A White Man Wrote 'Sesame Street' Black Hair Ode For His Adopted Ethiopian Daughter

[Ming Fei Hong]

'I Love My Hair': A Father's Tribute To His Daughter

by NPR Staff




A little Muppet girl has started a sensation. The unnamed puppet with an afro sings a love song to her hair.

"I Love My Hair" debuted on the Oct. 4 episode of Sesame Street. It was posted on the show's YouTube page — and then women began posting the video on their Facebook pages.

African-American bloggers wrote that it brought them to tears because of the message it sends to young black girls.

Joey Mazzarino, the head writer of Sesame Street, is also a Muppeteer who wrote the song for his daughter. Mazzarino is Italian. He and his wife adopted their 5-year-old daughter, Segi, from Ethiopia when she was a year old.

Mazzarino says he wrote the song after noticing his daughter playing with dolls.

"She wanted to have long blond hair and straight hair, and she wanted to be able to bounce it around," he tells NPR's Melissa Block.

Mazzarino says he began to get worried, but he thought it was only a problem that white parents of African-American children have. Then he realized the problem was much larger.

In writing the song, he wanted to say in song what he says to his daughter: "Your hair is great. You can put it in ponytails. You can put it in cornrows. I wish I had hair like you."

That simple message has caused an outpouring of responses from women. Mazzarino got a call from an African woman who told him the song brought her to tears. "I was amazed, 'cause I sort of wrote this little thing for my daughter, and here this adult woman, it touched her," he says.

Mazzarino says he's happy to report that Segi loves the song — and her hair.

 

[BRUHA]

Re: A White Man Wrote 'Sesame Street' Black Hair Ode For His Adopted Ethiopian Daught

No matter who wrote it, I give them a thumbs up.

 

[Upgrade Dave]

Re: A White Man Wrote 'Sesame Street' Black Hair Ode For His Adopted Ethiopian Daught

No matter who wrote it, I give them a thumbs up.

 

[Ming Fei Hong]

Re: A White Man Wrote 'Sesame Street' Black Hair Ode For His Adopted Ethiopian Daught

^^^ C/S above. But I've already heard some salty ass sisters say "it fugures" that it wasn't a Black father who wrote it.

 

[curryshotta]

Re: A White Man Wrote 'Sesame Street' Black Hair Ode For His Adopted Ethiopian Daught

^^^ C/S above. But I've already heard some salty ass sisters say "it fugures" that it wasn't a Black father who wrote it.

If a black woman says something like this they are clearly harboring a level of bitterness that cant be helped.

 

[Upgrade Dave]

Re: A White Man Wrote 'Sesame Street' Black Hair Ode For His Adopted Ethiopian Daught

If a black woman says something like this they are clearly harboring a level of bitterness that cant be helped.

at the post
at those women

 

[Ming Fei Hong]

Re: A White Man Wrote 'Sesame Street' Black Hair Ode For His Adopted Ethiopian Daught

If a black woman says something like this they are clearly harboring a level of bitterness that cant be helped.

Yep. I haven't heard one brotha yet say it takes away from the song that a White dude wrote it. The only sideways comments I've heard have all come from sistas. Not knocking ALL Black women... just the ones who pull that dumb shit out their ass. I find it ironic that this song would be used by them to make Black men look bad, when it's Black women who pass down their own shame of Black hair to Black girls. I don't see men perming/processing their son's hair. But I digress. The song is dope and a great tribute, no matter who wrote it.

 

[DjOutYaAzzTroll]

Re: A White Man Wrote 'Sesame Street' Black Hair Ode For His Adopted Ethiopian Daught

'I Love My Hair': A Father's Tribute To His Daughter

A little Muppet girl has started a sensation. The unnamed puppet with an afro sings a love song to her hair.

"I Love My Hair" debuted on the Oct. 4 episode of Sesame Street. It was posted on the show's YouTube page — and then women began posting the video on their Facebook pages.

African-American bloggers wrote that it brought them to tears because of the message it sends to young black girls.

Joey Mazzarino, the head writer of Sesame Street, is also a Muppeteer who wrote the song for his daughter. Mazzarino is Italian. He and his wife adopted their 5-year-old daughter, Segi, from Ethiopia when she was a year old.

Mazzarino says he wrote the song after noticing his daughter playing with dolls.

"She wanted to have long blond hair and straight hair, and she wanted to be able to bounce it around," he tells NPR's Melissa Block.

Mazzarino says he began to get worried, but he thought it was only a problem that white parents of African-American children have. Then he realized the problem was much larger.

In writing the song, he wanted to say in song what he says to his daughter: "Your hair is great. You can put it in ponytails. You can put it in cornrows. I wish I had hair like you."

That simple message has caused an outpouring of responses from women. Mazzarino got a call from an African woman who told him the song brought her to tears. "I was amazed, 'cause I sort of wrote this little thing for my daughter, and here this adult woman, it touched her," he says.

Mazzarino says he's happy to report that Segi loves the song — and her hair.

funny how it takes white guy to statement to shake shit up

tell a chick you like all natural hair they get upset

go figures

 

[Upgrade Dave]

Re: A White Man Wrote 'Sesame Street' Black Hair Ode For His Adopted Ethiopian Daught

Problem?

 

[Ming Fei Hong]

Re: A White Man Wrote 'Sesame Street' Black Hair Ode For His Adopted Ethiopian Daught

What are you saying, here?

 

[$10]

Re: A White Man Wrote 'Sesame Street' Black Hair Ode For His Adopted Ethiopian Daught

They fucking killed that Willow Smith video.. lol

 

[Upgrade Dave]

Re: A White Man Wrote 'Sesame Street' Black Hair Ode For His Adopted Ethiopian Daught

All 3 of you sound very defensive which is very funny to me

But this isn't about you or any other black man ... this is about little black girls and helping and hoping they love themselves more in the future than the sistas do currently

I'm surprised a white guy wrote it but he's a father so it does make sense in the end

Respect

Where do you see "defensive"? I'm at anyone, and this time it's been women so far, that would take this act and use it as a bludgeon to use against someone else. The fact is you're correct in that it's not about Black men at all so for someone to go that route gets a from me.

 

[woodchuck]

Re: A White Man Wrote 'Sesame Street' Black Hair Ode For His Adopted Ethiopian Daught

All 3 of you sound very defensive which is very funny to me

But this isn't about you or any other black man ... this is about little black girls and helping and hoping they love themselves more in the future than the sistas do currently

I'm surprised a white guy wrote it but he's a father so it does make sense in the end

Respect

So you're cool with how he was able to change her views on her natural hair?

 

[Ming Fei Hong]

Re: A White Man Wrote 'Sesame Street' Black Hair Ode For His Adopted Ethiopian Daught

All 3 of you sound very defensive which is very funny to me

But this isn't about you or any other black man ... this is about little black girls and helping and hoping they love themselves more in the future than the sistas do currently

I'm surprised a white guy wrote it but he's a father so it does make sense in the end

Respect

You sound ignorant. Are you not following the sequence of the dialog? In response to the story, there were Black women who commented that "it figures" a White man wrote it, and not a Black man. We disagree that it's even relevant who wrote it, but we sound defensive -- despite the fact that you're echoing our very same sentiment? Disagreement is defensiveness? Think before you speak.

 

[DjOutYaAzzTroll]

Re: A White Man Wrote 'Sesame Street' Black Hair Ode For His Adopted Ethiopian Daught

white parents and white dolls = identity issues

at least she got parents that cares strongly for her

 

[sirwoodz]

Re: A White Man Wrote 'Sesame Street' Black Hair Ode For His Adopted Ethiopian Daught

white liberals save the day yet again. yay.

 

[Upgrade Dave]

Re: A White Man Wrote 'Sesame Street' Black Hair Ode For His Adopted Ethiopian Daught

white parents and white dolls = identity issues

at least she got parents that cares strongly for her

Okay.

Hopefully, he and his wife bought her some Black dolls. My mother wouldn't buy my sister any White dolls until she was in her last few years of doll-playing and I think all Black parents should follow that gameplan.

 

[DjOutYaAzzTroll]

Re: A White Man Wrote 'Sesame Street' Black Hair Ode For His Adopted Ethiopian Daught

white liberals save the day yet again. yay.

aye

 

[Ming Fei Hong]

Re: A White Man Wrote 'Sesame Street' Black Hair Ode For His Adopted Ethiopian Daught

Where do you see "defensive"? I'm at anyone, and this time it's been women so far, that would take this act and use it as a bludgeon to use against someone else. The fact is you're correct in that it's not about Black men at all so for someone to go that route gets a from me.

Fam, you already know what it is.

white parents and white dolls = identity issues

at least she got parents that cares strongly for her

Ok, I see what you're saying: They should have given her Black dolls to play with in the first place. Correct.

 

[Upgrade Dave]

Re: A White Man Wrote 'Sesame Street' Black Hair Ode For His Adopted Ethiopian Daught

white liberals save the day yet again. yay.

I guess there's a cynical way to look at it


Or


there's the way to look at it as a father who was observant enough to see something was wrong and had the connections to do something for his daughter and countless other people's daughters.

 

[Upgrade Dave]

Re: A White Man Wrote 'Sesame Street' Black Hair Ode For His Adopted Ethiopian Daught

Fam, you already know what it is.

I was kind of hoping that wouldn't happen and hopefully it's over.

Ok, I see what you're saying: They should have given her Black dolls to play with in the first place. Correct.

Right but a lot of Black parents don't know to do that so you can't fault a White one for a common mistake.

 

[Ming Fei Hong]

Re: A White Man Wrote 'Sesame Street' Black Hair Ode For His Adopted Ethiopian Daught

Okay.

Hopefully, he and his wife bought her some Black dolls. My mother wouldn't buy my sister any White dolls until she was in her last few years of doll-playing and I think all Black parents should follow that gameplan.

My nieces don't have a White doll to their name. And I'm sure to gift Black dolls to my White friends kids, too. Even the boys all get Black action figures from me. It's not everything, but it's something.

 

[curryshotta]

Re: A White Man Wrote 'Sesame Street' Black Hair Ode For His Adopted Ethiopian Daught

All 3 of you sound very defensive which is very funny to me

But this isn't about you or any other black man ... this is about little black girls and helping and hoping they love themselves more in the future than the sistas do currently

I'm surprised a white guy wrote it but he's a father so it does make sense in the end

Respect

I am lost

I re-read what I wrote. Where is the defensiveness?

 

[Upgrade Dave]

Re: A White Man Wrote 'Sesame Street' Black Hair Ode For His Adopted Ethiopian Daught

My nieces don't have a White doll to their name. And I'm sure to gift Black dolls to my White friends kids, too. Even the boys all get Black action figures from me. It's not everything, but it's something.

Considering young Black children are still answering the old "Doll Test" the same way in the new millenium they were in the 50s, it's a big something.

 

[sirwoodz]

Re: A White Man Wrote 'Sesame Street' Black Hair Ode For His Adopted Ethiopian Daught

I guess there's a cynical way to look at it
Or
there's the way to look at it as a father who was observant enough to see something was wrong and had the connections to do something for his daughter and countless other people's daughters.

 

[Artist Monk]

Re: A White Man Wrote 'Sesame Street' Black Hair Ode For His Adopted Ethiopian Daught

I was trying to post this earlier, something groundbreaking in 2010........sad it took so long though.

 

[Ming Fei Hong]

Re: A White Man Wrote 'Sesame Street' Black Hair Ode For His Adopted Ethiopian Daught

Right but a lot of Black parents don't know to do that so you can't fault a White one for a common mistake.

Parents get their daughters the [White] dolls she wants, but don't consider that her wants may have been influenced by social conditioning. Of course she wants a blond blue eyed Barbie... She's been 'programmed' to. Gotta deprogram and reprogram that stuff from the gate, if you notice it, early. You'd be surprised how toys (and television programming) influences a kid's brain, before they can even read, write or speak clearly. It's not Clockwork Orange-style mind-fucking, but these gets are exposed to a mountain of material that feeds into self-hate, by the time they hit kindergarten. The Sesame Street song is right on time.

 

[Upgrade Dave]

Re: A White Man Wrote 'Sesame Street' Black Hair Ode For His Adopted Ethiopian Daught

Cuz in the process of complaining about sistas complaining about brothas you started complaining and generalizing too "it's Black women who pass down their own shame of Black hair to Black girls" You dont want no one to say shit about black men but here you go talking shit about black women

As a simple matter of fact, it is Black women who pass that down to their daughters. Fathers don't relax/perm hair, most of us don't even understand it how it works, mothers/grandmothers/aunties do that. Of course there's the part played by the greater society but in 2010, that's not as valid as it used to be because more of us should know better.
Of course you will hear sistas bring up the fact that a white man wrote this

When was the last time there was ANYTHING positive said about black women by a black man in the media?? I cant even remember ... all we hear is negatives from ya'll ... then this song comes out and we think "yaaaaaaY, maybe just maybe" (well not "we" cuz I thought it was a sista but apparently others had false hope for it to be a brotha) ... but NO ... it was a white guy so then there is a tad bit of disappointment there

Then that would be a "you" problem for anyone who let that go through their mind and completely irrelevent to the song itself.

You arent looking deeper into their words, you are just scratching the surface ... what they said is 100% correct ... but it didn't NEED to be said cuz that is not important right now ... like I said what's important is teaching our little ladies to love themselves REGARDLESS of who else may or may not love them

It's not any part correct. In fact, it's juvenile and it's never important. Just like it wasn't a Black man that wrote it, it wasn't a Black women either.
The only important part is that it was made and aimed at children when they most malleable and susceptible.

 

[thereason]

Re: A White Man Wrote 'Sesame Street' Black Hair Ode For His Adopted Ethiopian Daught

They fucking killed that Willow Smith video.. lol

lol

 

[True Real Info]

Re: A White Man Wrote 'Sesame Street' Black Hair Ode For His Adopted Ethiopian Daught

my lil cousins are gonna love that song...its a real good look...shoutout to dude....

this song reinforces what we taught them anyway, sometimes for kids its hard to differentiate between what the parents say when society says the opposite on the whole...

 

[Upgrade Dave]

Re: A White Man Wrote 'Sesame Street' Black Hair Ode For His Adopted Ethiopian Daught

Parents get their daughters the [White] dolls she wants, but don't consider that her wants may have been influenced by social conditioning. Of course she wants a blond blue eyed Barbie... She's been 'programmed' to. Gotta deprogram and reprogram that stuff from the gate, if you notice it, early. You'd be surprised how toys (and television programming) influences a kid's brain, before they can even read, write or speak clearly. It's not Clockwork Orange-style mind-fucking, but these gets are exposed to a mountain of material that feeds into self-hate, by the time they hit kindergarten. The Sesame Street song is right on time.

Exactly. I was fortunate to be raised by people who saw through the shit and protected us from it. My mom was the same way with my brother's and my action figures (I know, they're still dolls). We got some of the White ones but you we got Stalker from GI Joe and Snake Eyes (who wasn't Black but was dressed in all black so you couldn't tell what he was) before we got any other ones.

 

[SKATTA]

Re: A White Man Wrote 'Sesame Street' Black Hair Ode For His Adopted Ethiopian Daught

The only time black folks listen and in this case black women listen and realize how stupid some of the things we do really are,is when white folks point it out to them.

Black man tell them a wear the own hair and how stupid weave is,nope they're not listening.
white man tells them,then they start opening their eyes.

 

[True Real Info]

Re: A White Man Wrote 'Sesame Street' Black Hair Ode For His Adopted Ethiopian Daught

The only time black folks listen and in this case black women listen and realize how stupid some of the things we do really are,is when white folks point it out to them.

Black man tell them a wear the own hair and how stupid weave is,nope they're not listening.
white man tells them,then they start opening their eyes.

ssshhhhh....you know damn well the sistahood aint havin that **snaps fingers***.............lol

 

[Ming Fei Hong]

Re: A White Man Wrote 'Sesame Street' Black Hair Ode For His Adopted Ethiopian Daught

Why wouldnt I be cool with it??



No you sound ignorant

Cuz in the process of complaining about sistas complaining about brothas you started complaining and generalizing too "it's Black women who pass down their own shame of Black hair to Black girls" You dont want no one to say shit about black men but here you go talking shit about black women

Of course you will hear sistas bring up the fact that a white man wrote this

When was the last time there was ANYTHING positive said about black women by a black man in the media?? I cant even remember ... all we hear is negatives from ya'll ... then this song comes out and we think "yaaaaaaY, maybe just maybe" (well not "we" cuz I thought it was a sista but apparently others had false hope for it to be a brotha) ... but NO ... it was a white guy so then there is a tad bit of disappointment there

You arent looking deeper into their words, you are just scratching the surface ... what they said is 100% correct ... but it didn't NEED to be said cuz that is not important right now ... like I said what's important is teaching our little ladies to love themselves REGARDLESS of who else may or may not love them

Shut your pie hole in company of men. And redirect that sister-girl, hand on hip, neck rolling, lip-twisting energy toward taking some much needed advice. It is NOT talking shit about Black women to point out that they are indeed most responsible for the perming/processing of their daughter's hair. That is a fact. Were YOU not being as defensive as you projected we were, you would concede as much. And as the remainder of your dribble revealed, you got your toes stepped on, but tried to play it off. YOU are among the cackling hens, turning this gesture into an excuse to bash Black men. Get some dick in your life and step the fuck up. Better yet, get some dick in your mouth and shut the fuck up.

 

[sirwoodz]

Re: A White Man Wrote 'Sesame Street' Black Hair Ode For His Adopted Ethiopian Daught

The only time black folks listen and in this case black women listen and realize how stupid some of the things we do really are,is when white folks point it out to them.

Black man tell them a wear the own hair and how stupid weave is,nope they're not listening.
white man tells them,then they start opening their eyes.