No Natural Hair Allowed?

(Kyra and I that night)

Bar hopping, laughs, and lots of dancing was on the agenda. It was a typical plan for a saturday night with a group of friends and Wriggleyville was our destination. We’d been there a handful of times and always had a blast, we expected this night to be no different. Before we knew it the lights turned on and the last song of the night slowly faded off, it was time to leave the bar. Not wanting the party to end just yet we made our way over to another bar that was open until five, Big City Taps.

After waiting awhile I was finally next up in line so I extended my I.D to security.

“You can’t come in because of your appearance.”

 Startled, I proceeded to look myself up and down trying to figure out exactly what he meant by my appearance. I wore a skirt, form fitting yes, obnoxiously short,no. A blouse that didn’t display any cleavage and a blazer because it was a chilly night in March.

“My appearance?” I repeated. Ian, who recommended big shitty as he calls it, stepped up and asked what the problem was.

“She can’t come in because of her hair,” said the security.

My eyes widened in shock and I couldn’t hold back a slight sarcastic laugh. Pointing at my friend Kyra I asked, “So she can’t come in either, because of her hair?”

“No, she can’t either,” He said.

Kyra, who has always been natural and I both have big, beautiful, natural hair. Though we had our hair curled in different styles earlier in the night, after all of the dancing and sweating our natural texture had ofcourse reemerged. One woman instantly stepped out of line and called for her friend to follow her.

“I’m not spending my money in a place like that,” she insisted.

I suddenly felt like I had been transported back to the 50's or 60's and began scanning the outside of the bar for a sign that read, Fro's not allowed. Nope, there was no such thing in sight. Furious, Kyra demanded we talk to whomever said that we can't get in. I walked away wanting nothing more to do with the bar and the whole situation.

“He asked me if it was a wig!”Kyra snapped, after meeting us at Subway near the bar.

The genius who made up this rule insisted that they didn't condone such hair fads. He even had the audacity to inform Kyra that if we had just straightened our hair we would have been able to get in.

“We can't allow your type of hair style to be in the bar,” Kyra repeated as she continued telling us what was said.

Three years ago, when I began the whole transitioning stage of going natural, how it would be accepted by society never crossed my mind. Soley becuase I would have never thought I would be standing outside an establishment being denied entrance because of it. When something as unimportant as how I choose to wear my hair causes this kind of reaction, I can't help but feel that as a society we will continue to take more steps back rather than steps forward. Im all for progress and growth, so it annoys me to my core that people can be so backwards in life.

May 8th marked two years of being fully natural and I must say I've learned so much during this process. It has brought on a very empowering feeling in me that i've never experienced prior to going natural. In more ways than one it has taught me how to truly love myslef bare. Striped of any ehancement, just me in my most natural state. A state that is less likely to care what others think is beautiful or exceptable. A state that screams " Fuck you, I'm Fabulous".