I was raised in a predominantly white neighborhood, where I attended primarily white schools with not many students who looked like me. I saw my coarse hair as nappy and untamed, and I looked at my melanin skin as burnt. At the age of six in elementary school, I hated what I saw in the mirror. I hated how my hair didn’t fall down my back like my white peers, and I envied their peachy complexions. I was raised in a Christian home by a Black mom and an African father, so I was immersed in different cultures at home, which made me more confused about my black identity. Because my mother did not know how to take care of my kinky hair, I begged her to let me get perms at seven years old to fit in. Because I was misled and confused about my identity, I never could be myself with the black girls at school because I was an “Oreo,” and I never fit in with the white girls because I didn’t look the part. It wasn’t until after my mother, my little sister, and I moved to another state when I began embracing the strong black girl that I knew I was capable of being. My mother did the big chop in 2013, which motivated me to also go completely natural by captivating my kinky hair back to life. After my mother passed in 2014, before my fourteenth birthday, I was immediately pushed into a motherly role of taking care of my sister, which involved me learning how to braid and tend to our natural hair. As time passed through high school, going natural gave me a new sense of confidence, and it also pushed me to learn how to braid, twist, and many other hairstyles. From big afros to straight back cornrows, I allowed my hair to set the tone of who I was as a proclamation of my newfound black girl pride. Being free and expressing myself through my hair has given me the power and excellence that I never had as a young girl suppressed and confined by the world’s beauty standards. In our evolving world, the standards of what is seen as acceptable for black women have been a controversial conversation since the beginning of time. Black women have faced racial and sexist discrimination in the professional, traditional, and other aspects of life. The expectations of what we should wear, how we should look, or what we should do with our lives are always placed under a magnifying glass for the world to judge. I have used the experiences that I faced as a young girl to help empower other black women while I attend school at a PWI university by creating my hair braiding business. To uplift and educate my black peers, I started my business which has enabled me to educate those who lack knowledge about taking care of their natural hair. Thank you for reading my essay!

Growing up, I have always had a passion for doing hair. Going to cosmetology school and becoming a licensed hair braider is one of my goals once I complete my undergraduate studies at Oral Roberts University. I currently run a hair braiding business called Mmkay Braids on Instagram that has grown exponentially since I created my business at the beginning of my freshman year in 2019. My business started with me braiding the hair of a few of my friends until I grew a following around campus which is when I became interested in entrepreneurship. While attending a PWI, I noticed the lack of knowledge and expression of how to take care of natural, kinky hair amongst my black peers. Creating a platform for the black community on campus to reach out to learn more about their hair, protective styles, and the nature of their kinky hair has been one of the best outcomes of running my business. It has also created an extra flow of income and the work-study job that I work on campus. My long-term vision for my hair braiding business is to create a larger platform that encourages black hair education and expression for underprivileged black communities. Through expanding my business, I would also love to collaborate with organizations and nonprofits that provide educational and beneficial assistance within black communities by offering hair services and educational braiding classes. To do so, I plan to network with the agency that promotes well-being within the black community that I can collaborate with to provide hair services. I aspire to elevate my brothers and sisters, who have been silenced by the unrealistic expectations that our society has placed on us. Someone who has inspired me to pursue my goals in expanding my hair services is Shirley Raines, the founder of the nonprofit Beauty2TheStreetz. Beauty2TheStreetz aims to serve the homeless populations on Skid Road in California by providing everyday essentials like food and water and beauty services. During the peak of the COVID-19 pandemic, Shirley Raines assisted in providing emergency support for those within the homeless community, reading about how she has used her social media platforms and her bright charisma to help uplift and change the lives the underappreciated and less-fortunate populations. I aspire to expand my hair business into deeper depths that are unique and frequently overlooked. As an undergraduate student at Oral Roberts University, I have learned how to be led by my faith and my passions to enlarge my visions and goals to help elevate the appreciation and education of natural black hair.

My need for this scholarship is excellent, as I need additional funds for my final year in college to complete my undergraduate degree at Oral Roberts University. If I am selected to receive this degree, the funds will go towards my tuition that has increased this year. I believe that I am an outstanding recipient of this scholarship because I have a passion for giving back and advocating for those whose voices are heard small. During my time at Oral Roberts University, I have acquired a greater understanding of how apply my writing and empathizing skills into the real world through my study of Social Work. Receiving this scholarship will not only relieve the financial burden that comes with receiving a college degree, but it will also give me a new found appreciation for writing and the art of giving.