![\"pressley\"](\"\/hoochie\/files\/2020\/01\/pressley.png\")
<\/p>\nCongresswoman Ayanna Pressley\u00a0 of Massachusetts’s 7th congressional district recently came forward about her natural hair journey. It\u2019s a story of love, loss, healing, and acceptance as she herself has had to come to terms with what her hair means to the world and to her image.<\/p>\n
In January of 2020, Pressley came forward about her struggle with having alopecia (sudden hair loss). Pressley speaks on behalf of the journey that all Black people deal with as natural hair has always been seen as defying and even defiant. For years, Black hairstyles\u2013\u2013especially on Black women\u2013\u2013have been criticized as \u201cghetto\u201d and unprofessional. Hair for Black women, regardless of if you have it or not, is political.<\/p>\n
Learning to love your hair is a process, and when you do it\u2019s so empowering. But losing it can feel like you\u2019ve been robbed of the opportunity to reach self-love. Pressley\u2019s decision to speak out comes from her passion to represent her community and others living with alopecia, and also to find healing within herself. By learning to accept who she is for how she is, Pressley openly wears her hair bald. This short poem is inspired by Pressley\u2019s journey, her passion, and her continual leadership to never let someone else tell her story unless herself.<\/p>\n
I am not what you think<\/p>\n
But I am all that you are<\/p>\n
My hair is my weapon<\/p>\n
My personal tool<\/p>\n
My ability to be free from the reigns of your rule<\/p>\n
No matter how it chooses to be, it sends a message to be known<\/p>\n
Something that needs to be heard, more importantly shown<\/p>\n
It\u2019s careful, powerful, and strong<\/p>\n
My blackness is my beauty even with no hair at all<\/p>\n
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Photo Credit: The Root<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
By Thea Gay Congresswoman Ayanna Pressley\u00a0 of Massachusetts’s 7th congressional district recently came forward about her natural hair journey. It\u2019s a story of love, loss, healing, and acceptance as she herself has had to come to terms with what her hair means to the world and to her image. In January of 2020, Pressley came … Continue reading Ayanna Pressley: My Hair Speaks Volumes<\/span>