“When I big chopped, I felt free inside. I looked in the mirror for the first time and saw no masks, nothing to hide behind. I saw the real me…and I loved it.”
~Sierra
Where are you from and what do you do?
S: I’m from Houston, TX, but currently living in San Francisco, CA. I’m in school….some day I’ll be an attorney, but I always have been and ALWAYS will be a writer. I also blog and am launching a magazine soon to highlight the Black experience that takes place off the beaten path. (Shout out to my fellow AfroPunks out there!)
AfroPunk revolves around music, celebrating black rock, (particularly punk/hardcore punk, but all types of rock music are represented). We (Black people) are so creative and special and diverse. AfroPunk celebrates the other Black experience….the one that the media and society as a whole doesn’t shine light on because they just do’t get it. Just because I’m a fro’d out sister doesn’t mean that I automatically listen to Hip-Hop and R&B or act/dress/live a certain way.
When did you go natural?
S: I started transitioning in October 2008 and big chopped on March 12th of this year. Unhealthy relaxed hair was never an issue for me. I was never into weave so I didn’t have breakage at the hairline or anything. Everything was peachy, right? WRONG.
I kept my hair straight not because I wanted to, but because I felt I had to. When I reached a certain point in my life though, that was just no longer acceptable. Plus, there’s nothing more beautiful to me than natural Black hair.
What style do you love to rock?
S: My favorite style of the moment is the braid out. Its super simple, works for a whole week (loose, pinned up on one or both sides or as a frohawk) and best of all, it even works with my inevitable frizz.
For a while, I was too chicken to experiment so I rocked a curly fro, puff or cornrows in front with a curly fro in back pretty much all the time. That was boring though. I was missing out on all of the fun of having these corkscrews, coils and kinks.
Do you prefer natural hair?
S: I definitely prefer natural. I am finally rounding the corner to understanding who I am, not who everyone says I should be or expects me to be. My relaxed hair was an outward symbol of my inner struggle to break free from conformity and expectation to live true to myself. My subconscious need to fit in and be accepted was stifling my potential to create…love…live.
When I big chopped, I felt free inside. I looked in the mirror for the first time and saw no masks, nothing to hide behind. I saw the real me…and I loved it. “Man’s mind, once stretched by a new idea, never regains its original dimensions.” – Oliver Wendell Holmes
For more of Sierra check out her blog, http://withanamelikesierra.blogspot.com/
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