Synopsis

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I sling my bag over my shoulder. “I’m off now; see you later!”

She hurries towards me, eyebrows furrowing in disbelief. “You’re going out like that?” she whispers.

“Like what?” I reply, quickly giving myself a once-over in the corridor mirror.

She stills; “Aren’t you going to cover your hair? It’s not done. Let me get you a scarf.” She begins to look around frantically.

Confused, I run a hand over the soft bouncy curls of my Afro. With that just-washed fragrance that I love, my hair looks lovely to me. “My hair is done; it comes out of my head done, in ready-styled, tight curls”, I explain.

“You can’t go out like that”, she insists, her eyes widening in sheer horror. “What will people think?”

Coiled hair, coarse hair, kinky hair, often mislabelled “bad hair”, many sisters have grown up being told that the very hair that comes out of our head simply isn’t good enough. As a result, many have openly confessed to a struggle to embrace the very look of their natural woolly hair throughout most of their lives, and knowingly or not, have denied themselves one of the most basic and fundamental of human freedoms. Thankfully, as the truth becomes more and more apparent that the beautifully powerful and exceptionally versatile natural woolly hair is indeed the original, and needs to be displayed, not hidden, hopefully dialogues like the one above will quickly become a thing of the past.

Issues in life revolve around lies and truth, and this natural woolly hair issue is no exception. In BEFORE WE BECOME EXTINCT – How Do I Get the Confidence to Wear My Natural Woolly Hair? sisters T.C. and D.U. Okonkwo will explore this issue in order to answer this often-unspoken question. They will share profound insights into the link between love, lies, fear and rejection, since these underpin the struggle many sisters have with embracing this unique and exceptional aspect of their beauty.

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​If you struggle to confidently display your natural woolly hair - perhaps you used to wear it but now feel the pressure to hide it - or if indeed the very idea of displaying your woolly hair makes you feel anxious and fretful, this book is for you. It encourages you to dig deep and consider for yourself the answers to many of the questions posed, and to use these answers as fuel for empowerment, to ultimately free yourself from this woolly hair issue, and more importantly…stay free.

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About the Authors

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After they both cut their hair down to TWAs years ago, the Okonkwos have experienced first-hand the challenges that black women face when embracing their natural woolly hair in a loose and free style. They have found that the one question that remains consistent from other black women, whether voiced or otherwise is “How do you get the confidence to wear your woolly hair?”

During their hair journey, the Okonkwos have come to realise just how big an issue woolly hair on black women still is within the black community and can see that this is one of the main reasons why their sisters’ health is being compromised on so many levels.

So, with compelling and thought-provoking truths, irrefutable insights, and practical advice, Before We Become Extinct: How Do I Get the Confidence to Wear My Natural Woolly Hair? has been birthed. It empowers black women to embrace this most unique aspect of their beauty, and with this book the Okonkwos are valued contributors to the woolly hair discussion, characterized by their unflinching dedication to hair freedom.

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