A part of my childhood memories smells like burning hair. It's a smell that comes from when my grandmother, mother and aunts used to take turns straightening each others hair with a hot comb heated by the kitchen stove.

I remember what "conk" smells like too. That burning lye and raw egg concoction black men used to straighten their hair reeked of sulphur.

Many blacks grow up knowing what burning hair smells like. Other races have no idea the pains some of us put ourselves through to have "good" hair.

"Somebody sitting up there looking at that would say, 'What the hell is that?'" said Linda Jones.

Ms. Jones is a Dallas-area writing consultant. Her book "Nappyisms," CD "Love and Nappiness" and Web site nappyhairaffair.com all speak about the issue of black hair and the virtue of going natural. I met Linda at the Freedom Forum Diversity Institute in Nashville, Tenn., a few years ago.

I found her a warmhearted and sincere woman dedicated to defusing the negative connotations about black hairstyles. Her position is that black kinky hair is beautiful too. We need more information to counteract those negative stereotypes about black natural hair, she said.

"There's not enough information about the history of our hair, certain braid styles," Ms. Jones said. "When a person offers to braid your hair that's an extension of friendship."

I called Linda to ask her opinion about the new Chris Rock documentary "Good Hair." The film, which explores the cultural aspects of black hairstyles, has received both positive and negative reviews.

Some say the documentary is informative in the way it shows how important hair is to black culture. It also sheds light on the $9 billion black hair care products industry, funded by people willing to pay lots of money to put caustic chemicals on their scalps in the attempt to have "good hair."

Detractors of the film say it portrays black women in a negative light.

Charlamagne Tha God says from the Web site AOL Black Voices that Rock was "pandering to white women," in the documentary, according to news sources.

Alynda Wheat, a former St. Joseph News-Press reporter now a senior writer at Entertainment Weekly, said in an interview that Rock misrepresented the true reasons why African-American women spend so many hours in the hair salon.

"There isn't a black woman I know who sits down in a stylist's chair to get a relaxer because she, as Rock posits, wants to look white. Not one," Ms. Wheat said,

The film begins with Rock's daughters asking him why they don't have good hair. That prompts the comedian to explore the subject.

That's one of the main issues Ms. Jones said she had about the film. She didn't believe it showed black women in a negative light but it didn't do enough to represent women who wear their hair in African-inspired or natural styles or show that nappy hair can be beautiful too.

"Somebody needs to be making as bold a statement about the virtues of natural, nappy hair," she said. "I felt (the documentary) lacked a better and more-balanced perspective on natural hair, let people make determinations about what good hair is."

Linda Jones is available for presentations and workshops. For booking information, contact Crystal Shehee, cshehee@hotmail.com, (614)424-2205 or info@manelockcommunications.com, (614)424-2205.

Alonzo Weston can be reached at alonzow@npgco.com.