Gabby Douglas Olympic Gold Medalist, all-around London '12

On the auspice of Gabrielle Douglas' Olympic Gold Medal, a prize for a feat that makes her the first African American to earn, a few distasteful critics can only find that her hair is not perfect. That is sad. It is even more sad to know that people who share her skin color, roots, and heritage are the culprits in this sucker punch.

I purposefully blocked and even unfriended a few people over the years for lighter judgments. Can I tell you how many will get the dagger of my block!

What are we teaching our youth? that our straight tresses are more important than our talent? that talent is secondary to how America deems us attractive?

Black people are keeping themselves in shackles, and blaming it all on THE MAN.

How many of us had the courage and dedication to pursue this dream, let it coronate on the Olympic stage, and claim its top prize? Simply how many of us find that her hair which is not scored on this stage to be a blight on her image.
I do not know if Gabrielle Douglas wanted a creamy crack touch up or if she decided to embrace her natural roots and move away from the appendage of superficial facades.

She is more than her hair. She is Olympic Gold, who happens to be the first African American Woman to claim the prize in the individual all-around, the first American Woman to claim both the team and all-around in an Olympic tour. I am proud to have seen her grace the stage in my lifetime. At 16, she inspires  me. May she continue to shine.