stopplayinwitme! they will rob you of your locs in johannesburg.

photo: ellis peters

Okay. New Series: Stopplayinwitme! It's the way I seem to react to things I find shocking in any way. It just flies out of my mouth, as it did when I read this story over at Clutch. Walk with me: The headline "Hair Theft: Cut-and-Run Robberies Target People with Locs in South Africa"  (Hunh?) ... It went on to talk about how people with long locs are being attacked and robbed of their hair on the streets of Johannesburg, South Africa, shorn with broken glass and what not; how the demand on the black market has locs selling for $200 to $2,000 rand. ... (What?) By the time I got to:

“I’m even afraid of walking through town with my locs loose especially at night. I make sure I cover my head. It is scary because you never know what they will use to cut your hair — these people are ruthless.” (Clutch)

I was like  Stopplayinwitme! 
Read the whole story here.
Just saying, on any given day, even today in 2013 U.S.A., at any given time, there's a dreadlock-wearing woman wondering if it was the hair, since everything else seemed to have gone so well at the interview (not that she would change anything about the hair; she just wonders).
Thoughts? 

locrocker brittany on stylelist

While a lot of ladies go natural for reasons having to do with authenticity and/or identity, Brittany Thomas, who blogs at LocRocker.com, did it because she was broke and tired of spending so much money maintaining her perm in Florida weather.  She cut the relaxer out and ended up in love with her natural hair. Featured on stylelist's natural hair bloggers series recently, she writes:

"There's something about not running from the rain and being able to work out without fear of sweating out a perm that just feels good. Being natural means I don't have to schedule my hairstyles around my life. I can't be the only lady who wouldn't work out before a wedding or an event. My natural hair isn't on a calendar. I can do whatever I want, whenever I want. That's just freedom!" (stylelist)

Check out the entire article here to see Thomas' top 5 natural hair care tips, products AND a tutorial on her favorite natural hair style.