How to Say Babylon: A Memoir

Hair is extremely important to the Rastafari Movement, so all of the Sinclairs grow and maintain dreadlocks as an expression of their faith. Hair serves as a motif that highlights the theme of Family Expectations and Dynamics. Howard believes that his children’s dreadlocks will keep them protected from Babylon’s influence, even though it causes them severe bullying and a loss of selfhood.

For Safiya, her dreadlocks are a physical reminder of how different she feels and appears, especially to peers who see her background as strange and possibly dangerous. In the memoir, Safiya compares herself to a figure from Greek mythology—Medusa, a priestess who is turned into a monster with snakes for hair. Besides the visual echo, this comparison positions Safiya’s dreadlocks as literally poisonous because they prevent others from getting close to her and block opportunities such as modeling.

Understandably, because of the importance of dreadlocks, cutting hair causes extreme tension in Safiya’s family. Every time one of the Sinclair women decides to cut off her dreadlocks, the gesture is a symbol of liberation from Howard. As they chemically straighten their hair to adopt the cultural mores of Babylon and then separate or distance themselves from Howard, they reclaim not only their hair but also their personhood.