Critiques from society often police Black hair, making it difficult for someone to love their natural state. It becomes that much harder for individuals when the negativity comes from inside their own community.
Seventeen-year-old Kayle Phillips knew this feeling well — so well, in fact, she didn’t just attend a recent event fighting back against the stigma; she organized it.
Held earlier this month, Rooted N Natural at Allah Mode was an indoor-outdoor community experience of learning, confidence and healing through natural hair. Featuring live-hair activations, meditation segments, a hair panel and a fashion show, the event brought out a large number of Milwaukee residents to challenge negativity around Black hair, share new techniques and boost the confidence in one another's natural beauty.
“When we invest in our hair,” Phillips said, “it’s also investing in our confidence.”
Rooted N Natural was part of one of Milwaukee’s biggest celebrations of Black culture, art, music, food, history and community: Bronzeville Week, which for the 16th time brought together local business owners, artists, performers and families to connect around history and culture.
This year, Bronzeville Week’s organizers made an investment in the event’s present and future by putting more of the planning into the hands of youth like Phillips, whose involvement was fueled by the positives and negatives she’s gone through on the journey with her own hair.
“Healing not only takes part in how your hair looks,” she said. “It also takes place in how you feel and how much you let it affect you.”
That thought drove Phillips to create a gathering that empowered attendees not only by focusing on the appearance of their hair, but their mental health as well. She used every event detail — from graphics to programming — to show that every hair texture, curl pattern and loc deserved to be celebrated instead of criticized.
“I naturally have 4C hair,” she said, referencing her tight and dense coils. “But with dying, frying and laying to the side, it doesn’t appear that way. Even as it’s demonized, we can highlight it, we can showcase it, and we can show that is what's beautiful.”
The spotlight on beauty and positivity included a live-hair activation segment featuring Precious Fide LLC and G’s Clippers, with representatives from each answering questions from the audience about how to control product build-up and how to manage different types of hair textures.
Precious Fide owner Shavonte Phillips shared tips about hair-treatment regimes using clarifying shampoos and hydrating shampoos to bring moisture back to the hair, while G’s Clippers owner Gaulien Smith talked about the beauticians and barbers who create a safe space for Black members of the community to come as they are and put their trust in someone who specializes in their hair textures.
He added that he saw the event as a way to give back and deepen the connection G’s Clippers has built over the past three decades. “We are selfless individuals that truly take care of the community that has been taking care of us.”
But the event was about more than hair care. It was also a chance for attendees to be heard about how policed they felt by society because of the texture of their hair.
Shortly after the first meditation segment, host Zoey Chambers opened the floor and asked the audience how their hair makes them feel. Shanita Hamilton was one of the people who spoke up, explaining that she had made a commitment to embracing her hair when she was 18. She added that hair was everything to her because it’s a way for Black women to express themselves while finding a connection between sense of self and identity.
“Me being natural is literally who I am,” Hamilton said. “It's how I identify myself, whether it’s through locs, braids or even when my hair is straight. It’s just the way I like to express myself.”
Phillips hopes to continue the success of this year’s Rooted N Natural by inviting even more expression into a potential second-annual event for next year's Bronzeville Week. She already has plans to bring in more vendors and break down the characterization that hair care is a strictly feminine act.
“One of my main passions is helping my people. And I do think because of that, this would be something I’d like to continue,” she said. “Some people think that caring about your hair is a feminine thing. It's really not. I think that it’s important to get that across to young Black men, especially in Milwaukee.”