What Are Dreadlocks

"She refused to cut those dreadlocks off, talking some stuff about her sense of purpose and thought process and rationale and happiness would be messed up if it wasn't dreaded."
Rachel Brown, "The Window on the Park," City Arts Quarterly, Fall-Winter 1987 

Dreadlocks develop when one refuses to comb or use hair products that change hair texture. When left completely alone for weeks or months, hundreds hair strands begin to intertwine, like a vine, in sections at the root. As the hair continues to grow, each section becomes a dreadlock.

The process works great starting with little or no hair. Long hair (more than an inch long) may require the use of a substance like beeswax, aloe vera gel, limejuice, or braiding to force the hair to intertwine together.

Depending on hair texture, you could grow a few big dreadlocks or many thin ones. I have several thin dreadlocks, some short; others long, and even little baby ones sprouting up where ever they see sunlight.

Before writing this book, the only word I knew to call my new hair development is dreadlocks. Other names include: Jaffa, Natty, Ndiagne, Palu, Ropes, Lion's Crown, and African or Nubian locks.

Many confuse dreadlocks with braids. Though very similar, dreadlocks as stated earlier, develop with little or no human intervention. Braids, however, are formed by hand. Unlike braids, it is impossible to "un-dread," comb, or split dreadlocks apart. To change hairstyle, they would have to be cut and the long process restarted to have them again.

When you grow your dreadlocks, you will stare in amazement at how the many strands of hair decided to join together to create dreadlocks. They are truly a miracle, just like everything on the human body.

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