Dear Deborah Brown Community School ~
It is quite a feat for a small charter to make national
news. It is perversely disappointing, however, to read that a charter
school led by two black women is systematically persecuting students of color
for celebrating the natural textures of their hair.
As an educator, I understand and value the impact of
comportment. Indeed, many ills of the contemporary school environment can
be aggravated by lax guidelines on conduct and appearance. Nonetheless, your
policies against natural hairstyles levels a much more serious attack against
your students.
Rather than teaching them how to be “presentable,” your
policy forces the concept of “acceptable” at a disastrously early age. Yes, the
school should vigorously mandate “neat,” “modest” and “respectable.” These are
essential expectations. Denying the option of neatly, modestly and
respectfully showcasing the heritage of their hair, however, reinforces
a wickedly pervasive narrative that black success must be moderated, tame,
predictable and nonthreatening.
Why in the world would an all-black administration perpetuate
such an insidious agenda??
Our role as educators –educators of black children- is to
encourage our young scholars to pursue excellence and challenge them to
continually evolve as human beings. Your school dismisses dreadlocks and
afros as “fads,” but allows “soft” curls, fades, sprays of barrettes and even
synthetic weave to serve as the norm. This messaging is troubling and
misguided. Instead of instilling a philosophy of personal pride, you’re
imposing the habituation of self-loathing. I trust we can agree that the
enormity of our work with young people cannot allow for such a dangerous
distraction.
As a peer, and member of the community of youth workers, I
urge you to re-evaluate your school’s position on natural hair.
Hopefully, straight A students will never have to leave your facility in tears
again.
Respectfully,
dnk
Dasha Kelly
Founder / Director
Still Waters Collective
300 W. Walnut St.
Milwaukee, WI 53212
414.265. 1500 | fax.265.1515
Comments
Im a 43 year old (business owner with a Juris Doctorate) and was just last week thinking how best to transition out of my perm, and it crossed my mind that it would have been great to have never gotten a perm in the 1st place. Taking care of my natural hair would have long ago been natural for me minus over 20 years of toxic chemicals.
There is an amazing movement toward natural hair right now, which means there is a support for adults. But after reading your article, its clear that there needs to be support for school aged children through atleast educating school administrations.
By the way, someone of facebook posted your article which is how I landed here, posting on natural hair fb groups would be super effective to alerting and garnering support that would make the school administration take notice. (The business I own, is a marketing agency, so this is professional advice :)
Patrice, I'll continue to cross-post. Other natural hair groups is a great idea.
Enjoy your hair journey. The adventure is well worth it, especially with the information and resources available now.