2 Comments

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  Bridgette - 2 years ago

  I answered no in the poll but I have changed it because I was self conscious what ppl would think of my natural hair. There were times I did straighten it so I wouldn’t stand out. It’s difficult to be black and female in corporate America.
  However, I have completely gone the other way too. One time I had an interview with a company and at the time my hair was freaking navy blue. I didn’t want to wear a wig and didn’t exactly need this job. So I went in with my suit and my navy blue fade… lol and I killed that shit and he offered the gig on the spot. I dyed my hair all kinds colors on that job. Red, blue, blonde… fuck it. I showed my tattoos. My boss was cool as long as I did my job, he didn’t say anything to me. Keep in mind this was an Nigerian black man. ????
  I know that it’s anomaly and I understand why black ppl don’t want to rock the boat by not wearing their in it’s natural state. (That sounds crazy AF to say) We don’t want to be bogged down with the questions and having to explain how her hair got that way. On this particular job, I got more questions from the older black women than I did my boss at that time. ????
  We should be given the freedom to do WTF we want but we gotta have laws in place like the Crown Act to help protect our freedoms to do what we want with our hair.
  I think about that often. My hair is currently loc’ed now and have a half sleeve tattoo on my forearm. I’m trying to figure out if I want to dye my hair an unconventional hair color. I understand that I’m lucky because this job isn’t strict with appearance. However if I leave this gig, I have to be aware of how my personal look could be seen as unprofessional elsewhere.
  Y’all take it easy,
  Bridgette

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  Raven - 2 years ago

  I answered no in poll, but I’m not entirely sure about one situation. I’m in San Diego and this was years before the crown act. I interviewed for an office position a recruiter scouted me for. I wasn’t even looking at the time but the recruiter convinced me to check it out. The interview went well but at the end the white woman I met with said I had all the qualifications they were looking for but I might not get it because they had a “very strict dress code.” This didn’t make any sense to me since I was wearing new suit and looked professional. Also the employees we passed in the department I was interviewing for were all in business casual. However I did have locs at the time and always wondered if that was the reason why I didn’t get the job. The woman was friendly up until that point but seemed really uncomfortable when she said that and kept looking at my hair and looking away. It was odd.