From Fro to Locs ✊🏾 My Loc Journey during Black History Month

WHY I CHANGED MY HAIR

Ever since the summer of 2020 I have been on an evolving journey. I have awakened to the realities of the Black female experience in America – what it is and has always been since the birth of this country. Because I cannot unsee what I have seen or unknow what I have come to understand, it has lead me to into a journey of diving into my family lineage and history. I feel the weight of what the Black story has been and the responsibility of what the story can be in the future.

When it comes to resisting my natural hair, the most impactful moment of my life was going to church for over 20 years. I remember being surrounded by White women who seemed to be the most “desirable” women by men in that space. Their long straight hair, medium-sized boobs, pale-colored skin created an ideal type of woman that I was obviously not. I did not realize it at the time, but being in that type of space, running in circles with that type of woman essentially made me desire something other than who I am.

When the cultural goal of a space is Whiteness, it by default tends to be culturally anti-Black, anti-kinky hair; anti-dark melanated skin. By default, it forms inside of you to reject who you are naturally and try to make yourself more like the dominant culture around you.

Since the summer of 2020, I began to uproot the roots of anti-Blackness which comes from being baptized in a space where Whiteness is a goal. And because of that, putting my hair in locs is a part of me embracing who I am…fully…completely…entirely.

Who am I? I am a 32-year-old Black woman who's picked up some weight over the last year and I'm happy about it. My hair is kinky coily and my skin is deeply melanated. My face isn't 100% clear and I stand 5 ft 2 inches tall. My teeth are straight because of braces but my jaw is a little off-center due to sucking my thumb as a child. This is me. This is who I am. This is what I'm giving myself permission to be.

I just had a therapy session yesterday and we talked about what does that part of me that grew up in an anti-Black space need to feel like I can be myself fully right here, right now? The answer that I came up with is that I need to give myself permission to be Black. I need to affirm within myself that I am here, I must take up space, and this is who I am. I can give myself permission to be in a space, to take up space to be fully Black and let my hair…BE.

Changing my hair is symbolic of me leaving behind who I was and embracing who I am fully. I want to give myself permission to be Black. And this is why this is a spiritual journey probably even more than it is a physical one.

WHY IT’S A SPIRITUAL EXPERIENCE

When you first get locks, you call them baby locs, because you are literally birthing locs in your hair. Over time the locks will grow stronger and will accept and adapt to the moisture that you give them and literally become and transform as you become and transform.

I decided to get my Locs done at Deeply Rooted Hair Salon in North Phoenix, Arizona. The salon is owned by two sisters Terri Cottrell and Lisa Odom. My mom found them when she first moved to Arizona about 10 years ago. My mom is a forerunner in the natural hair journey. She did the big chop when it wasn’t popular she got locks when it wasn't popular. She's always taking care of herself and her hair no matter what it means to the society and culture around her. She inspired my sister to do the big chop and to eventually get locs as well. My whole family now has locs and it's time for me to be loc’d too.

I love being at Deeply Rooted because it is a sacred Black space for me. It is a place I can witness Black women thriving. Black women becoming. Black women transforming. Black women healing. Black women making beauty and art…together. It's also beautiful to see them do business as sisters. It's even more remarkable and meaningful to me that my sister, Ericka Vaughn Byrne learned how to do locs under their tutelage. So essentially, my sister who has always been my photoshoot stylist, inherited a sacred practice; and now she got to be the one to install my locs!

They've been in business for a long time they know what they're doing! They do a phenomenal job with locs and natural hair of all kinds! I'm grateful for who these women are and how they help Black women heal and thrive.

Thank you to my sister for learning the art of locs walking and taking the time to install mine. Thank you to my mom who is a forerunner for our family in all things healthy. I'm following in your steps slowly but surely. Thank you to my husband Kendall who is also an inspiration to me and has been in locs for the last 13 years. You love me and call me beautiful no matter what my hair looks like. As a Black woman I thank you for that.

I think it's no coincidence that the start of my locs anniversary will always be on February 1st, the first day of Black History Month. This is the start of my loc journey and this is me embracing who I am, fully!

“Here's to you and here's to me, I pray that friends we'll always be, but if by chance we disagree, the heck with you and here's to me!” ~ Irish Toast