How I Decided to go Natural

My mother has always pressed my hair since I was young. Once I got to junior high I met other Muslim girls who did not wear thier scarves. When I went to a sleepover everyone saw how long my hair was and suggested that I get it staightened. I wanted to fit in so I asked my mom to perm my hair. She was happy about it because my hair took a long time to press anyway. After my first perm most of my hair fell out. My hair was short and it never got back to the length it used to be. In high school I continued to perm it or braid it so I could look like everyone else. I was not happy when I looked in the mirror. My best friend at the time, Juliette and I decided to make a pact to go natural. The beginning stages was hard because I cut my perm out so my hair was short and I had to keep getting braids, which I hated. As time went on my hair grew but I did not know what to do with it. My mother also started pressuring me to get a perm agian. I was tempted but something said don't do it. I just kept getting extentions. When I got to college I still did not know what to do so I decided to look online for help. It took a while but I found a site called Napturality. It was an online community forum for Black women going natural. It was motivation and support. I was glad but I also wanted to learn how to do new styles so I decided to look for another site. I stumbled upon motowngirl.com and I still stick to it 'til this day. There are so many different styles that show you step-by-step how to do different styles. My favorite is the two strand twist and the wash and go. Now it's been about 5 years and I am happy with my natural hair. I still put in weaves every now and then but I know what is good for me. My mom has come to accept it and she says I look beautiful with it. I think that anyone can go natural if they commit. A lot of people think I should get dreads but in the corporate world it is not accepted, so I won't do it. Going natural is a big choice and it shows confidence since society usually don't accept black hair. You have to be accepting of yourself and others will follow. It is really nice to have men and women admire my hair. It's also nice to say that it is mine. LoL! I encourage anyone that is thinking about going natural to just do it like Nike.