Macro and Microaggressions Made on The Mighty Combbreaker, my Bobby!

If you've attended any of our shows, you know The Mighty Combbreaker. He is the superhero who lends his voice to the show explaining why "her comb can't move." Combbreaker adds a little comic relief when previous scenes are emotional and heavy. He also gets kids' attention.

Illustrated by Central Penn College student, Nik Hogan, The Mighty Combbreaker scene is paired with comic book cartoons of "1000 tiny hulks" that make up the Mighty Combbreaker's afro. These hulks are strong, tough "and Black like me." That is a direct quote from my son Bobby, who gave me the concept of the Mighty Combbreaker when he was only 8 years old.

I taught Bobby that his hair isn't "hard to manage" or "a problem" but it is strong and protective. God gave it to him to protect him from the hottest places on earth. His ancestors lived on the equator, after all. Of course, a loving God would bless him with dark skin and a helmet of hair to protect him from heat stroke. And I didn't make this up. I learned it in Physical Anthropology as a college student. Look it up. Our melanin or the lack thereof is a direct result of where our earliest ancestors came from.

Bobby's pride in his natural afro is evident in The Mighty Combbreaker poem. He was definitely walking taller when he saw it brilliantly performed by comedian Kevin Williams in last May's performance.

Sadly, everyone doesn't have this sense of pride when they are styling hair, and a local white hairstylist, in her ignorance, laid her bias and contempt on the head of my baby!

So here is what happened.

My boys, ages 10 and 14, severely needed haircuts. They both are on the autism spectrum and my 14-year-old had been plucking his hair out with his hands when nervous, making a mess of his hair. Bobby's hair was really long and needed a shape-up. Both boys have sensory processing issues, so trips to the barber are hard. That is why instead of going to a regular barber in the city, who would have the skills and training to give my guys cool cuts, I felt that I had to go to Sharkys in Mechanicsburg, PA. It is set up for kids and they do pretty well with autism. So Autism won over blackness on this day. I just needed to get this done without the meltdowns.

Sharkey's has chairs shaped like cars and spaceships, video game stations, and televisions to keep kids' minds busy while they're getting cut. The boys were happy to sit at Xbox stations. Shannon had cut their hair before and she is decent. She has a black relative and is culturally sensitive. What was funny to us though, is how she described Mohammed's 4B hair as tight. I chuckled because Bobby's is far tighter than his brothers'! Shannon expressed that she had other clients and wouldn't be able to do both boys' hair, so she gave Bobby to another woman.

This lady complained about everything, from the level of clippers she had to use, to the amount of hair she'd have to cut off, to the unmanageability of Bobby's hair. She even said to him, "Buddy, I don't envy you having this kind of hair!" I was pissed off, but not ready to storm out when Bobby already had a quarter of his head mowed down. I didn't want him to leave looking like "The One Who Remains" from Marvel's Loki. So we stayed, but I said,

"Bobby's hair is beautiful and strong. You're the Mighty Combbreaker, right Bobby?"

"Yeah! I'm the Mighty Combbreaker. That's mommy's poem." I told her we needed to get Sharkey's a copy of the poem and the superhero for their wall because they need to know the truth about Black hair.

To be honest, I don't think the lady understood a thing I was saying. She barely responded. Bobby got his cut, which was shorter than he wanted, and didn't have the lightning bolt on the side. She said, "I'm not an artist, but I can do straight lines." Bobby asked why she couldn't make the straight lines connect like a lightning bolt. I was reminded of Jovani Lewis' performance in HairStory: "They don't teach them about US in school."

If you are intimidated or frustrated by the hair God created to protect our ancestors from the equatorial sun, then don't touch our heads. You're just not worthy.

In the future, I will look out for local barbers who are known to be good with special needs customers. If you know of any, please "hit me in the comments!"

Merchandise and our Next Performance!

Mighty Combbreaker merch is available on my BONFIRE store, The HairStory Collection. Show your pride this Summer with a Mighty Combbreaker shirt and support HairStory on Tour. Speaking of which, we are performing in the Capitol Rotunda in Harrisburg, PA around 12 on June 17th. There will be a Juneteenth Press Conference at 10, and then the Rotunda East Wing will open up with speakers, kids activities, vendors, and food trucks. Representatives from the Harrisburg Chapter of the Links, Incorporated will be there with petitions to sign to support the C.R.O.W.N. Act. This event is sponsored by the Harrisburg Young Professionals of Color organization and it is free! Also, you will see a new but familiar face with us...Ebony Woman 3 is the great Diane Hetes! She is an amazing actress who starred in CROWNS and many other wonderful productions. I hope you can join us!

Thank you for reading this whole post. My gift to you, enjoy the poem below: