Stepping out in Philly-

Jouelzy's rope twists were slung over her left shoulder.  The tips grazed her waist.  She leaned conspiratorially towards me, and in a low, but fierce tone, whispered,

"We have a course at 3 o'clock, so whoever's class this is, needs to clear out!"  
Close by, stood our assigned workshop organizer.  Overhearing Jouelzy's comment, she dropped her head to study the stack of neat papers in her hands and whispered back to us,
 "This IS your workshop!"  
Her eyes were bright, and her amused smile hid something more.  The sappy and idealistic me, suspects that she herself might've been secretly excited about the class.  The guarded glee in her response betrayed pride.  Our mouths dropped open in surprise, as we made our way into the crowded room. We had to nudge our way through the throngs of people clumped at the doorway.  Natural haired women spilled out and into the hallway, they straddled both walls and sat on the floors, knees crossed and faces expectant.  The entire room was full, and light scattered applause rippled through the audience, as we bravely stepped to the front to face our guests.   

Look at 'em!  Beautiful!

 We were running late.  Our 4c Hair: How to Grow and Maintain workshop was scheduled to begin promptly at three that afternoon, but a finicky projector coupled with an
overly flirty event volunteer can be an ingeniously cruel duo.  Despite frazzled fumbles with the wires and cords, fate granted us some reprieve, and we were off.  Jouelzy did a superb job with the slides and data, and was an engaging speaker.  I supplied real life hair tips and tricks that tied in neatly with the details of our presentation.  

Post event, I was summoned by a beaming attendee. "Are you Nigerian?"  Her head was slightly cocked to her right, and she'd asked as if she already knew what my answer would be.  Her cheeks lifted as her smile blossomed into a full on grin.  
"I am!"  I replied, "Wait, are you??"  She nodded proudly, as I reached down and swept her up in a hug.  Nigerians are plentiful; one in every five black people identify as such.  It should be an unremarkable occurrence meeting another Nigerian, but, there still is a special cozy familiarity that bubbles up to the surface.  It's usually defined by the situation, but cautious optimism and total elation are familiar emotions I've experienced before. 
'What?  Your Nigerian too?!  Yay!!'

Meeting fellow 80's music fanatics (Janet, anyone?) also elicits similar feelings.  
Remember that scene in Coming to America, where Lisa's sister is dancing in the living room, and she does the full body roll?  
All me man!

Eventually, the attendees who'd lingered back for photo ops and private chats with us, expanded into a cluster of women teeming with personal questions.  

I was in my element.  Consultative.  Curious.  Chatty.  I loved it.  Quelled was that niggling voice that likes to feed on self-doubt.

Instead, at the workshop, encouraged by exceptionally positive women, I owned GeraldinetheGreat, and it was empowering.  

I really could talk about this natural hair stuff all day.  If you have questions, and I have answers, I'll divulge whatever I know.  Passion about hair?  Who knew!  

Often, it's dismissed as trivial or obsessive, but that room vibrating with the energy of over 200 attendees, eager for knowledge, conveyed a more fleshed out truth.  Plenty of us are still afraid of our hair.  Those who feel like natural or not, it simply is "just hair", are favored.  They've dodged, perhaps even transcended, society's anti-African rhetoric.  The rest of us, who aren't impervious to that constant stream of negativity, are taking brave steps towards healthy hair care- getting educated, inspiring, and encouraging each other.  Commendable.
 Doing the damn thing.

I met fantastic people at the show, including gorgeous youtuber and fellow 4cer, Kash of KasheraLatash, and her filmmaker boyfriend, Mark of NaturalKing215.   Down to earth and humble, these two are, and Kash's skin is truly glorious in person. 

So, about my hair! 

It was stretched with thread.  Then, re-moisturized with rosewater and Shea Butter Miracle's leave-in conditioner, and braided up.  The braids were only left in for two hours, and unraveled and fluffed in the car right before the workshop began.

The ending result was soft, soft, soft hair, which was a hit.  Fingers were all up and through.

The event was a success and a milestone for the blog.  Woo!
The gears in my head have all been grinding away, planning for the next one.  

Stay close-by for updates!
^_^