Natural hair among black women is the new trend that seems to have many black women embracing the hair they're born with. Many are happy to be free from relaxers and other chemical agents that permanently alter the hair. I’ve been natural for about six years, in my journey of being natural I have experienced times where I didn’t love my hair and wanted to change everything about its texture. When the natural craze came about there were hundreds upon hundreds of hair advertisments showing flowing tresses of bouncy curls, long spiral locks, and wavy textured hair. Of course, I thought that my newly fresh cut hair would blossom into long curls that were manageable and looked like a style off of Pinterest. However, I was sorely wrong. When my hair began to grow, it came in thick and coarse. Much to my dismay, I hated it. I was obsessed with trying to get my hair to form curls that were elongated and curly. However, my hair refused any and all products. From curl enhancers to deep conditioners that “promised” more manageable curls, my hair still remained a thick puff atop of my head. At first I was completely heart broken, I thought that when I went natural, curly and bouncy hair would be my result. I was wrong and it didn’t help that the media didn’t portray my type of hair. I hardly ever saw a thick afro on the cover of a hair shampoo bottle or conditioner bottle. I found myself loathing my hair and was contemplating going back to relaxers. I thought it was so unfair that I couldn’t achieve the beautiful curls I saw many beauty gurus do on their hair from tutorials on YouTube.
My brain was rattled and I was forming a self-hating prophecy against my hair. It wasn’t until I stumbled upon a picture of Angela Davis and Kathleen Cleaver on Pinterest, two very prominent black women from the Black Panther Party, that my perspective of my hair changed. I felt deeply connected to these pictures. I ended up searching more pictures on Pinterest, specifically “1970’s natural hair”. There was a plethora of images of big afros that were dense and luscious. These afros were formed perfectly and looked majestic. It was in this moment that I knew my hair was absolutely magical. I discovered that my hair was wonderfully thick and could withstand gravity. I started loving my hair in its big afro state. Some days I would wear a curly afro or I would take an afro pick and form a perfect ball on top of my head. I found myself falling in love with my hair and feeling ashamed that I had deemed it “ugly” and “unruly” before. I think the natural hair craze is phenomenal, but I want every black women to understand that no natural hair is the same. Black women's hair comes in all types of textures. From coily, kinky, curly, and wavy, all of these different textures are beautiful. I struggled with my natural hair journey in the beginning, but I’m so happy to have my thick ball of hair on my head.
