By Stephanie Cross

In the late 60s and early 70s, the Afro was the hairstyle fashion statement of the day. It inspired such statements as “Black is Beautiful” and “Black Power.” Some chose the hairstyle as a way to reject European beauty standards and embrace African roots and culture.
Now, with the resurgence of AfricanAmerican women wearing their hair naturally, the “fro” is back in and what is happening again. Whether it’s worn in a natural Afro, twist, locks, or cornrows, many African American women are embracing this Old Skool do.
But there are still those who prefer their crowns to be chemically straightened, pressed and hot combed.
“I do see more African American women wearing natural hair and it is inspiring, but I'm still wrestling with my ‘natural do' at the moment because I'm impatient and don't like to mess with it,” said local graphic artist Paula Jones.
Janice Jennings, president of the National Council of Negro Women, Denver Section, said she switched to an all-natural hairstyle because, “I was losing my hair. The doctors were not sure if it was from the various medications I was taking, stress or prior chemicals I had used on my hair.”
The silent killers of our hair are the chemicals we use, along with whatever medications a person may be taking. Hair is a natural cuticle and responds to harsh treatments, body chemical imbalances, and even exposure to sunlight. Web designer Lisa Cross has been styling her hair natural for the past few years.
“It was a matter of maintenance and scalp health,” Cross said. “Relaxers irritated my skin and I got tired of the various products I needed to maintain my relaxed hair, so I went natural.”
There are those who equate beauty by the way they style their hair. It’s a crown and extension of being. Denverite Djuana DuBois has been wearing her hair natural for 12 years. She feels more and more African American women are transitioning to natural hair because it is neat and sharp. It adds a certain confidence, which you are not entitled to with processed or fake hair, she said.
A few natural styles are still not acceptable in the American workplace, and civil rights groups litigate cultural bias and discrimination suits about attitudes toward “natural” hairstyling.
Sara Murphy, a single mother and a project manager, recently went natural. She sees more African American women in Colorado moving in the same direction, but not many in her age group of 30 to 40 years old.
We will continue to see more women embrace a natural way of styling. Karren Donald, 64, who wears silver locked hair, said, “It seems to be very trendy now to be natural.”
For some, natural is a mental state of being, a move off chemicals. For others, change comes about because it is seen and looks good.
“I give a shout out to all my sisters who have it naturally going on and for my sisters who are beautifully bald either by choice or for medical reasons,” said Jennings.
Recently, I too embraced my natural hair after debating it for over a year. As I age, I do not want to rely on a chemical product to keep my hair looking decent.  Making a switch is crucial and beneficial. My whole outlook on life has changed. It is like coming out and embracing a fresh and rejuvenating view of what natural beauty is, and what it will always continue to be.

Sly Johnson, hairstylist and owner of Sly’s Salon, a multicultural hair salon located in the Denver Uptown neighborhood, has seen his clientele go from 100 percent relaxer-driven to a 60 percent lock clientele. Sly has been turning out lock styles for the past eight years. He recently sat down with DUS to discuss the new trend.

Denver Urban Spectrum: Why would you say there is an increase of African American women going natural?
Sly Johnson: Black women want change and to stop going through the harsh treatment of the relaxer: the burning, loosing hair in spots, damaging the scalp so bad that the hair is never in a real healthy state. Relaxers make the hair weak.
DUS: What about those African American women who use products purchased off the store shelf to relax their hair at home?
SJ: That is kind of scary because they have no idea how long that product was in the warehouse. And, we really do not know how long it might be in a warehouse before they bring it out to the stores.  So once you get it, the product has a shelf life. The alkaline increases in strength the longer it’s on the shelf.  They make a lot of money selling it to Black woman for a real cheap price.  Then the results are they have to come to a professional to fix the problem or they have to buy more expensive products to keep the hair they have left from using a bad product.
DUS: What brought you into the industry?
SJ: I am a third generation cosmetologist.  I was born and raised in a hair salon.  I never thought I wanted to do it because I did not like the stereotype in those days of a male stylist being gay. I would always do it on the side because it was in my blood I guess. So with my girlfriends, I would do their hair and tell them not to tell my friends or anybody who did their hair.
I tried corporate America for about seven years and it just didn’t work out for me. I noticed that my mom and grandma were making a lot of money as cosmetologists and had a lot of respect in the community because of how they would give back. In corporate America, you are just part of a big picture and never get the immediate satisfaction like being a hair stylist. I like to make people feel good. I worked for McDonnell Douglas and we just made weapons to kill people and I could never brag about my job or talk about what I do and feel good about it.
Once I was given the opportunity to go to Beauty College, I ran with it. I graduated top of my class, summa cum laude, and was president of my class. I really excelled while I was in school because I liked the theory behind it. I knew how to press hair—I knew how to curl it—but I did not know the theory behind it. What makes a relaxer work, what makes a curl work, what makes the color work? In school I learned all those things and I got really excited about it, and it’s been wonderful ever since.
DUS: Where are your mother and grandmother originally from?
SJ: They came from Mississippi to St. Louis. My grandmother looked just like a white woman. She was French and German. So in our neighborhood she was able to do white women’s hair, the nuns, priests and the Black women. That is the reason why I am a multicultural stylist.
DUS: The research group Mintel estimated sales of Black hair care products at $1.7 billion in 2004. This included items that are chemically altering, wigs, hair extensions, and weaves. What can we do as a people to fuel this money in a different direction if one considered a natural way of styling their hair?
SJ: Giving up some of the chemical services. I think a lot of African American women still have that mental slavery going on that was planted in them along time ago through their ancestors and their great-great grandparents because we had to look a certain way to get certain jobs if working in the house or working outside. If you are going to work in the house you got to look more like us to be more acceptable to cooking in my kitchen, bringing me my food, and waiting on me in restaurants you had to look a certain way.
You have women who have been doing relaxers 30 and 40 years. That is a lot of money.  Their kids are starting to do them. Now, I am finding out that there are kids 10 and 11 years old doing relaxers now. You have a lot of biracial kids whose parents have no clue and using relaxers now.
I don’t know, I just think the $1.7 billion that we spend on hair products doesn’t go to us. Because of that $1.7 billion you have to think that the white corporations are manufacturing the product, distributing the product, maybe we have two or three who are still distributors like Mr. Dudley. A lot of them have been bought out. For me, it is just a mental slavery that we go through because we limit the things that we can do.
DUS: How much money do you think we can generate as African American women if we stop relaxing our hair for a year?
SJ: If you got a million women to do it, it would be $665 million dollars just to give up a relaxer for one year. That is like seven applications at $95 per application; that’s instant millionaires in one year. You can buy a lot of property, you can buy schools, put that money toward your kids’ education, your grandkids’ education just giving it up for one year. It’s not much of a sacrifice to give it up for one year and to invest in your future or your kids’ future.