Foreword: I’m copycatting Fleurtzy over at Texture Playground, she just did a beautiful braidout.
I got done swimming and didn’t feel like putting in twists. So, after a DC, I spritzed my hair with a homemade spritz, applied Afroveda Totally Twisted, and detangled each section with my Denman. I then braided largish sections, just fingerparting and grabbing. I sealed the braids with coconut oil. I let it air dry and then took it apart separating gently. I’m so happy that my hair is long enough that this looks ok now. When it was shorter, if I tried to do braids this large for a braid out, it wouldn’t have enough definition.
After hearing “D”s story, I decided to delve deeper into natural hair in the military. There are obviously some biased people in power who, despite the clearly defined regulations in place, continue to wage a nonexistent war against natural hair. Also unfortunate, these biased people seem to be mostly other African Americans.
Through YouTube, I found a woman in uniform with a beautiful TWA telling her experience of how she fought back against the negative comments she received. Here is Fadiah’s YouTube channel. After viewing her video (embedded below) I contacted her for an interview. She agreed to share her experience here and I hope someone out there benefits from it! Thank you, girl! I love your fro! I also admire you for not buckling under!
Kcurly: Were you natural going into the military?.
When I went to Basic Training in 2007, I was transitioning and I became discouraged because the drill sergeants picked on me about my hair and said I needed it relaxed for graduation, so I gave in because I wanted to graduate BCT. Then in 2008 I did my first BC, I once again I got discouraged by my peers and gave in. I was really upset with myself this time and decided to take charge, so August 3 2009 I did my second BC and now I refuse to let the army change my character and being true to myself as a natural.
Kcurly: Had you noticed any other naturals also in service?
I have noticed a lot of natural haired women in the military but they all keep it hidden with braids and weaves. Don’t get me wrong I do rock braids as a protective style when I’m doing field training or to let my hair breathe. (I’m not going to be ashamed of my natural hair in uniform like other females are). A lot of women commend me on my boldness in rocking my afro puff to work but don’t have enough courage themselves to do so as well. A lot of other women keep their hair low cut like a fade as well.
Kcurly: When did you BC and after how long of a transition?
My first BC was January 17, 2008 and I transitioned for four months. My second BC was August 3, 2009 and I did not transition.
Kcurly: What styles did you use to transition?
For my first BC while transitioning I wore kinky twists.
Kcurly: What negative things were said to you about your hair? Was there repeated harassment?
From friends I got the usual “why would you do that, you look better with relaxed hair.” comment. My fellow soldiers would say “are you going to do something with your hair” “as a female soldier you must look uniformed like the rest,” “since when did afros become acceptable in the army” “…hmm that’s different” and so forth.
Kcurly: What actions did you take to defend wearing your hair natural?
Being a junior ranking soldier I simply pulled out my army regulation 670-1 and explained that my hair is uniformed, it is not causing a distraction or over 5 inches in bulk, it is kept neat away from my face and off my collar. I would also elaborate that this is the texture of my hair and I was born with it and it was what God intended me to have and every black women in the military also has a different texture close to mine but they alter it with harsh chemicals to be like the European women.
Kcurly: What have you learned from this experience that you can take with you for the rest of your life?
Being natural has taught me to accept myself for who I am and to fight what I believe in life. I should allow other people to tell me what I should appear to be in their eyes because at the end of the day I have to make myself happy.
Growing up, we had a family tradition that little girls waited until the age of 11 or 12 to get a relaxer. When I went to school, other African American girls were , for the most part, also natural. It may have been pressed or blowdried, but it was not relaxed. I fondly remember coming in from the playground and seeing everyone’s pressed hair “go back” from all the running and playing outside.
Fast forward to adulthood. Now, I’m not around a lot of little girls on a regular basis, but I see them out and about. It’s obvious to me that children are being “chemically altered” younger and younger.
I was hanging out with a friend whose nieces were visiting when I noticed their hair. It was very limp, with a slight wave and heavily greased. I asked the little girls if they had natural hair, just because I couldn’t figure out what exactly was going on with it. They said their mom put a texturizer in it.
Their hair looked horrible. They were maybe 7 and 8.
Are little girls getting relaxers earlier now? I think they are, but why? Why am I seeing so many toddlers with “ate up” hair? I’ve been thinking hard on this one and I’ve come up with the following reasons.
Texture softener companies are “tricksy and false”. Thanks to Gollum for the accurate description. By the way, if we keep doing this to our kids tender little scalps, their hair is going to look like Gollum’s by the time they are in their 20s.
Mothers are obviously being tricked by the “gentle” texture softeners . If you ask them if they relax their daughters hair, they say “No, I texturize”. They don’t put it on the same level. The words “gentle” and “for kids” lull parents into a false sense of security that this is not the dreaded, dangerous relaxer, but a nice, safe alternative.
We like things fast and we like them convenient. You can stop on the way home from work and, in five minutes, have a full meal for your family without having to turn on the stove. You can pay your bills online and file your taxes just as easily.
It’s just the world we live in…and for most of us hair is no exception. So, if you’re a busy mom with enough on your hands already, of course you may look for the easier option when dealing with your child’s hair. And with claims like “worry free manageability”, who wouldn’t be excited? After all, we are the “now” generation.
Whatever the reasons, it can’t be good. This article, though it lists many different reasons not to relax children’s hair, lists a reason that I see as being one of the biggest problems:
10 ) The period of age 5-12 is a very crucial time for child development and when a child has low self esteem due to poor self image during this time the results are often times difficult to reverse.
• More than 40% of African American girls have a case of hair loss or alopecia areata by the time they reach the age of 16 and are forced to thus wear wigs and weaves for the rest of their lives to cover up the damage.
Thanks so much to Mesha for sending me a link to this Essence gallery article called Hairstyle File: The History of Revolutionary Hair. Very interesting, in particular the first woman featured. I will have to research her a bit more.
So, even the lion, who sports one of the most awesome fros in the animal kingdom, has to be altered by the creamy crack. Venezel is a Japanese straightening product and this is probably one of the most, um, creative (?) relaxer ads I’ve ever seen.
It also makes a good point. Relaxers just ain’t natural! That poor lion! LOL!
L. Nicole, thanks for being a part of both of my blogs…to improve your hair and body are such big goals, but we can do it! I loved reading your story, it’s very inspiring. You are tres chic with your natural hair!!
Kcurly,
I am a part of your challenge on runninginafatsuit, so I thought I would share my natural hair story with you as well. I had previously been natural 2003-2005. I relaxed my hair in 2005 because I was going to NYC and thought a perm would be easier to deal with during the trip in August when it was beyond hot. I regretted it every day after that. So, for two years I did the perm thing. I had my last relaxer in November 2007. This time I had not planned to go natural, it just sort of happened. I had my hair braided in January 2008, right when it was time to touch-up my relaxer. I took the braids out in late February and realized I had a lot of breakage. At the spur of a moment I called a co-worker that was previously a stylist. She was hesitant and tried to talk me out of it, but I left her house with a BIG CHOP!! I only had about two months of new growth, so it was really short.
My co-workers the next day were stunned. Everyone was starring and they had lots of questions. I work in higher education so it’s not uncommon to see natural hair styles througout the campus, but I don’t believe it was something they saw me doing. Most that worked there when I started natural in the past had moved on. My grandmother was not pleased. She thinks everyone should always have a perm and there is no changing her thoughts on it.
I can’t really explain what happened that I felt the need to do it so abruptly but I felt like such a load had been lifted with the cut. For a while I just wore my hair as is with leave-in conditioner on it. May 2008 I had comb twists done. These lasted about 4 weeks, so it was very convenient. September 2008 I started to wear two-strand twists. May 2009 I had my hair flat-ironed for the first time and I could not believe the length.
I am still researching and trying products but I do enjoy Miss Jessie’s shampoo and conditioners. I also use the Curly Meringue on my twist-outs. I wear twist-outs about 85% of the time. Carol’s Daughter’s Healthy Hair Butter is also something I use on a regular basis. I learned about banding from your blog so it’s been added to my options as of late. I purchased a Denman brush this past weekend and it worked fabulously with the banding. That is until it rained. I struggle with the humidity I face living on the Mississippi River. My greatest challenge is the amount of shrinkage I have to deal with. I am not comfortable with my hair as is, so I always have to do something to get the length and looseness I desire. That makes being natural a real chore.
Attached are pics of me w/ perm, comb twists, afro and straightened.
Even though I have a pretty firm swim routine down, I am still working on improving my game. I would love to wear a cap without a chin strap. You get used to it, but I just feel that I would be more comfortable without it.
I’ve purchased a Lycra swim cap. Lycra is material similar [...]
Shrinkage is a characteristic of natural hair…and, more than likely, curly hair period. Of course, even though curly hair does shrink up and appear shorter because of the curl pattern, kinky hair can do this in an epic type of way.
The picture above is from when I straightened my hair this last time. The hair [...]
So I’m still doing the straight thing. Getting tired of it quick and will probably do a wash n go sometime this weekend. Today I’m rocking a big old messy bun made with two satin scrunchies. (TIP: Satin scrunchies can be found at a lot of BSS and are great for making pony tails and [...]
Uzuri, it sounds like you’ve learned a lot of lessons on your journey, some of them painful. Thank you for sharing them with us, so we can be aware. You are simply gorgeous with a TWA! A relaxer would not be worth of your beauty
So, my name is Uzuri and I have been [...]
I posted this also on my fitness blog,but I thought it would be nice to post it here as well. This woman eats clean, runs 80 miles a week, and lifts weights everyday. Her hair (not sure if it’s relaxed or what) but it’s quite long.
I still firmly stand by exercise and healthy hair going [...]
HI:
I’ve been browsing your site for the past 4 months and love what your are doing. Let me tell you about my natural journey.
I BC on December 13, 1993. My hair was perfectly healthy. I’m currently 37 years old and have had a perm for 3 years of my life and a curl for 2 [...]
I know I’m not one of the “big name” bloggers, but guess what, I’m not completely stupid. Some people have been trying to come on this blog and (pretty much) get free advertising. If you read my disclaimer, you will see that no advertising is allowed in the comment section. I do not mind people [...]
I left the twists in for a week and then wore the twistout for a little less than another week. I know I wanted to straighten my hair one more time before it starts getting humid here. I don’t plan on fighting the humidity this summer. So I blow dried and flat ironed.
I don’t blow [...]
Thanks for reading! Remember that our hair is a gift and that it can blossom and grow if we take good care of it. If you have questions, want to share your story, or just want to say hi, please email me at kcurly@newlynatural.com
Are you trying to lose weight and be healthy?
Me too! Join me at my new fitness blog: www.runninginafatsuit.com/blog. It's not just for runners!
Thanks for reading! Remember that our hair is a gift and that it can blossom and grow if we take good care of it. If you have questions, want to share your story, or just want to say hi, please email me at kcurly@newlynatural.com
