Watching My Mom Go Black 2021 'link' -

To understand what “going Black” meant for my mom, you have to understand what came before. My mother was born in 1965 in a small Southern town. She came of age in the 1970s and 80s, a time when the Black is Beautiful movement was gaining traction, but workplace and school policies still punished natural Black hair. She wore her first relaxer at twelve years old, burning her scalp in her aunt’s kitchen.

When I look at her now, I don’t see the woman who burned her scalp in a kitchen. I see the woman from my grandmother’s old photos—the one with the Afro and the unapologetic smile. I see my ancestors. I see my future. watching my mom go black 2021

That Tuesday morning in 2021, I walked into the kitchen and stopped. My mother was standing by the sink, coffee mug in hand, wearing a short, tapered natural cut. She had done it herself the night before—cut off the last six inches of relaxed ends. To understand what “going Black” meant for my

I started crying. Not because it was ugly, but because for the first time, I realized how much she had been hiding. She wore her first relaxer at twelve years

Why does the year 2021 matter? Because coming out of 2020’s racial reckoning, many Black people—especially Black women—began making personal changes that reflected political truths. Natural hair became mainstream. Companies updated their discrimination policies. The CROWN Act gained momentum.

That’s when I started watching my mom go Black.