During the Democratic Convention in August , it was Kamala Harris’ night but former First Lady Michelle Obama held my undivided attention. Not just for her powerful speech or the stunning high-neck navy suit she wore, but for her hair—a series of small individual braids styled into a single, cascading braid with a clean side part.
Since leaving the White House, Obama has freely expressed herself through personal style, whether in over-the-knee gold Balenciaga boots paired with a canary-yellow blouse and matching sarong skirt or a sequined navy jumpsuit by Sergio Hudson. Her embrace of natural hairstyles, including curly coils and braids, a post White House theme in her appearances. During the White House years, she intentionally avoided wearing braids. “They ain’t ready for it,” she told Ellen DeGeneres during her book tour for The Light We Carry. “They tripped out when Barack wore a tan suit”. “Let me wear my hair straight.”
Seeing Michelle Obama wear her hair in braids on a national stage was incredible—an embodiment of Black girl magic and representation. Here was a well-accomplished, educated, best-selling author, lawyer, mother, and wife, fully embracing her identity. She is an inspiration for women and girls everywhere, including me.
But despite a big name on a big stage proudly showcasing her identity, braids and other Black hairstyles in the workplace remain widely misunderstood. Black people are often marginalized and stereotyped based on their hairstyles. According to the 2019 Crown Workplace Research study, Black women are 83% more likely than others to be judged harshly because of their looks and 2.5 times more likely to be perceived as unprofessional. The same year, Dove found that Black women were 30% more likely to receive formal grooming policies at work and to be sent home due to their hairstyles. Eighty percent of Black women are more likely to change their hair to meet social norms.
For decades, if you wanted to be taken seriously in the workforce, you were pressured to relax your curly hair to make it straight and more palatable to non-Black or Brown colleagues—cut off dreadlocks and take down your braids.
Discrimination extends beyond the office; it’s prevalent in our school systems too. Four-year-old Gus “Jett” Hawkins was told that his braids violated school dress code. His mother, Ida Nelson, worked with the school to revise outdated policy handbooks. She raised awareness of how stigmatizing a child’s hair could impact their education and development, leading to the enactment of Illinois Public Act 102-0360, also known as the Jett Hawkins Law, which was signed into law in August 2021. This law prohibits discrimination against hairstyles historically associated with race, ethnicity, or hair texture in schools.
The selective enforcement of policies based on biases is overwhelming. Conforming to European standards of attractiveness, rooted in racism and western oppression, has cost Black people opportunities and should be obsolete in 2024.
Black hairstyles are rooted in cultural virtue; they are unique and righteous. They tell stories of deep-rooted culture and practices-stories of survival. During the transatlantic slave trade in the 1500s, predominantly West Africans were forcibly transported to the west coast and the Caribbean for labor, sold through the slave trade. Stripped of their group identity, Black people used hairstyles for survival—braiding food into their hair, styling it to resemble escape routes. Slave owners forced the shaving of slaves’ heads to maintain a “tidy” appearance, erasing their identities.
In pre-colonial Africa, hair was braided to identify one’s tribe, wealth, marital status, power, religion, and fertility. Unkempt hair was a sign of illness, mourning, or antisocial behavior. Hair was a sign of strength, particularly during the Black Power movement of the 1960s when the Black Panthers popularized the afro. The afro symbolized Black resistance, fighting oppression, rejecting European beauty standards, and promoting Black beauty, liberation, activism, and pride. In some African countries, locks symbolize strength and are reserved for warriors. The Akan people in Ghana recognize locks as a symbol of higher power, worn by priests.
But even as Michelle Obama’s style was celebrated, I wondered about my own culture and my political environment. As a seasoned makeup artist and hairstylist, I too have faced biases—not because of how I wore my hair, but how I styled others’ hair.
Remember those space buns, braids, or high ponytails on Meghan McCain during season 24 of “The View”? I styled those. Rather than receiving compliments for daring to be different on daytime television, I faced pushback. I was accused of culturally appropriating Black culture for how I styled a white woman.
I’ve never felt the need to abide by certain industry standards, especially when I was given creative freedom by McCain. That kind of flexibility is unprecedented in the political news world. I wasn’t projecting my Black heritage onto a white woman, as I was accused of. I was executing my creativity.
Meghan became a casualty in this hair war, unfairly judged for appreciating the hairstyles she wore. It seems grace is only extended to those we like and deem worthy. Ariana Grande can wear a high ponytail without criticism, but Meghan can’t? Cardi B can wear space buns without being attacked, but Meghan can’t? I posted a compilation of the looks Meghan and I created on my Instagram page. While there were beautiful comments praising the versatility, there were also comments like the one @sol2soul left: “Sooooorrrryyyyyy….did not work for you!!!! She is not a White girls stylist. Sorry NOT sorry.” I styled Meghan’s hair with artistic expression, without pushing a cultural agenda or malicious intent.
Where is the line between originalism and appropriation?
The outright misrepresentation portrayed in the media suggesting I was doing Black hairstyles on a white woman was hurtful and personal. “Vice” titled their article, “Meghan McCain’s Hair Is a Hypocritical Mess.” “Discourse Blog” titled theirs “An Ode to Meghan McCain’s Absolutely Batshit Hairstyles on ‘The View’.” “The Daily Dot” wrote, “Twitter Convinced Meghan McCain’s Hair Stylist Hates Her.” Tiffany Cross, former host of MSNBC’s The Cross Connection—whose hair I also style—created a segment specifically highlighting her dissatisfaction with McCain. Cross went viral for saying, “‘Princess’ Meghan McCain must be fired for Black hairstyles.”
The former View Host famously clapped back, “Let a bitch live!” I couldn’t have agreed more.
My intentions were, and always will be, to execute creative hairstyles that reflect my love for being an artist. I seek to encourage different perspectives of beauty standards without tearing anyone down. Cross and other Black and Brown people I’ve encountered have expressed their frustration with the lack of representation behind the scenes. They feel uncomfortable entering environments where no artists look like them and are relieved when they see someone who does. They don’t want to go on-air the wrong foundation shade or disheveled hair styled by someone unfamiliar with textured or curly hair. And why should they have to?
Safiya Umoja Noble wrote “Algorithms of Oppression,” highlighting hegemonic practices on digital platforms that systematically prioritize dominant culture. As a Black woman, I am well aware of the constant exploitation of Black culture for capital gain. In a dominant white society, women like the Kardashians have benefited from Black culture. Kim K. sparked conversation when she paid homage to Bo Derek, another white woman, who wore Fulani braids—an ancient West African style. Western culture regularly appropriates Black culture, sometimes blatantly.
Like McCain, others have embraced my fearlessness to create. Joy Reid, the host of MSNBC’s The ReidOut, entrusted me with her hair in 2021 just as we were returning to the bureau after the pandemic hiatus, thanx to Covid-19. Reid decided to switch to braids after wearing curly extensions because they were easier to maintain if she had to return to styling her own hair. Joy’s crochet braids, a hybrid of traditional braids, are installed using a technique similar to crocheting, where pre-braided hair extensions are latched onto cornrow braids with a hook. Reid revealed on The Culture Is: Black Women—a series focusing on Black women’s injustices in their respective fields, hosted by Reid and Tiffany Cross. Reid felt free to wear braids on her show because of The Crown Act(Creating a Respectful and Open World for Natural Hair- Funded by Dove, the National Urban League, Color of Change, and the Western Center on Law and Poverty), a federal law, passed in 2019, prohibits discrimination against hairstyles and textures.
The law was a massive step forward, but also didn’t prevent the public backlash for Joy’s hair. I faced backlash based on what others deemed appropriate for television. But, Joy is a black woman embracing the freedom to wear culturally appropriate hairstyles. Meghan’s braids were too black for a white woman and Joy’s braids were culturally acceptable but not professionally acceptable for prime time?
Does the controversy stem from me not applying white standards to create? Black women especially have been held to impractical beauty standards and social implications, largely because society is filtered through the white, often male gaze.
But beauty is not one shade. And my own creativity is not rooted in Black or white, nor in left or right winged political parties. My creativity is home grown and nurtured. I don’t entertain the notion of a box. I don’t live by the concept of “that’s how it’s always been.” I embrace change and forward movement that includes well executed hairstyles that aren’t labeled, but embraced.
HARRIS AND OBAMA IN THAT ORDER!