As a child, I remember going to the hair salon every two weeks to get my hair done. It took me a while to realize how awful these bi-weekly appointments were because I was caught up in the excitement of having my hair straightened. That excitement wore off after my hair started to fall out. Every week I noticed my hair getting shorter and shorter. What did I expect? Every two weeks I would blow dry, hot comb and flat iron my hair. To top it off, since my curls didn’t like to stay straight, my hair stylist would weigh my hair down with a ton of grease. In 9th grade, I decided enough was enough and looked up my first bantu knot out tutorial on YouTube. Since then I’ve been in love with my natural hair and its resiliency. From being so short, so uneven and so damaged to becoming thick, curly, full and beautiful my hair has truly amazed me.
One of the reasons that my hair was so unhealthy was no one knew how to properly take care of hair that wasn’t permed or relaxed. Not my grandmother who made my mom get a perm at a young age, and certainly not my mother who recently was inspired to go natural by yours truly. Before recently, there wasn’t a market for Black hair. Advertisements and products were all geared toward relaxers, or perms; anything that would straighten kinks and coils. Unfortunately, my hair experience at the salon every two weeks goes back many decades. It didn’t matter if you were a young girl or an older woman, feeling a perm or hot comb burn your scalp, thin out your hair, cause flakiness and itchiness or excessive hair shedding was a routine part of hair care.
As we celebrate Black History Month I’d like to think my hair journey, and many others’, is a perfect reminder of how resilient my people are. Like my hair, my people have suffered years of abuse, negligence and lack of care. Yet there is still an overwhelming sense of pride and joy in being Black. Like my hair, my people have preserved through such abuse and have come out stronger than ever.