Gotta Have Curlfriends

Terresa Harris gathered six different women, and two girls, for a photo shoot of different types of natural hair. Click image to enlarge. Photo Credit: Pink Images

Last week I forayed into the Dallas suburb of Irving, something I don’t do often as I find the suburbs to be not my metropolis-centric cup of tea. This adventure off my well-beaten Uptown track was for a good reason and well worth it. A fellow Instagrammer, @ProjectNaptural, had invited me to take part in a photo shoot that would be part of a socio-cultural project that may result in an application for members of Team Natural everywhere. This project is part of her Master’s thesis at the University of North Texas, a different location from the campus where the shoot took place. I have modeled before and still jump at the chance when the opportunity presents itself as it tends to do every now and again. The difference this time was my hair was no longer straight and its curliness would be the focal point of the shoot. Was I ready?

I’m proud to report, the hardest part of the shoot was the required attire. A few months ago, you couldn’t pay me to take a picture for public consumption. Now, I was confident, free and ready to show off my kinks, curls, and coils. I didn’t know any of the women before arriving, not even the organizer, Terresa, who invited me. We exchanged emails and thoughts prior to the shoot and liked each other’s pictures on Instagram, but that was about the extent of it. When I arrived, all the ladies glowed in their all-white attire, which I believe, is written somewhere as a Texas residency requirement.

It really didn’t matter that I knew no one because the reason why we were there is what bonded us together. I was immediately part of this exclusive club of women who have gone through the trials and tribulations of finding the right pre-poo, failed twist-outs and wash and gos that take hours to actually wash and go before getting the hang of it. Through our shared experiences of navigating the natural hair landscape, without words, without meeting, we bonded in the knowledge that we have all traveled a similar path that led us to that day even with vastly different natural hairstyles.

We are all #TeamNatural, but we don’t look the same. Click image to enlarge. Photo Credits: Pink Images & Project Naptural

What being around my new community of local curlfriends showed me is that unlike straight hairstyles, our natural hair has its own identity. No two heads of hair is exactly the same. I don’t have to do anything to my natural hair to make it stand out from theirs because my combination of kinks, coils and curls is as unique to me as theirs is to them. That’s the beauty of it. While straight hair was a weekly, or even daily, attempt to fit in and conform, which I’ve talked about before, now I’m part of a growing group of women who understand and embrace acceptance and self-love. That’s a pretty cool group of which to be a part.

My very first editor once told me, “You can’t be successful writing in a vacuum.” What he meant was that while writing is a solitary exercise, good writing takes the critique and perspectives of others. This idea holds true when it comes to appreciating your natural hair too. You will not be able to clearly see how special it is until you join others in the celebration of it. Through the knowledge of others, many of us find better solutions, better products, and better routines. Whether it’s a meetup group, a private online community, a picture with a familiar hashtag on The Gram or this here blog, you gotta have curlfriends.

Click image to enlarge. The entire Project Naptural Photo Shoot crew. Photo Credit: Pink Images

Tag your curlfriends in the comments. If you need a curlfriend, connect with me on Instagram.