4 - Black Voices in Healthcare: Hair
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How does the host describe the personal significance of Black hair in her life?
You're listening to The Nocturnist, Black Voices in Healthcare. I'm Ashley McMullen. The story of my black hair is the story of my life. hours spent at my mom's feet as she braided and plaited and pulled and twisted my curls after a long day at work. It's hours spent at salons, in that intimate space where black women are free, to let their hair down and take respite from a world that cannot handle their magic. I started straightening my hair in grade school, using chemicals to break it down, to will it into submission, into something acceptable, something more professional, something less black. I stopped. I traded the chemicals and flat irons for box braids, twist outs, and wash and goes. I love my hair.
I love the culture that's represented in every curl. A culture that will not be broken, that will not be subdued, and will not be erased. This week we heard about your hair stories. So much love and care alongside so much vulnerability and pain. Here it is, episode four, hair.
I didn't think much of my hair when I was a kid growing up. I mean I have very vivid memories of it, I remember the sting, that burn feel as the hot iron sizzled the top of my ears and the sound it made as it slid through the grease on on my scalp. The same sound that was made by my mom that same morning cooking bacon. I remember I remember the colors. I remember how orange my hair would turn in the Southern California summers. From the Chemicals in the swimming pool while my friend's yellow Trusses turned green. But I really was finally awakened and That I possess this gift on my head. In college. My boyfriend and I decided to take a trip down into Mexico. In Tobaja, California. So My mom put my hair into the tightest corn rolls that she could, my skin stretching, tearing, feeling like it's tearing from the seams, so it would stay.
And we packed into our four wheel truck and just headed south. It was mostly just sleepy fishing villages. I was in one of these little villages. That I discovered my gift. So I'm sitting just in my chair watching the ocean. And I heard laughter. And I turned and saw a group of children. Just looking at me and giggling. Амі, хан окрed to me really until that point that. They probably had never seen an American like mi. in that part of of Mexico. One brave little boy decided to come up close to me. And he put his brown little arm next to my brown arm. Looked me dead in the eye with just such wonder. And then the puzzled look came, and he pointed to my head and said, El pelo. The hair. А which point the rest of the little village kids came around.
And It's not like it is in the States where someone looks at your hair and goes, Oh my god, like how do you do that? I mean, it w it was more like they had such Or I was a goddess to them. And they wanted to touch it. I mean, how many times do we hear that? Can I take your hair? And it's seems so insulting, but I felt like I was able to give them this gift.
What childhood memories does the guest share about hair styling and chemical treatments?
I was going to allow them to touch the goddess. Yes, you may touch the hand. I mean there's there's nothing like it, the joy of children and I still see it today in practice as a pediatrician. Where they walk in and they're looking at my locks. And they're like, Doctor? Why's your hair like that? Staring at my head and pointing. But I could tell there was a true curiosity. They wanted to know. Why I was bestowed such a gift, why I was able to be the goddess. And how was I able to get these locks? So every day I walk into my office. I'm sad to have to put these trusses away because of covet. I'm afraid of some four year old sneezing into them. But the second I'm out of that office, I'm letting my locks go because I recognize that this is me.
I love my hair. Oh so much love. So much love is locked up in my curls. But Lord knows my hair has been a blessing and a curse all my life. Now I've always had a really interesting relationship with my hair. When I was younger I hated it because it took away from my playtime. My aunties tell me stories of how I used to run screaming. as a child away from anyone with a comb because I just didn't wanna deal with it.
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Chapters
8 chapters
1
How does the host describe the personal significance of Black hair in her life?
0:01–4:04
2
What childhood memories does the guest share about hair styling and chemical treatments?
4:04–9:52
3
How did a trip to Mexico reveal the cultural value of hair to the guest?
9:52–13:19
4
Why do Black clinicians experience bias related to their hair in professional settings?
13:19–17:42
5
How can simple acts like braiding a patient’s hair impact their healing in the hospital?
17:42–22:13
6
What ethical dilemma arose when a baby’s hair was cut in the NICU?
22:13–25:38
7
In what ways does the episode frame Black hair as an act of resistance and identity?
25:38–28:41
8
What final reflections do the storytellers share about the power of Black hair in healthcare?
28:41–32:57