Rep. Ayanna Pressley of Massachusetts vulnerably revealed to her critics and die-hard fans alike that she is bald on Thursday, after suffering a fierce battle with alopecia that cost her her cherished crown. "This is my official public revealing," she began in an exclusive interview with The Root. "I've only been bald in the privacy of my home and in the company of close friends." The congresswoman is known publicly for being one-fourth of the House’s no-nonsense, liberal group of newcomers dubbed The Squad alongside Reps. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, Ilhan Omar, and Rashida Tlaib.
When Pressley spoke with the black news and culture site, she talked about a black hair journey that was as much personal as it was political. She said she often wore wigs and extensions until about four or five years ago, when she decided to merge her own hair with extensions and create a waist-length style dubbed Senegalese twists. "And what happened is that, I got these Senegalese twists and I feel like I met myself fully for the first time," the congresswoman said. "You know, I sort of looked in the mirror and I said, 'oh, there I am,' and it felt good."
While assuming her hair would be interpreted as a political statement of militancy, Pressley said it instead became an intentional statement of cultural pride. "What I was not prepared for was the glorious gift and blessing of the acceptance and the community and the affirmation," she said. "Now I walk into rooms and little girls are wearing T-shirts that say 'my congresswoman wears braids.’"
So when missing patches morphed into “sinkfuls of hair” last fall, she said she would look in the mirror and increasingly see someone who felt like a stranger. "I did not want to go to sleep because I did not want the morning to come where I would remove this bonnet and my wrap and be met with more hair in the sink," she said. Pressley lost the last of her hair in December, on “impeachment eve.”
"I was completely bald ... and in a matter of hours, was going to have to walk into the floor, the House Chamber, House of Representatives, and cast a vote in support of articles of impeachment," she said, adding that she "didn't have the luxury of mourning what felt like the loss of a limb." After casting her vote, Pressley left as soon as she could and “hid in a bathroom stall.”
"I felt naked, exposed, vulnerable. I felt embarrassed. I felt ashamed,” she said. “I felt betrayed, and then I also felt that I was participating in a cultural betrayal because of all the little girls who write me letters, who come up to me, who take selfies with me #twistnation." Pressley said she felt like she owed them an explanation, and even though her husband assured her she did not, she knew she would go public with her hair journey at some point.
"The reality is that I'm black, and I'm a black woman, and I'm a black woman in politics, and everything I do is political," she said. Reminded of the India Arie song “I Am Not My Hair,” Pressley said she still wants her hair and hopes that going public will help her in her journey. "I am ready now because I want to be freed from the secret, and the shame that that secret carries with it," she said, "and because I'm not here just to occupy space, I'm here to create it."
As someone who is quick to hide thin edges and other hair imperfections with no plans of changing, I can appreciate Pressley’s unveiling as pure, unadulterated courage in a society that seldom favors black women who don’t have straight or wavy hair. Even amongst black people, the perception of black hair is complicated. As I wrote in September for Honeycomb Moms, H&M’s feature of a black child model amongst other models with intentionally messy hair led to the company being heavily scrutinized and deemed culturally unaware.
Ezinne Kwubiri, a Howard University alumna and H&M’s head of diversity and inclusion, however, called out those critics in an Instagram post defending the child. “She looks like just about everyone of the little girls her age that surround me in my neighborhood and are in my home for parties and sleepovers,” Kwubiri said. “I love that H&M is advocating to let children be children and not force them to subscribe to grown up programmed ideas of how beauty and confidence should be displayed.”
To some, hair is a crown of glory meant to be revered when long and flowing and tamed when short and kinky. To others, it is an expression of beauty, standing tall and proud in its natural state, and to some, still, it’s just hair. But regardless of how we differ in our perceptions of black hair, Pressley revealed something deeply personal and made herself vulnerable in the process. I hope we can all see her as beautiful.