Black Hair Stories

Turkesha McIvy

Location:
Atlanta, Georgia

Profession:
Ashford University Graduate Student/ Public Administration

Life/hair motto:
My hair symbolizes my freedom to be the natural me…..I love my natural beauty

When, why how did you go natural? I have been natural for over a year; my big chop was done on April 21, 2009 at Curltopia Salon located in Smyrna, Georgia.

I transitioned for eighteen months and after watching countless YouTube videos, I decided to finally become free. My father has worn locks for years and I have always admired his courage to wear his hair natural when society was not as welcoming to the natural hair revolution as they are in today’s society.

What was the hardest part of your journey? The hardest part of my journey was when I left the salon and realized that my long hair was now very, very short. The adjustment period took a few days and soon I became very creative with flowers, clamps, barrettes, and hair bands.

Please share a funny hair anecdote that you will always remember. I called my father after my big chop crying about how short my was cut and my father replied, “Its only hair and it will grow back”. I realized at that moment that he was right and I was no longer sad and as usual, he was right because it has grown back.

Describe your worse hairdo and your best hairdo. My worst hair do was a blow out afro. My best hair do was a twist out puff.

Looking back, has your perception of your hair or black hair in general changed? Please elaborate. My perception of hair has changed greatly over the past few years. I was accustomed to wearing relaxers because that was the norm but a few years ago, I started getting blow out in place of the relaxers a few years before I decided to transition. I began research on going natural and begun my transitioning phase and then eventually going natural. I have since then spent a fair amount of time educating others on the beauty of going natural and wearing their natural curls, coifs, and kinks. I believe that I transformed from an individual who once believed that you had to wear relaxed hair to be beautiful into a woman who realizes that we are all beautiful in our God given skin and hair texture.


What did your journey teach you? My natural hair journey has taught me how to care, nurture, love, and maintain my beautiful natural curls. I have learned that no one knows my hair better than I do and the time and efforts that I put into learning how to care for my hair taught me how to care for myself. This journey has been a life-changing event and I have enjoyed every moment.