T H E E V O LV I N G W O M A N - 36 -
M A R C H 2021
Healthy Hair Healthy Hair Healthy Hair Healthy Hair Healthy Hair Healthy Hair Written By: Shakell Rolle
is good hair!
My name is Shakell and I’ve never had a relaxer. Natural hair is something that I’ve always been associated with. Growing up; as far back as primary school, I was often teased for being one of the only girls with natural hair.
ral hair had a stigma as being childish and unkempt and senior school was the time to be grown, you know?
When I entered junior and high school I was still one of the few girls who had their natural, unprocessed hair.
That is why I was dumbfounded, when I went to college and ‘being natural’ was the new fad. Everyone was sporting their new puffs and twist-outs without any judgment or criticism. I thought to myself, finally the way we were born was deemed acceptable.
This was strange because, at that time, if your hair wasn’t processed in primary school, by the time as you were in high school those curls would definitely be permanently straightened. It was unusual because natu-
Anyone that knows me, know that I loathe the term “good hair”, often used by the black community. For me, how “good” your hair is, is not determined by the texture of your hair, instead it is determined by the health of it.
