dreadlocks
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Fresh Cuts: Lena Waithe Loses Her Locs!
Sometimes, you just gotta let it all go … which is exactly what writer, producer and actor Lena Waithe did over the weekend when she traded her trademark locs with shaved sides for a low fade with a curved side part, created by Barber Doll the Slayer. While we can’t guarantee that this transformation will…
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U.S. Navy Ends Ban on Dreadlocks for Women
The U.S. Navy is joining other branches of the armed forces, including the Marines, the Army and the Air Force, and putting an end to its ban on dreadlocks for the women who serve our country. The Huffington Post reports that the Navy announced the lift on its ban during a live broadcast on its…
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Supreme Court May Have to Decide if Banning Dreadlocks Is Racist
An Alabama woman who lost her job after her employer said that dreadlocks “tend to get messy” has petitioned the Supreme Court to decide if the company’s policy is discriminatory. In 2010, Chastity Jones applied for a job at Catastrophe Management Solutions, an insurance-claims-processing company in Mobile, according to AL.com. After Jones was hired, she…
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For Dreadlocked Servicewomen, the Fight for Acceptance Is Both a Military and Civilian Battle
First Lt. Whennah Andrews of the U.S. Army National Guard tries to hide her braces while showing off her smile. But four years since first advocating against grooming regulations that barred soldiers from wearing natural hairstyles, her smile hints at relief over one of the final steps in the fight for acceptance. A decade-old ban…
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We Need to Talk About Jeremy Lin’s Dreadlocks
Jeremy Lin has dreadlocks. As a writer, I was taught to craft a “lede” to a story that concisely summarizes the who, what, when, where and how of the story. I’ve been doing this for a long time, but sometimes you have to use the words that Jesus puts in your heart. When I bent,…
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Twitter Scratches Its Collective Scalp After Seeing Klansman With Dreadlocks
Lawd a mussy, I must be getting old, because I think I’ve seen it all. At a recent Ku Klux Klan rally in Charlottesville, Va., at which hundreds of protesters dwarfed the 50 or so bigots bitching about a Robert E. Lee statue, a photo emerged of a young Klansman with locs. The BBC reports…
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In ‘It’s About Damn Time’ News, the Army Approves Locks as a Hairstyle for Black Women
Black women serving in the United States Army will now, finally, be able to wear their hair in locks (also known as dreadlocks) and twists, after an exhausting and what many believe, unfair fight over many years. Couched in new regulations focused on grooming policy changes related to religious accommodations, the largest branch of the…
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'Crazy Baldheads' Seek to Eliminate Dreads
Is there a causal connection between hairstyles worn by black boys and their future success, and should we strongly encourage these boys to avoid wearing dreadlocks and braids? That’s what Steve Perry, Steve Harvey and the U.S. Army seem to be arguing. Recently, they teamed up to disseminate pearls for success to an audience of…
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Black Aesthetic, White Supremacy: Steve Perry’s Tweet Needs Cutting More Than Black Boys’ Hair
Furious responses to educator Steve Perry’s tweet last week regarding Steve Harvey’s National Mentoring Camp for Young Men is a healthy sign that black people won’t accept self-loathing as a viable solution for underachievement. Perry, who founded the all-male Capital Preparatory Magnet School in Hartford, Conn., recently announced a partnership with hip-hip mogul Sean “Puffy” Combs…