What Whitney Wants to Say #4
I have a lot to say this week. weirdly enough, the majority of it is about sports. In America. Very out of character I know but I am full of surprises so here we go:
The Tuohy family effective turned Michael Oher into their slave and cashed out to the tune of millions. To find out your “family” never adopted you and they are effectively your managers that have been exploiting you and your likeness for years has to be heartbreaking and terrifying. My heart goes out to him. This scheme of theirs is truly diabolical like, I honestly have no idea how you even think up such a dastardly plot. First, they made sure he was portrayed him poorly so they could make the case that he needed a conservator. Then, in the movie they portrayed the SEC as villains for rightfully being suspicious of the family for taking in a boy with football skill just so he could go to their alma matter and help them win. They exploited him for COLLEGIATE FOOTBALL WINS. Let’s be real, does anyone think he would’ve chosen to go to OLE MISS independent of that family?? Disgraceful and quiet as its kept, I don’t think a country as greedy and individualistic as ours even needs a conservator system. Too much room for abuse.
Football is so exploitative in this country. From the little league teams that fail to emphasize safety for currently developing children, to the NFL which gleefully destroys their players lives without a second thought, football is hazardous at every level. I say this because there is apparently a new Johnny Manziel documentary out on Netflix that discusses his meteoric rise and subsequent downfall. For me, just hearing his name makes me upset because he is one of those people born with an incredible natural ability, but it’s obvious he needed serious help as well. To be honest, even the way he played football indicated something was wrong. He was extremely gifted but he also played in this chaotic, scattershot way that was stunning to watch but confusing from a technical aspect. I’d be watching him play and think, “Yo that’s crazy how he did that but why would he do that?”. It was just always there and while I’m probably gonna watch the documentary, I’m not looking forward to it.
This week I black girl-ed too close to the sun and did my own twists with extensions. This involved buying three packs of “Outre Crochet Braids X-pression Twisted Up 3X Springy Afro Twist 24 inch” (why is that so long) and braid gel, braiding the base and then twisting each individual twist (I have a big milk dud head there’s over 60 twists on my head right now), and then trimming and dipping my hair in boiling water. Now, it looks great and I’m proud of it but I have a problem. Mainly that I didn’t want to do my own hair at all. I am not a braider by trade and have no desire to be but unfortunately inflation must be hitting stylists hard because the price of getting your hair done today is crazy. Just last year, I could’ve probably gotten this style done at this length for $180 plus tip. Yeah I would’ve had to drive an hour to the deepest part of the suburbs but I would’ve done it. Now that same Salon quoted me $250 minimum! The markup is insane. Another salon said they don’t do anything involving extensions for less that $350. 350 U.S. American dollars. That’s enough to feed a family of 5 for a week and you expect me to pay that for twists? So I blocked them and decided to just not leave the house for 24 hours while I twist. I refuse to bankrupt myself for hair and while I love and respect braiders, we have to start learning to do our own hair because this is a mess.