Unyielding Roots: What's Your Hair Story

In 2009, I went natural, and initially, I remember feeling excited and awed at the idea of going back to my roots. "Going Natural" would be the first time in my adult life that I had not chemically altered my hair. I had had a relaxer since high school and before that, I had an S-Curl. However, soon after "Going Natural" my hair and I had a standoff. My hair became an unyielding stranger. I did not know what it needed, how to style it, or how to keep it from having a life of its own. One thing I noticed immediately is that my hair did not care about beauty standards, and it did not care about my mixed-up views on Black Hair. My hair, unlike me, knew exactly who it was, and how to grow without comprising or apologizing for who it was. I was the one with the problems. I was the one who had to take the time to understand my hair and to ultimately learn to understand myself. ​The Unyielding Roots Project will use poetry and storytelling to capture our hair stories. By telling our hair stories, I am hoping the stories will inspire schools and companies to change their biased policies and practices and to help Black women, girls, and teens share and embrace their hair and history. I will be publishing the hair stories into a book and sharing the hair stories with schools, companies, and youth agencies.