Written By Guadalís Del Carmen
See, they didn’t tell us that we had that good hair. That,
magical,
mood ring hair.
That hair was strong.
That hair that stands tall,
full of wonder and awe.
They told us our hair was bad.
That it was uncontrollable,
unmanageable,
wild and crazy.
They said
unsightly,
unprofessional.
Unbearable.
So we put shackles on it.
To make it submissive,
to make it behave.
Easily swayed by fickle wind,
easily destroyed by the lightest of rain We made it weak.
Adding more shackles.
Layers and layers of creamy crack. Like the rings on a tree.
But,
instead of telling its age
Our hair told a new story,
A thinned out story,
a narra ve that wasn’t ours.
Full of false hopes.
And self-hate.
See,
we were told we had that bad hair. Not that hair of Kings and Queens. Powerful.
Righteous.
Majes c.
They didn’t tell us of our legacy. And we forgot
Eager to please.
Desperate to fit in.
Paying to appease.
And now,
they wanna have our hair
They wanna embrace it.
Remix it.
Rename it.
#trendit!
And it’s been so long, and we’re so confused. But,
didn’t they tell us we had that bad hair?
Bio of Guadalís Del Carmen
Guadalís Del Carmen is a Loyola University graduate born and raised in Chicago. Her first play, Blowout, was produced by Aguijón Theater in 2013. Blowout a racted many first me theatergoers and received a Highly Recommended in the Chicago Reader. In 2014, she was one of eight early career playwrights to be chosen to be part of El Semillero, a playwright wri ng group curated by ALTA (Alliance of La no Theater Ar sts) in residency at Victory Gardens Theater. Guadalís has been selected to be a part of UrbanTheater Company’s 2015 R.A.W. (Real Aggressive Wri ng) Series which will present four staged readings of new work in November and December. Tolstoy’s Daughter was selected as a finalist in Quick Silver Theater’s Playwrights of Color Summit, taking place in June 2016. Her one minute play, Family Portrait, was a part of the One Minute Play Fes val in Chicago, 2016. Guadalís was also selected as one of 6 Afro La na writers to be a part of the first Afro La na Writers Retreat which culminated in a Livestream of the work produced at the retreat. Culture, Love, and Iden ty: An Afro-La na Reading was streamed in November of 2015.
Guadalís is an ensemble member of Aguijon Theater and UrbanTheater Company. Guadalís is also a company member of the New York based, E.P.P. (Educa onal Plays and Produc ons) founded by Candido and Carmen Rivera Tirado.
