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Today I went into work at Banana Republic, at the Winchester Mall, a “white” district manager popped in for a visit. I was told to go to the office and speak with my manager, Michael, who is a white man. I came in to his office and he questioned me about the dress code. Immediately I thought there was something wrong with my outfit, but he was more concerned about my hair instead. He told me that my braids were not Banana Republic appropriate, and that my hair was to “urban” and “unkempt” for their image. Michael explained, “If you do not take out your braids, I’m not going to schedule you for more shifts until you do.” I was shocked. When I tried to explain to him that it was a protective style for my hair because it tends to get brittle in the cold. He recommended that I should use Shea butter for it instead. I have never been so humiliated and degraded in my life by a white person. In that moment, I felt so uncomfortable and overwhelmed that I didn’t even finish my work shift,…show more content… The minute Jackson’s hair was shown in film every Black girl in America wanted to have box braids, because they could style their hair in multiple ways. For example, girls could throw their braids in a ponytail, dress them up, or toss them under a hat just like Jackson. “The boxed braids aren’t different from the Eembuvi braids of Namibia of the chin-length bob braids of the women of the Nile Valley over 3,000 years ago.”(Emon Fowler). Our ancestors weaved the hair the hair into a fiber skull cap made from extremely durable materials, such as wool. Box braids after all are low maintenance, versatility, and overall an inspiring hair choice. This makes women all over the world feel more empowered to rock a hairstyle that was a stem directly from African American heritage. Today in society Black woman, Tompkins for example, still feel speechless pressure to conform to this idea of what people should look
