Her Story: See Her Natural - Hair

I thank God we have a friend in common. Otherwise I shudder to think I would have missed such an inspiring story.

Her name is Latasha Goss and she looks like an ordinary 20-something American girl. Shoulder-length hair, make-up and of course, a Blackberry. Except, the hair she's sporting is all natural black hair growing out of her own scalp. And no, I don't mean mixed (half-caucasion/half-black) hair. So what makes her story a story worth listening? Three years ago, she used to be a permie, a black woman wearing chemically straightened 'relaxed' hair. Then in October 2007, she took what must be the bravest plunge ever conceived and cut what was very beautiful, ultra-feminine tresses down to the skull!!!

"I decided to go back natural for a few reasons," she explains. "Over the years, I had changed. I did not feel that wearing my hair straight (relaxed) was a representation of who I had become. I didn't like the way I looked. I felt like I looked like everyone else. I wanted to be 'myself' and I wanted to be 'different'. I had seen a few other ladies take the plunge and I often wondered 'would I have hair like them?'

"In addition to not being happy with wearing my hair straight, my hair was very unhealthy. I had breakage, dandruff and if that wasn't enough, excessive shedding. No hair products that I could find on the shelf were able to help repair my damaged hair.I visited a website that showcased other ladies that had already gone natural and decided to take that step. Out of fear, I only cut off half of my hair at first. I had planned on cutting off a little at a time until I had all of my relaxed ends removed. I grew impatient with this task and one day, I cut it all off!"


Today this young woman is sporting hair 13-16 inches long. The beauty of her hair is not simply it's length, but the fact that it is all-natural. But this is not merely a story about hair, it's about self-acceptance, courage to be yourself wearing your natural God-given looks and swim against the very strong culture current of black hair mutilation 'relax-ation'.


"I absolutely LOVE it and have NO regrets," Latasha says of her hair now. "The breakage, dandruff and excessive shedding have ceased, since I have become natural! I had NO idea that the root of my hair problems was due to relaxers and an overall lack of me 'knowing' my hair."

So why am I so inspired by Latasha's story? Because for the last two months I have been vacillating with a decision to chop or not to chop my own mutilated hair. I'm not yet decided but this girl's courage inspires me. You must, must watch her story on the video below.