64" inches of cheese?  Yes, please.

64" inches of chocolate?  Gone in 60 seconds.

64" inches of hair?  Um...no.

I love hair.  No doubt.  But considering I'm only 62" inches tall, 64" seems a bit much.  Nevertheless, there was a time when I fantasized about having waist-length hair that I could whip around while driving in a fiery red drop top.  (And when I still get those urges, I just buy it -- the hair, not the drop top.)

Andrea, a popular Instagrammer, from Micronesia shares her tips for maintaining her ankle-length locks.

Read on to see her locks and take a poll.  Still taking guesses at her secret?  Here's a hint:

One look at the amazing thicket of natural curls on Tracee Ellis Ross and you'd have to wonder how she could have ever resisted her natural curls.  In a recent interview, the star of the hit television show Black-ish admits that there was a time when she tried to beat her hair into submission to conform to the long, silky-straight hair beauty standard.

And then Tracee got woke.

Shame has no favorites.  She visits most of us for one cause or another.  Sometimes those reasons can be from a traumatic experience such as molestation or rape.  Other times, the reasons can stem from less devastating but equally emotionally taxing causes such as weight or financial struggles. My own experience with shame started as a child when boys teased me in elementary school because of my difficult-to-manage coarse hair.  Through the years I covered the shame I had for my natural hair with chemicals and wigs and weaves.  Anything to hide what lay beneath.
 
It was not until I had a stint with alopecia that my shame morphed into freedom.  The worst that could have happened to me happened – I lost some of my hair.  And guess what?  I didn’t die.  Hell, most people couldn’t even tell.  But I knew that I was missing hair and that experience proved to be a wake-up call for me.  I’m kinky and proud.  And now I wear it out loud.
 
Oftentimes, when we think of hair and the shame that some of us may have experienced due to teasing or lack of representation in the media -- natural hair may be the craze now but I’m sure most of my 4C sisters know that’s not how it’s always been – we tend to think of black women.   So imagine the collective pause taken when 47-year old, Caucasian sports announcer Joe Buck admitted in his memoir that he felt shame…about his hair.  Let’s take a step back.  As reported by The New York Daily News, in 2011, the announcer said he suffered a paralyzed vocal chord because of a virus.   By his own admission, the virus was a lie; an embellishment he used to hide the truth.  Joe Buck became a hair plug addict after he began losing his silky strands at the age of 24.   Why did he lie?  Because the truth was far too humiliating to admit.
 
While our attachment to hair can be easily dismissed as vanity, Joe Buck’s admission is yet another example of the deep emotional connection we have with our hair.  For some of us, it is nothing more than an appendage to chop off, grow, color, or accessorize.  For others of us, it is (or was) a source of humiliation, pain, and shame.
 
And shame knows no color.
 
 

Imagine sitting in your stylist's chair as she gives you a new haircut.  You've shown her the exact style you want on your cell phone or magazine.  But now she's working from memory or requesting to see the picture again.  And when it's all done, it still isn't quite what you were hoping for.

Samsung Electronics may have solved this problem.  It has introduced an interactive mirror display.  The first-of-its-kind, 55-inch mirror has made its debut at LEEKAJA HAIRBIS’ Jamsil salon in Seoul, Korea.   It won't be long before you and your stylist can consult on various styles on the mirror and determine the best look for you.  Want your bob shorter with a bump or longer and straight?  You can pinpoint the style you want, check out latest news about the style, and then watch as it comes to life.

Pretty cool, huh?

Yes, I know.  Melissa Harris-Perry and MSNBC parted ways in a blaze of glory this past March.  If you're unfamiliar with the details, check it out here.    However, seeing as this is #ThrowbackThursday, I thought it fitting to remember the unique voice that Ms. Harris-Perry had in the media.  Below she discusses how black hair matters, a topic rarely heard on television. 

Her voice and perspective are missed.