A Decade of Locs - Who am I?

Hello there,

It has been more than a minute on the blog and social media generally, I know; but I won't bore you with promises of not going missing again 'cos I have been as unpredictable as 2020. As unpredictable as I can be, I realize I have an ability to follow through eventually. So, I am hanging on to my strengths rather than my weaknesses 😊 and writing this post. 

For as long as I can remember having my locs, I have always imagined that one day when my locs are long enough, I would take a picture rising out of the ocean with my hair as my top covering. I have spoken a lot about this over the years. 

Fam, I did it!!! 

On one hand, my boobs cooperated, they chilled on sagging and my locs eventually caught up. On the other hand, I also wanted rock hard abs, more like a tummy as flat as a drawing board while that didn't happen, my tummy is not an eyesore, right? I sucked belle. I tried, honestly I really tired. Unfortunately, I won't be sharing the topless pictures anytime soon as my future governorship ambition may be at risk 😂. 

Now, I would like to speak to the "who am I" part on the title of this blog post. In the last 10 years and some of having loc'd hair my life has evolved along the paths of Architecture, e-commerce, joblessness, Loctician (hair styling) and renewable energy. I have loved and lost, lost a parent, been homeless, slept on friends couches and lived from the boot of my car, lived fancy, gained weight, lost it  and repeated the process again. I have climbed mountains, run marathons and bungee jumped. I have given Tedx talks, made it onto seemingly important lists, been interviewed locally and internationally. Lived in abundance, been a broke ass chic, cried, laughed, hated my choices, loved my choices and to sum it up I have lived. I am still living. Do these things define me or are they just stages of life that we all go through? All of this makes me ask, who am I?

I used the opportunity of this photo shoot to try to answer, and the body of work which you now see is a carefully curated perception of who I know I am.

First, I looked to my heritage. My last name is hyphenated "Emiabata - Balogun". Balogun is title given to a war lord after a successful battle which my family acquired somewhere along the line. Emiabata, however, is my family name. Whenever the meaning of this name is sought an explanation is given 

- Emi abata ni m'odo san, ola baba omo ni m'omo yan. Translation: It's the spirit of the mud/clay that makes the river flow; it's the grace of the father that gives the child pride. 

I am African. I am Yoruba. I am therefore of an heritage that provides support to a larger cause. I am the backbone of structure. I am a warrior Queen. I am strong. I am intentional. I am the foundation of great things. I am life support. 

This will not be complete if I do not pay homage to the Ijaw side of me, the people who are famed to live on water. If you ask me my claim to Yemoja-ness (being a water goddess) is becoming imminently valid . My Ijaw name is Okuboere which loosely translates to - Money woman or Rich woman or Wealthy woman. I am still looking for the money sha, but I am sure it is coming. 

Let me quickly run you through what the the different things we put together to capture my roots and essence.

1. Cowrie crown: Yemoja, a major Yoruba water deity is often depicted with a cowrie crown. As the folktale goes, she was a very successful trader of jewelry and a wealthy woman. In the old days cowries were a means of exchange. The more you had the richer you were. @artbyDamola made the crown you see.

2.  Fabric: Aso-Oke is a handwoven fabric indigenous to the Yoruba people of West Africa. The hand weaving technique for this fabric has remained the same for centuries. I imagine that my fore father who went to battle and won the Balogun title for my family wore fabric that was woven like this. The soft aso-oke piece I am wearing was made in Kwara State, Nigeria and sourced by @ethnikByTundeOwolabi.

3. Body art: Body art is cool in this day and age and well in line with the theme of the shoot, but I didn't want to mark my body for just marking sake, I wanted it to have meaning. While researching I found the Adinkra symbols which is to go to script for all things African, it is not Yoruba though. The closest thing to a Yoruba script are the Adire symbols. The symbols replicated on my body are for strength, long life, wealth and peaceful home. @artbyDamola graciously marked me and chose the symbols we used. You can learn more about adire symbols here. 

In addition to the adire symbols, we added my dad and mum's first names to the mix and some conventional symbols for earth and stability.

4. Waist beads: I have worn waist beads on and off as a fashion accessory for almost all of my adult life. In the last five years or so, it has been a permanent accessory in my life. In many West African cultures, waist beads are a symbol of femininity, fertility, sensuality, and spiritual well-being. This time, I picked the colours carefully and this is what they mean:

• White: Light, truth and purity.
• Red: Confidence and vitality.
• Brown: Earth and stability
• Black: Power and protection. 

5. Costume design: Leaning on everything I have said so far, I wanted the costume to depict a strong warrior princess. To be completely honest, @KamahOghogho, one of my long time friends and practically sister was responsible for the design and how it turned out, all I did was give her a brief. She did so well. All I had to do was pull off the amazing work she created.

6. Anklets: This accessory doesn't necessarily have African origins from the little I researched. However, it has become part of my identity. Like waist beads, I have won anklets for most if not all of the last decade. @j.string was my hook up for the ones I am wearing. I didn't have to put them on for this shoot. I always have them on.

7. Locs: It was been an awesome decade of being connected to my roots and five years of helping others connect to their roots through @locitude. For this I am grateful and remain humble. My locs have been with me through living the last decade, they have grown with me. On most days, they mean nothing but just hair growing out from my head, on some days, they are a conversation starter, a networking tool, a means to an end and a source of well being. 

In all of this, I realize, I am whoever I want to be. Everything else is a label including my names and my origins. I am simply a sum of my experiences and how I choose to be affected by them. 

I am who I am!

This post ended up being much longer than I anticipated, so I want to wrap it up very quickly by saying a big thank you to the team that put this all together including @thorlannie the photographer who was just meant to tag along but ended up taking the pictures. The team was made up of 90% loc heads, we were aiming for 100% but maybe Honorine of Hono's Place (make-up artist) potentially has locs coming for her in the near future. 

Thank you to everyone who has listened and read about my desire to take these pictures. Thanks to team Locitude for being the back bone of the back bone. Locitude customers and supporters for keeping food on our table and hope you enjoyed reading this. 😊

Don't forget to always keep it loc'd with a positive attitude.

Your loc head,

Ade.