I Love My Hair!

Product Information

Connect: There are several examples of comparisons in the story. Her hair was like yarn or garden rows. What kinds of comparisons can you make about yourhair? After Reading Look through photos of different or interesting hairstyles.What types of items do you like placed in your hair? How can these items make your hair style different?Which one would you try? Why? This is a story about how the author “fell in love with her hair”. When she was a little girl, her mother would often comb her hair in the evening before bed.She would make herself comfortable sitting on the floor between her mom’s knees and relax as her mom oiled her scalp,partedand combed her hair. This was their family time together. This time provided for opportunities to get that “special attention” and areally nicehair style. She would sit and think about her hair and compare it to yarn, garden rows, or a planet out in space.This made her feel different or unique.She felt proud and special. Her hair and hair styles made her confident about who she was and helped her learn about the important connections of cultural history through hairstyles.

Darden, J. (2010). Sesame Street writer pens “I love my hair” song to empower daughter. Huffington Post. Retrieved from https://www.huffpost.com/entry/sesame-street-writer-pens_b_767353. Final Call. (2009). Willie Lynch letter: The making of a slave. Retrieved from https://www.finalcall.com/artman/publish/Perspectives_1/Willie_Lynch_letter_The_Making_of_a_Slave.shtml.

Broadcasts

Torres-Harding, S. R., Andrade, A. L., Jr., & Romero Diaz, C. E. (2012). The Racial Microaggressions Scale (RMAS): A new scale to measure experiences of racial microaggressions in people of color. Cultural Diversity and Ethnic Minority Psychology, 18(2), 153–164. https://doi.org/10.1037/a0027658. Sue, D. W. (2010). Microaggressions in everyday life: Race, gender, and sexual orientation. New York: Wiley. Sue, D. W., & Constantine, M. G. (2007). Racial microaggressions as instigators of difficult dialogues on race: Implications for student affairs educators and students. College Student Affairs Journal, 26(2), 136–143. Look for photos of yourself wearing different styles. Which ones do you like the most?Create a photo book or drawings of your favorite looks.Ask your family and friends to choose their favorite.Do you agree?

Solórzano, D. G., & Yosso, T. J. (2002). Critical race methodology: Counter-storytelling as an analytical framework for education research. Qualitative Inquiry, 8(1), 23–44. https://doi.org/10.1177/1077800402008001003. Ask:Why do you think her classmates teased her about her hair? How do you feel about that? What are things you can say to people who tease someone about their hair? Harwood, S. A., Huntt, M. B., Mendenhall, R., & Lewis, J. A. (2012). Racial microaggressions in the residence halls: Experiences of students of color at a predominantly White university. Journal of Diversity in Higher Education, 5(3), 159–173. https://doi.org/10.1037/a0028956. Show:While getting her hair combed or styled, Natasha likes to "day dream"? What types of things did you think about when you day dream?Sue, D. W., Capodilupo, C. M., Torino, G. C., Bucceri, J. M., Holder, A., Nadal, K. L., et al. (2007). Racial microaggressions in everyday life: Implications for clinical practice. American Psychologist, 62(4), 271–286. https://doi.org/10.1037/0003-066x.62.4.271. Nadal, K. L., Rivera, D. P., Corpus, J. H., & Sue, D. W. (2010). Sexual orientation and transgender microaggressions. In D. W. Sue (Ed.), Microaggressions and marginality: Manifestation, dynamics, and impact (pp. 217–240). New York: Wiley. Ask:As you look at the cover, what do you think about Natasha and her hair?Do you think we should touch otherpeople'shair? Do you know how often some people get their hair done? How many hours do you spend in the salon? Does long hair only belong to girls? Why do you think the little girl is smiling so beautifully on the cover? Why do you think people add things to their hair? What are polite ways we can give a compliment to someone about their hair? What are polite ways we can ask people about their hair?

What kind ofself-talkcan people say to themselves to encourage themselves to love their hair? Create a drawing of yourself and add a few speech bubbles with the statements you came up with. Ask:Did you have any "hurting places" while your hair is combed, cut, or covered in a hat? What things did you do to stop the pain? Oyedemi, T. (2016). Beauty as violence: ‘Beautiful’ hair and the cultural violence of identity erasure. Social Identities, 22(5), 537–553. https://doi.org/10.1080/13504630.2016.1157465. Kerr, A. E. (2005). The paper bag principle: Of the myth and the motion of colorism. Journal of American Folklore, 118(469), 271–289. https://doi.org/10.1353/jaf.2005.0031.

During Reading 

Valencia, R. R., & Solórzano, D. G. (1997). Contemporary deficit thinking. In R. R. Valencia (Ed.), The evolution of deficit thinking: Educational thought and practice (pp. 160–210). RoutledgeFalmer: London. Charmaz, K. (2006). Constructing grounded theory: A practical guide through qualitative analysis. Thousand Oaks: Sage. This is a heartwarming story about a little girl and the reasons why she loves her hair. Sometimes though, having her hair brushed can be painful and Keyana doesn't like her hair then. But her Mama tells her how beautiful her hair is, and as she fixes Keyana's hair, she tells her stories of the past. Keyana tells her own stories about the reasons why she loves her hair, and through her stories we are transported into a world of dreams, belonging, and becoming! Show:Hair styles are a form of expression. Natasha learned a great deal about her culture from some of her hair styles.Are there particular hairstyles in your culture?

White, K. M. (2013). Associations between teacher-child relationships and children’s writing in kindergarten and first grade. Early Childhood Research Quarterly, 28, 166–176. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ecresq.2012.05.004. Solórzano, D. G. (1998). Critical race theory, racial and gender microaggressions, and the experiences of Chicana and Chicano Scholars. International Journal of Qualitative Studies in Education, 11(1), 121–136. Chavez, N., & Karimi, F. (2019). California becomes the first state to ban discrimination based on natural hairstyles. CNN. Retrieved from https://www.cnn.com/2019/07/03/us/california-hair-discrimination-trnd/index.html. Yosso, T., Smith, W., Ceja, M., & Solórzano, D. (2009). Critical race theory, racial microaggressions, and campus racial climate for Latina/o undergraduates. Harvard Educational Review, 79(4), 659–691. Brady, J., & Abawi, Z. (2019). Disrupting princesses: a pedagogical moment in dismantling colonial norms and representations of beauty through an anti-colonial framework. In F. J. Villegas & J. Brady (Eds.), Critical schooling (pp. 125–146). London: Palgrave Macmillan.Connect:What do you like about your hair? Do you remember times when someone took care ofyour hair? How did you feel? What do you remember most? During Reading Howard, T. C., & Navarro, O. (2016). Critical race theory 20 years later: Where do we go from here? Urban Education, 51(3), 253–273. Facebook. (n.d.). Reach out to future customers and fans. Retrieved from: www.facebook.com/business/ads.