Once again, I am here to inform the public that no one has the right to police and judge black hair. I will keep writing about this until it is no longer an issue, and by the looks of it, I’ll be writing about this issue for a long time. 

Recently, grandmother Randi Woodley was told by her grandson’s principal that his hair was too long. As reported by ABC 13 Eyewitness News:

“And the superintendent then gave me three options. He told me that I could either cut it, braid it and pin it up, or put my grandson in a dress and send him to school, and when prompted, my grandson must say he’s a girl,” Woodley explained.

This led to parents attending the school board meeting demanding the dress code to be changed because once again a school policy is policing black hair. The policy dictates that male students cannot wear hair past the collar or even in a ponytail. During the meeting, parents held up signs to express their frustration. One parent held a sign that stated, “Is my hair ‘distracting’ you?” Another black male child, who was told his hair couldn’t be in a ponytail, held a sign that said, “My hair is my crown! My crown is my strength!”

Instead of focusing on the knowledge going into the black students’ heads, this school district is focused on how the hair is styled that grows out of their heads. How are black students doing academically in this school district?

If this wasn’t enough black hair foolishness, enter the H&M advertisement controversy. There is an ad with a gorgeous black girl. Instead of focusing on her beauty inside and out, people are slamming the child’s hairstyle across social media. I understand why people came out swinging verbally. It was not too long ago when H&M dressed a black boy in a shirt with the “coolest monkey in the jungle” written on it. I think we need to chill out. That ‘we’ includes black folks.

On September 20, 2019, H&M Customer Service Twitter account tweeted:

We truly believe that all kids should be allowed to be kids. The school aged kids who model for us come to the photo studio in the afternoon after school and we aim for a natural look which reflects that.

If you view the other children’s hair, everyone’s hair is messy. Honestly, that is how children look. Hell, that how I look at the end of the day with my natural hair. Catch me a dismissal at the end of the school day and you will see that my edges have curled up like that young lady. I know my hair is beautiful and that is because of strong women reminding me of that truth. It took years for me to fall in love with my natural hair. These unnecessary school policies and black hair trashing online do not help. It makes black people, especially black children not love themselves as they should.

Let me say it louder for the people in the back. Yeah, you way back there . . . this is for you too. Stop policing black hair!

If you are a black child and need a motivational speech to remind you to love your black hair, click here to check out this strong black beautiful girl. 

Black hair rocks no matter how we rock it. We are going to keep rocking it how we want whether other people accept it or not.