Now, she’s in the creative and wellness industry. Since Lawrence left the bank, she’s been able to work for herself, on herself, and wear her hair however she wants. Lawrence and other Rasta people believe that the land will provide for the community and that the community provides for each other. Sitting with her on hot, black sand at Bob Marley Beach outside of Kingston, Jamaica, I saw strangers in Rasta caps come up to her and call her empress. They’d hug her and, then, bring her a plate of food as though they were family.
“I have grown so much through some of the toughest situations that I’ve gone through, and my people have always been there for me, so I’m always just grateful for every step of the way,” she said. “My hair is symbolic of that journey.”
I began my own journey to overcome intergenerational trauma through my hair. After I moved out at 18 and temporarily cut ties from my mom, I did the big chop, cutting away split ends and curls that were unhealthy from all the years of chemicals and heat. In 2020, I finally transitioned to locs, which transformed my healing and identity journey.
That’s because Black hair has a long political history. Prior to landing in the Americas, traffickers of enslaved African people forced them to shave their intricate hairstyles, robbing them of their identity, culture, and traditions, all while vilifying their hair.
“We are still, by and large, suffering from that today,” said Dr. Michael Barnett, author of The Rastafari Movement and a Caribbean studies professor at the University of the West Indies.
Our hair has also inspired social and political change in the wake of this trauma. The Rastafari culture in Jamaica, for instance, encourages Jamaicans to be proud of their African heritage by being proud of their natural hair texture, Barnett said. Afrocentric ideologies and locs empowered Jamaicans during their fight for independence in the 1950s and 1960s, he said.
“Part of the African consciousness is being natural,” Barnett said. “Hair is an important part of that lifestyle.”