The moment everything changed was when I was watching a Black woman on The Ricki Lake Show describe how she never felt presentable unless her hair was “laid” or her “kitchen” was straight. She finally freed herself by chopping it all off. I felt every word.
I shared her story with a Black female coworker, and she told me, “You can pull it off… not everybody can.” That wasn’t a compliment, it was a call to action. A reminder that we, as Black women, had been conditioned to believe that our natural hair was something to fix, to tame, to hide.
That was the day I chose freedom. My first natural style was an Angela Davis-inspired afro, bold and unapologetic. Later, after a life-changing trip to Ghana, I embraced my locs, a journey of self-discovery, cultural pride, and defiance.
For too long, our hair has been policed, politicised, and debated. But the truth is simple: Black hair is professional, powerful, and ours.
To every Black woman and girl: Your hair is not a problem to solve. It’s a crown to wear. And the world needs to respect that.
#InspiringHairFreedom
The catalyst was I actually saw a Black woman on the talk show Ricki Lake who was describing how she never felt presentable to go out in public unless her hair was laid or her “kitchen” was straight so she chopped it all off and donned a fade instead. I totally related to that feeling and told a Black female coworker. She told me I could pull it off because I “had the type of hair that could do that, and not everybody can do that.” That’s when I knew I had to go natural because her response was not a compliment; it was a call to action to reverse the conditioning we had experienced as a people that the natural hair that grows from our roots is inferior. My first natural was an Angela Davis style fro then I transitioned to locs after going on my first study abroad trip to Ghana
ALL Black girls and women go through quite a journey with their hair. Our hair is political, spiritual, emotional…
If people truly respected the journey we all go through with our hair… They’d stay out our hairy business and let us live without having to craft whole legislation around it. To my “professional” self at every stage… “Don’t let the status quo tell you what’s “professional” and what ain’t. Until they can give you a culturally updated definition of the word “professional,” their opinion is worthless and dustified.”