One of my lovely friends Judith Jacob, (radio presenter, actress and just fabulous) posted this the other day. I could go on for days about how amazing Judith is… but I won’t. You should follow her yourself and you’ll be the better for it. True story. She makes me think and feel and I’m blessed to know her. Anyway… back to her post.
BBC News – ‘Wear a weave at work – your afro hair is unprofessional’ https://t.co/HhpesRI7zg
— Judith Jacob (@JJyabbas) May 16, 2016
After I, of course, read the BBC news article; I’ve not stopped thinking about it.
What happens when your work is acceptable but your hair is not?
Leila – not her real name – says her London employer has told her on a number of occasions not to turn up for work with her natural hair.
She says she has been encouraged to wear a weave to disguise her afro hair.
And I thought to myself… what if that happened to me? Yes, I like to wear wigs. But I CHOOSE to wear them because I LIKE them. Not because someone is telling me what to wear or how to wear it. “Leila” goes on to share her feeling on the matter….
I am West African, and I work at a consultancy firm in London. I am always being made to feel that my natural hair gives the impression that I am unprofessional”, says Leila.
A few years ago I had my hair styled in cornrows and I was asked quite blatantly by my boss how long it would be before my hair was back to ‘normal’.
I was taken aback. I could not believe what I was hearing.
Although shocked, I did change my hairstyle – I did not want my hair to be the cause of problems for me at work.
Have you ever dealt with this? What do you think? Let’s talk about this…
