Three years ago, I had what Oprah refers to as a ‘light bulb moment’ about my hair. My journey from chemically processed (relaxed) hair to natural hair began the day I realized that my hair made me feel different. As a young child playing with Barbie, I came to understand that my hair was different from that of my Asian, White and Indian friends whose hair hung straight down their backs. Apart from being bombarded by images in toy stores and on television of silky straight hair, I began to internalize comment made by members of my family about my hair being big, thick and unmanageable. My staple hairstyle was two braided pigtails that hung just below my shoulders. Decisions to go swimming with friends had to be thought through carefully by my mom and I. Not for fear of my safety, but for fear of the two-hour session to comb through and grease my big bushy mass. Sleepovers were subjected to a deep analysis over whether that home was equipped to deal with my hair  Read more... (876 words, 1 image, estimated 3:30 mins reading time)

Eileen stared at her reflection in the mirror as she put her silver hoop earrings on. Glancing at the silver cross pendant that her friend Doreen had given her for Christmas, her hands reached over and picked out a delicate pearl necklace instead. The cross pendant was pretty and would have worked well with her outfit, but the symbol of the cross deterred her. She had a big meeting today with all the directors and she did not want to seem like a 'holy roller’, especially at work.  Read more... (530 words, 1 image, estimated 2:07 mins reading time)

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