This article was printed in the Urban Journal the week of October 23, 2002.
In Celebration of our Natural Hair
Dona A. Vassall-Fall, Ed.D.
One of the things I find most disheartening is how few women of African descent I see with natural hair.
By natural hair, I mean hair that is not processed, hair that is natural as the day we were born. I always
try, in a gentle manner, I hope, to promote loving and appreciating the beautiful hair that God gave us as
African people.
One really positive ways of looking at our hair is that we are the only people on the planet that God has
blessed with this type of hair that is so versatile. Every other ethnic group has straight hair that does not
hold a style by itself. Where our hair is full of body and life, people with naturally straight hair have to
process their hair in order to give it the body that ours naturally has! We can put in braids, twists, locks,
extensions, cornrows - all of which hold their shape and stay in for a long time. We should celebrate
this wonderfully versatile hair that God has given us.
Unfortunately, many of us have taken to using chemical relaxers to straighten our hair, with detrimental
effects that we are not even aware of. We need to realize that chemical processing involves more than
straightening or texturizing the hair above the scalp. The chemicals used to process hair absorb
through the skin and into tissue, cells and the blood stream. The greatest danger is in over-exposure to
these chemicals – then there is risk for real harm.
Consider the fact that the instructions for using chemical relaxers advise using gloves because they are
caustic. However these same chemicals are applied directly to the hair and scalp and left on for a
period of time. Why wear gloves to protect your hand but do nothing to protect your scalp?
In her book, Let’s talk Hair: Every Black woman’s Personal Consultation for Healthy Growing Hair,
Pamela Ferrell makes the following observations:
In the wrong hands chemicals can be dangerous. Caustic lye put onto hair is like bleach on fabric – if
left on too long, it will dissolve and destroy the fibers. Sodium hydroxide and ammonium thioglycolate
perm solutions are both corrosive substances that really have no place in the beauty salon. Once the
hair is relaxed or permed it is unchangeable or irreversible. If you want the original texture back,
consider the relaxer or perm application like a hair cut. You will need to grow the original texture hair
back.
Just knowing how harmful these chemicals are should encourage us to rethink using chemicals on our
hair. Many of us are under the mistaken impression that caring for and styling our natural hair is difficult
and that it is just easier and less time-consuming if we straighten it. Keep in mind, however, that with
processed hair, we spend a lot of time going to the beauty salon and doing hair maintenance at home.
In order to maintain our straightened hair and to keep the new hair growth from showing, we have to go
to the beauty shop regularly. This is time-consuming.
It takes less time sometimes to maintain a natural hairstyle than it does to maintain processed hair.
Styles such as corn rows, flat twists and other styles using extensions can stay in for a month to six
weeks. The time that it takes to put these styles in initially will vary, but once they are in, we can wash
our hair and the style still looks good. With other styles such as afros and locks, we can wash our hair
and go – or we can style the afro or the locks. These natural styles are either easier to maintain than or
take just as much time to maintain as processed hair. There are many other natural hairstyles in
addition to those mentioned here.
Some times we also think that wearing our natural hair will not be easily accepted in the workplace or at
school. This is probably true since many of us are not comfortable with our natural hair, people of other
ethnic groups are not used to seeing our natural hair and therefore do no appreciate the beauty in it. As
a matter of fact, some people feel threatened by people of African descent who wear natural hair. These
situations, however, can provide the perfect opportunity for us to educate people of our own as well as
other ethnic groups. We can teach people about the beauty of our natural hair and correct unfortunate
stereotypes that exist about people that wear natural hairstyles.
I think that one of the saddest things is that many young children never have a chance to experience and
appreciate the texture and the natural curl of their hair. I see so many young children with perms in their
hair and realize that they may never appreciate the beauty of the curls that God gave them. On the rare
occasions that I see a child with braids, twists, locks, or some other natural hairstyle, I try to take the
opportunity to tell them how beautiful their hair looks.
I think one of our biggest problems is that we do not know how to care for and style our natural hair. We
think that our thick, full-bodied hair must hurt when washed and combed and we think there are no
styles that we can put our hair in. I also think that part of the problem that we have is we and others
have become so accustomed to seeing our hair straight that we find it hard to appreciate the beauty in
the natural hairstyles. We have grown so accustomed to the styles (or lack of style) when we wear our
hair straight, that we think we look better with our hair straight in a ponytail than with it natural in twists.
I hope that many more of us (women of African descent) will take the time to get to know more about our
unique hair and the wonderful things that we can do with it. Words like enjoy, treasure, appreciate –
how many of us associate these words with our hair in its natural state?
Dr. Vassall-Fall is president of Learning Link, a consulting firm that promotes education, diversity and cultural
understanding. You may contact her at info@learninglinkco.net. www.learninglinkco.net.
Click here to go back to News page.
In Celebration of our Natural Hair
Dona A. Vassall-Fall, Ed.D.
One of the things I find most disheartening is how few women of African descent I see with natural hair.
By natural hair, I mean hair that is not processed, hair that is natural as the day we were born. I always
try, in a gentle manner, I hope, to promote loving and appreciating the beautiful hair that God gave us as
African people.
One really positive ways of looking at our hair is that we are the only people on the planet that God has
blessed with this type of hair that is so versatile. Every other ethnic group has straight hair that does not
hold a style by itself. Where our hair is full of body and life, people with naturally straight hair have to
process their hair in order to give it the body that ours naturally has! We can put in braids, twists, locks,
extensions, cornrows - all of which hold their shape and stay in for a long time. We should celebrate
this wonderfully versatile hair that God has given us.
Unfortunately, many of us have taken to using chemical relaxers to straighten our hair, with detrimental
effects that we are not even aware of. We need to realize that chemical processing involves more than
straightening or texturizing the hair above the scalp. The chemicals used to process hair absorb
through the skin and into tissue, cells and the blood stream. The greatest danger is in over-exposure to
these chemicals – then there is risk for real harm.
Consider the fact that the instructions for using chemical relaxers advise using gloves because they are
caustic. However these same chemicals are applied directly to the hair and scalp and left on for a
period of time. Why wear gloves to protect your hand but do nothing to protect your scalp?
In her book, Let’s talk Hair: Every Black woman’s Personal Consultation for Healthy Growing Hair,
Pamela Ferrell makes the following observations:
In the wrong hands chemicals can be dangerous. Caustic lye put onto hair is like bleach on fabric – if
left on too long, it will dissolve and destroy the fibers. Sodium hydroxide and ammonium thioglycolate
perm solutions are both corrosive substances that really have no place in the beauty salon. Once the
hair is relaxed or permed it is unchangeable or irreversible. If you want the original texture back,
consider the relaxer or perm application like a hair cut. You will need to grow the original texture hair
back.
Just knowing how harmful these chemicals are should encourage us to rethink using chemicals on our
hair. Many of us are under the mistaken impression that caring for and styling our natural hair is difficult
and that it is just easier and less time-consuming if we straighten it. Keep in mind, however, that with
processed hair, we spend a lot of time going to the beauty salon and doing hair maintenance at home.
In order to maintain our straightened hair and to keep the new hair growth from showing, we have to go
to the beauty shop regularly. This is time-consuming.
It takes less time sometimes to maintain a natural hairstyle than it does to maintain processed hair.
Styles such as corn rows, flat twists and other styles using extensions can stay in for a month to six
weeks. The time that it takes to put these styles in initially will vary, but once they are in, we can wash
our hair and the style still looks good. With other styles such as afros and locks, we can wash our hair
and go – or we can style the afro or the locks. These natural styles are either easier to maintain than or
take just as much time to maintain as processed hair. There are many other natural hairstyles in
addition to those mentioned here.
Some times we also think that wearing our natural hair will not be easily accepted in the workplace or at
school. This is probably true since many of us are not comfortable with our natural hair, people of other
ethnic groups are not used to seeing our natural hair and therefore do no appreciate the beauty in it. As
a matter of fact, some people feel threatened by people of African descent who wear natural hair. These
situations, however, can provide the perfect opportunity for us to educate people of our own as well as
other ethnic groups. We can teach people about the beauty of our natural hair and correct unfortunate
stereotypes that exist about people that wear natural hairstyles.
I think that one of the saddest things is that many young children never have a chance to experience and
appreciate the texture and the natural curl of their hair. I see so many young children with perms in their
hair and realize that they may never appreciate the beauty of the curls that God gave them. On the rare
occasions that I see a child with braids, twists, locks, or some other natural hairstyle, I try to take the
opportunity to tell them how beautiful their hair looks.
I think one of our biggest problems is that we do not know how to care for and style our natural hair. We
think that our thick, full-bodied hair must hurt when washed and combed and we think there are no
styles that we can put our hair in. I also think that part of the problem that we have is we and others
have become so accustomed to seeing our hair straight that we find it hard to appreciate the beauty in
the natural hairstyles. We have grown so accustomed to the styles (or lack of style) when we wear our
hair straight, that we think we look better with our hair straight in a ponytail than with it natural in twists.
I hope that many more of us (women of African descent) will take the time to get to know more about our
unique hair and the wonderful things that we can do with it. Words like enjoy, treasure, appreciate –
how many of us associate these words with our hair in its natural state?
Dr. Vassall-Fall is president of Learning Link, a consulting firm that promotes education, diversity and cultural
understanding. You may contact her at info@learninglinkco.net. www.learninglinkco.net.
Click here to go back to News page.
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