Patrice Jean Baptiste

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So tell me about your hair, what have you been doing with it now?

So I discovered this thing: I need to embrace that water is my friend, and it moisturizes my hair. If I do that, detangle it in the water, and put a good amount of conditioner in, I can twist as much as possible and take it out the next morning. It's the best because it's moisturized, it has a nice curl pattern, and it lasts a couple of days.

 

Have you always been natural?

I’ve been natural since 2010. I liked the look of natural hair, so I went from processed and straight hair to processed and curly hair. I did the texturizer. I thought that it was a perfect world because it would still look silky and curly, but it was eating my hair up. It looked great, but after awhile, whenever I would wet my hair or doing something with it, I was pulling hair out. I didn’t know why it was happening until I realized that it was the chemical. You can do it once, and then you have to try it as long as possible before you touch it up again. But, you’re still doing damage overtime.

 

What made you want to have relaxed/permed hair in the first place?

Oh God, what a saga! I was twelve years old, and my mom used to braid my hair. It was beautiful! I had long cornrows. Ugh, I mean all the way down to my back because my mom would comb my hair and braid it every night! We took a trip to Haiti--our bougie cousins--had opened a hair salon. They told me I was beautiful and told me that they could make it even more beautiful. We were like, “oh okay, that's cool,” and they put me in a chair. Soleil, slapped that stuff in my hair. I had no clue what was going on nor did my mother. They processed my hair. It was interesting--fun at the beginning. But, it was straight and lifeless. I didn’t know what to do with my hair after that. When we came back, I went to a salon, and I was like how do I deal with this. They told me I had to touch it up every 4-6 weeks, and they would trim it. It became my new life. I hated it. There was a time, around the time I was 14 or 15, when I did not touch it up. We would go to a new stylist, a black stylist, who told told me that I did not have to do this to my hair and that my hair was beautiful. She would tell me that if I wanted it straight, she could blow dry it for me once a month. At that point, I had already converted to that new religion of “my hair is straight all by itself--I don’t have to do anything to it to make it straight”. So, I didn’t follow along. That was back in the late 80s, and I could’ve had my hair natural all that time. But, I didn’t listen.

 

What made you want to keep the straightened hair?

Honestly, society reacted to me in a way that was pleasing when my hair was straight. I was more acceptable. I was, at that point, in college. I had internships in corporate America. Everything I did professionally was more acceptable with straight hair. I don’t think I even thought about not having my hair straight. It wasn’t worth the risk. It wasn’t the way to go.

 

When you went natural was it because you were placing the health of your hair over society?

Yes, and I was really transforming the definition of me. I was realizing that if I was conscious of my fitness, my weight, and my eating habits, why was I putting this in my hair? This didn’t happen all the time, only happened a few times, but I have burnt scalp. It healed, thank God, but I knew it wasn’t right. Something was wrong. Why would I keep burning my scalp or putting it at risk to be burnt? I went to the barber in 1992, I had a little bit of growth, but I shared all the hair off. All the chemical hair. I went home, and my mother was like, “what have you done?” And I told her that I have never been happier. I felt so free!

 

How has your hair shaped your identity now?

I think my hair has matched my spirit. It really is me. When I don’t have it natural--well I always have it natural, so I don’t what I’m talking about--when I don’t embrace my hair and love it and let it do it's thing, I feel like I am not embracing myself. When I do let it go, and let it be imperfect and do what it is going to to do, I feel so truly me. I feel happiest.

 

When you went natural, did you have to relearn how to do your hair?

Yes, but it brought me back to my childhood. I remembered what my mother used to do with my hair and how much I loved that process. I loved the regularity of sitting in between her legs and combing my hair. The other thing that happened is realizing my mom did more than she needed to. My mother did not moisturize my hair with some water. She used vaseline and Ultra Sheen. They were dense and sticky--not natural moisturizers. She did a great job; she did what she knew. Now I know that their are other products more conducive to my hair. Now with this whole fabulous, natural movement, I know there are better ways to take care of my hair instead of pulling on it like she did.

 

Message to your younger self?

Stop trying to conform to what other people want! It doesn’t work anyway! It just doesn't. Eventually, you discover who you are. Allow society to deal with it's own issues.

 

What do you like to listen to while doing your hair?

If it's at night and I’m exhausted, definitely African beats to keep me going. If it is a Sunday afternoon, and I am relaxing, some Lauryn Hill or some Jill Scott. Something soothing, but encouraging, so that I connect and remember why this is important.

 

Hair Icon?

Mini Marley! I love her! She has tips that are so practical and embraces water as part of her routine for everything she does with her hair. I love that because I work out pretty much every day, and if I can’t embrace water, I am carrying sweat in my hair. I can’t do what I really want to do: rinse it out. Her routines are like, “Yes, wet it! More conditioner!”. I’m always like, “yes!”