I actually love natural styles and find them to be beautiful at all lengths, so for me the journey has yet to present a hard situation. I recall a lot of hard situations I dealt with when I had relaxed hair.

I went natural in 1998 while I was attending Prairie View A&M University. I was in a relationship at the time and my boyfriend had long slim jet black locs. His hair was beautiful and thoughts of having the ability to view and enjoy my own natural hair bec

ame more and more appealing to me. I decided after having braid extensions in my hair for several months I would simply cut the braids off instead of unbraiding them all. After I snipped a few braids off I loved the look and feel of my natural hair; it was a go, and I never looked back.

When did you start locing?

Winter of 2005

What was the hardest part of your journey?

I actually love natural styles and find them to be beautiful at all lengths, so for me the journey has yet to present a hard situation. I recall a lot of hard situations I dealt with when I had relaxed hair.

And the best part?

The best part is looking at my hair in it’s natural state and realizing it was perfect all along, and now I know it doesn’t take all the extra effort implied by society to create the illusion of beauty a lot of women seek to have. God knew what was best all along. Knowing the truth is the best part.

What did your hair journey teach you?

My hair journey has taught me what my hair texture actually looks like and feels like. It sounds funny but there are many women out there that wouldn’t dare let an inch of their natural hair show without manipulation to change its state. My hair is it’s own story and it speaks volume, displaying a story of my parents, and their parents and our ancestors before them. My hair teaches me when I am healthy and when I need more nutrition, the state of your hair can also be an indication of the state of your well being. Lastly my hair journey taught me more so than anything that I am unique and there will never be another person to walk the earth with the same hair growth pattern and exact same loc story.
Describe your worse hairdo and your best hairdo and please include a picture if you can. Looking back, has your perception of your hair or black hair in general changed? Please elaborate.

My worse hairdo is probably when I put my hair in a simple ponytail but it always amazes me that with a simple pull back into one, I receive many compliments. My best hairdo is usually my most elaborate updo. I have many updos but they always come out a little different each time. My perception  has not really changed. The only thing that I noticed has changed is the fact that I now notice black natural hair more than I ever did before. I think it’s like what happens when you buy a new car and had you not noticed very many cars similar to your car prior to the purchase, all of a sudden it seems as though every other car on the road is the same model.

What is your favorite hairstyle?

My favorite hairstyle at the moment are my huge rolled and twisted updos to the side or mimicking a mohawk.

Can you please finish the following sentence: I love my hair because …

It grows from my scalp and that means no one has it but me, that is priceless!!

 

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