Half black half white box braids11/4/2023 OK, firstly (and VERY respectfully, as you are my boss, and I feel the need to accommodate all your personal inquiries), yes. on a weekday, but let’s see where this goes. I wasn’t mentally prepared to fully break down the methodologies behind the most common protective hairstyle at 7:41 a.m. The author sitting in the braider's chair mid-install of her protective hairstyle. I didn’t go on a once-in-a-lifetime trip to Sandals Jamaica. She asked if I had free time later, so I could “tell her more about my hair.” I wasn’t sure if this was a joke because what exactly would I tell her? I got braids. I’ve never seen a person so infatuated by my existence before. She was operating at the same frequency as a puppy gleefully experiencing its first pile of freshly raked leaves. Her face shifted from confusion to excitement, eventually settling on genuine child-like wonder. If it’s short one day and long the next, what other explanation could there be? Of course, these are extensions. You would assume people could put two and two together when it came to hair extensions. People here got it, yet when I walked by my boss (white) one morning, I immediately recognized her quizzical facial expression. Instead, I always had a mid-back, straight, non-threatening sew-in.īut this new office was trendy and fashionable! We could wear stylish sneakers and bright nails. Wearing braids to an all-white finance office would be like wearing a skimpy swimsuit to your grandmother’s funeral no one would know how to act. This was my first job after working as an Executive Assistant for five years, where I never considered wearing braids because it wasa formal work environment. We even signed a diversity manifesto upon hiring! But even though I solely represented half of the Black population at the fashion brand where I worked, racial diversity was of the utmost importance, apparently. While I stared at myself in the mirror, I wondered if a colleague would have something socially inept to say about my hairstyle…again. So when warm weather hit early in NYC, I found myself in Harlem, where braiding salons are plentiful. Besides the six-hour install and six-hour takedown, braids are the perfect hairstyle, especially in the summer. They’re low-maintenance, ageless, timeless, and can also be styled in any length, color or braid thickness. Now, nothing is more classic than some good old-fashioned box braids. There’s another kind of unsolicited attention that can also be incredibly awkward.įor instance, the time in my mid-20s, when I wore hip-length knotless box braids to work, we might as well have called an emergency company meeting about it. This is why the CROWN Act was passed in March 2022 to prohibit race-based hair discrimination, such as “the denial of employment and educational opportunities because of hair texture or protective hairstyles.” But being viewed as “unprofessional” for my hair isn’t the only reaction I fear.
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