'Hair Tales' Is More Than A Conversation About Hair
Hair Tales, the new OWN six-part docuseries hailing from the minds of noted documentarian and executive producer Michaela Angela Davis, media mogul Oprah Winfrey, and everyone’s best friend in their head Tracee Ellis Ross who produces and hosts the series, tells the beautifully complicated relationship Black women have with our hair through a historical, political, and sisterly context.
Each episode uses the story of a famous Black woman we’ve all come to love and adore as a conduit to discuss the larger cultural context in which our relationship with our hair exists. xoNecole has compiled a list of our favorite moments from the series packed with standout moments.
“Our strength, our beauty, our power is in our crowns … but we are not those things also” — Tracee Ellis Ross
In the episode centered around Representative Ayana Pressley, she speaks about the painful decision to cut off all her hair after suffering from alopecia totalis, which caused her hair to come out in clumps. However, Rep. Pressley’s journey of losing her hair liberated her, so much so that after wearing a wig on the house floor once, she decided from then on to show her head in all its glory.
“What I admired about women who changed up their hair a lot is that they were free” – Dr. Tiffany Gill
Our favorite Awkward Black Girl Issa Rae talks to Tracee about the decision to cut off all her hair over a decade ago. Her journey with her hair would intertwine with her personal and professional journey as she launched her hit web series with the premiere episode showing her character shaving off her hair. “I was born — I was reborn — in a new way,” she said. Looking at her hair throughout the years, you can track the evolution of Rae as a person by the varying hairstyles, as she has admitted in an interview that she started experimenting with her hair more as she learned more about it.
“If we can legislate hurt and harm, then we can legislate healing and justice” — Ayanna Pressley
The Crown Act, a bill co-sponsored by Pressley, seeks to end hair discrimination against Black people in schools and in the workplace. The bill, which is currently sitting in the Senate, if passed would be a bold step forward in combating toxic ideals about who or what is or isn’t considered to be professional. That not only could natural hair be beautiful, but it could also exist in the workplace and classrooms.
“I live in God’s dream for me” — Oprah Winfrey
The executive producer of Hair Tales Oprah Winfrey speaks about her own relationship with her hair, which dates back to her childhood. She was taught that straight long hair was what was considered to be the pinnacle of beauty. The award-winning host even recalled a moment early in her career when her boss insisted she straightened her hair, even going as far as to recommend plastic surgery in order to assimilate to white beauty standards.
Feature image by LaylaBird/ Getty Images
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ItGirl 100 Honors Black Women Who Create Culture & Put On For Their Cities
As they say, create the change you want to see in this world, besties. That’s why xoNecole linked up with Hyundai for the inaugural ItGirl 100 List, a celebration of 100 Genzennial women who aren’t afraid to pull up their own seats to the table. Across regions and industries, these women embody the essence of discovering self-value through purpose, honey! They're fierce, they’re ultra-creative, and we know they make their cities proud.
VIEW THE FULL ITGIRL 100 LIST HERE.
Don’t forget to also check out the ItGirl Directory, featuring 50 Black-woman-owned marketing and branding agencies, photographers and videographers, publicists, and more.
THE ITGIRL MEMO
I. An ItGirl puts on for her city and masters her self-worth through purpose.
II. An ItGirl celebrates all the things that make her unique.
III. An ItGirl empowers others to become the best versions of themselves.
IV. An ItGirl leads by example, inspiring others through her actions and integrity.
V. An ItGirl paves the way for authenticity and diversity in all aspects of life.
VI. An ItGirl uses the power of her voice to advocate for positive change in the world.
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Why You Should Implement The Closing Shift Cleaning Hack Into Your Daily Routine
A new cleaning hack could allow you to do away with Saturday cleaning altogether because your house is already tidy. Closing shift cleaning is a viral trend originally named by influencer Clara Pierce, who shared with her followers how she keeps her apartment clean and how that leads to productivity and a better overall experience in her apartment daily.
"Whenever I'm really trying to set myself up for success for the next day, I close up my apartment like I'm closing a shift at work. Sometimes, the closing shift involves cleaning my entire apartment, and other times, it involves cleaning it 10% to make sure that it's better for the next day," Pierce shared with her followers.
The Closing Shift Cleaning Hack
@clararpeirce goodnight 😴🫶🏼 #closingshift #closingshiftcleaning #nightroutine
The closing shift video has garnered over 3.8 million views, and the hashtag #closingshiftcleaning now has over 71.3 million views, proving that TikTok users are benefiting from this cleaning trend. Now that we've entered the spring equinox, I applied this trend to my own home and discovered that spending an hour tidying my home daily versus having days where I clean for hours was far more productive.
The day-to-day ways that your home can become messy with dirty dishes, clothes, boxes from packages, etc., can easily create an environment that isn't conducive to rest. My home is my sanctuary, and with a busy schedule, making time on the weekends for one big clean wasn't giving me the experience that I needed in my home.
But taking the time every night before I went to bed to clean allowed me to wake up in an environment that not only looks good but feels good for my space and my mind. It also helped me to develop a routine to clean my dog's food and drink bowls nightly so that he was also benefiting from the closing shift routine, as the FDA recommends washing pet food bowls and utensils "after each use" and cleaning water bowls daily.
Decluttering experts such as Rebekah of Organize for Love have shared similar organization skills across social media platforms and through their offerings for those looking to organize their homes and lives. In this Instagram post, she discusses the importance of scheduled decluttering as well as having a routine to clean.
Have you tried the closing shift cleaning hack for your daily routine, or are you team "get somebody else to do it" with a weekly housekeeper? Please sound off in the comments, and let's get to cleaning.
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Featured image by Rockaa/Getty Images
