T.J. Madd Interview: Wisdom Shared

                                                       

T.J. Madd

Bio

•19 years old

•Second Year Clinical Psychology Student

•Small village outside of Cleveland, Ohio

•Co-Owner of a small Not-For-Profit business

Love for Locs

•I wasn’t always so fond of dreadlocks; I grew up being taught that they were filthy.  Society always stressed the European style of beauty: women’s hair silky straight and men’s buzz-cut low.  I was a part of that mold; incessantly shaving my hair bi-weekly to become someone I naturally couldn’t be – to fit into a group to which I was naturally pariah.  It took me 17 years to realize that the burn of bruised hairlines and the sight of floors drowned in dead hair wasn’t how I’d wanted to spend my Sunday evenings.  That’s when I decided to lock my hair - it was the only choice that made sense. 

My uncle, also a Dreadhead, use to tell me, “A man without hair is like a tree without leaves.”  I know now that he completely stole that quote but its message still rings true to me: the strength of a man is measured in every facet of his being and by cutting his hair he is essentially severing his strength. I lock my hair to show my strength to the world: to illustrate that in this journey from awkwardness to confidence, I am a strong and proud man.

•I’ve been locking since October 9, 2010.  It was a practical decision at the expense of defying my mother.  She was always against it.  Two years later and she’s still calling them “those things”.  I think they’re cool: 203 extensions of individual personality growing from my head with no intentions of stopping.  It was 207, but my thin hair forced me to combine a few. To future Dreadheads, my only suggestion is that you know that the decision to lock is your own.  Trying to fit in with a movement or be different might be cool at the moment, but down the road when you wake up on those hair “what-the-heck” days, severing your strength will be that much easier.

You’re free to use the picture of me in the purple/lavender/whatever color shirt.  Also, if this isn’t what you were looking for I’d be happy to rewrite something or add to it.

Have no doubt, T.J. Madd, your interview is just perfect and will reach a lot of people at their core. Proud to have had the opportunity to read your story.