside from rain), than I'd care to admit.

When I ask why, I'm always given a pretty stupid answer..."That's Rasta."

Let that soak in for a moment.  It's Rasta to be nasty?  It's Rasta to smell...bad?  It's Rasta to have lint, dirt, odor and build-up?  It's Rasta to look as unkempt as possible?

I'm not Rastafarian but I'm insulted for them.  Half these guys probably have only a general understanding and respect for Rastafarianism.  Half of them probably only locked their hair to look like Lil' Wayne (but don't want to admit it).  Maybe they smoke herb so they figure that makes them Rasta?  Either way, Rasta is a religion...not a fad, not something that can be coveted, exploited and dirtied by Hip-Hop.  It's not a gimmick or punch line.  It should not be bastardized by American culture for a laugh.

The image to the left actually appears on a site with the caption, "I'm a Rastafarian."  If you're not insulted, you should be.  What if instead of a dog with dreadlocks, they showed a dog nailed to a mock cross with the caption, "I'm a Christian?"  Would it then insult your sensibilities?

Sometimes I just want to walk around the Northside of Jacksonville armed with two bottles.  One filled with water, the other filled with shampoo.  I imagine myself being the Crusader of Clean...conquering one funky head at a time.  It shouldn't have to come to assaulting individuals with soap and water but you'd be amazed at the amount of resistance these brothas have to cleanliness.  It's kinda scary actually.  I'm sure most of them have girlfriends...can you imagine laying with someone whose head smells like ass?

For those who only have an Americanized knowledge of what it means to be Rasta, understand that they are not nasty folks.  In fact, the way that they choose to grow dreadlocks is not how we go about it.  Many of you probably started using Murray's Beeswax.  Let's take a lil' fact tour...

• Murray's was founded by a Black man in Chicago in the early 1920s.
  
• In the early 1920's, the civil rights movement was gaining a foothold in Jamaica due to the efforts of Marcus Garvey
• Garvey believed that African descendants should look to Africa for the crowning of a Black King.
• On November 2, 1930, Ras Tafari Makonnen was crowned king of Ethiopia.
• At his coronation, Ras Tafari Makonnen proclaimed himself  "Emperor Haile Selassie (Power of the Trinity) I."
• Oh, I forgot.  Back when Garvey was mobilizing African-Jamaicans, one of the earliest groups to aid in the struggle for Black rights was the Young Black Faith.  One of the physical signatures of these youths was matted, unkempt hair.
• Officials in Jamaica sought to undermine the Young Black Faith, Garvey and civil rights as a whole.  By the 1950s, one of their tactics was to refer to the matted hair of the youths as "dreadful."  And thus we are given the term "dreadlocks."  In a way, it's sorta like the word "nigga"...we took something bad, that's sometimes still regarded as bad, into something that depending on the person can be considered good.
• But dreadlocks didn't start in Jamaica.  They date back to the Bible, Egypt, Indians (from India), Celts (White folks)... 
  

I wrote all this to say, Murray's Beeswax didn't exist in Jamaica in the 1930s, 40s, 50s...  So first of all, the idea that so many people think that Murray's is what Rasta's use is false.  It's made in Michigan.  What about Michigan screams Rasta?

Second, the concept behind growing locks in Jamaica during the early 1900s was rooted in both ascetic cultures and the Bible.  In other words, dreadlocks are believed to be an import of Indian holy men and subsequently justified by the Bible.  The point is, dreadlocks are to Rastas as long hair is to Samson.  Rastafarians have tons of rituals by which they operate...one of them being health. 

Back when I was island hopping, I was sunning on a beach one day and witnessed one Rasta after another running up and down the beach.  It was hot as hell and as you can imagine, running in sand is difficult yet these men, at random times throughout the day, would sprint back and forth, up and down this long stretch of sand.

All of sudden and without warning, they'd run into the ocean and begin swimming laps.  And just like jogging, they'd go lap after lap, from one end of the beach to the other.  Now keep in mind this wasn't happening at the same time...I mean it's not like hundreds of shirtless men with long, flowing dreadlocks were running up and down the beach gettin' all hot and what not, but one at time, throughout the day, they'd individually repeat this routine several times.

Once when one of the brothas emerged, he came and set next to me and my friends as we tried to get away from the sun under a palm tree.  His name was Francis.  While we sat and talked, he lit one up and we passed it amongst ourselves as he explained what he and the other men had been doing. 

The point of all this is, true Rasta's don't lock the way we do.  They don't load their hair down with heavy products.  If anything, they're minimalists who strive to allow their hair to form and grow as naturally...and as healthily as possible.  Since they use little products or those that don't gunk-up or build-up in hair, their locks "breathe" better than those of you who have been using Murray's for maintenance.  What this means is, their hair dries faster because there's less for the water to hold onto.  They also wet their hair periodically....washing away an potential funk.  If their locks do stink, it's more likely due to far too much water (standing water in longer locks can create a stale odor and mildew).

I know this was rambling and I'll tidy it up in the next revision but I just had to write this.  I am tired of doing guys' hair only to be panicked as soon as water hits it.  I don't want a fungus, a staph infection or God knows what else.  So do me a favor, if you want to play Rasta, at least educate yourself on what they're really about.