North Texas Daily

[df-subtitle]Natural Hair Group returns to campus[/df-subtitle]

Chelsea Watkins | Staff Writer

@chelloo

For women on campus who want to celebrate their hair, the Natural Hair Group is starting up this semester after a year-long hiatus. The first meeting is at 7 p.m. today in Wooten 222.

“When the group was first founded, the natural hair thing was becoming a big phase for a lot of people so it was a way for us to connect,” president Danika Adams said. “Now it’s more so a gateway to women empowerment and just being confident within yourself.”

Adams, an interdisciplinary studies senior, was an original member of the group in 2013. She took it upon herself to revamp the organization because she still saw its potential.

“Going Natural” is a growing movement where black women openly embrace the hair texture they were born with, the original purpose of the Natural Hair Group.

History professor Constance Hilliard said that there has been a deep wound for black women, who have felt excluded from the American aesthetic and sense of beauty due to their hair texture.

“What that means is that young black women have come together over an issue that has created a lot of pain and have turned it into something joyful,” Hilliard said.

Adams said the group is inclusive to all women with natural hair, though she hopes it will empower women of color.

“I want my org to change the stereotype people have on black women,” Porche said. “I want my org to always be a reminder that natural is beautiful and it’s here to stay.”

Over the summer Adams partnered with Erin Porche, who serves as vice president, to revamp the organization from the ground up.

Porche, a public relations junior, said being apart of the Natural Hair Group means a lot to her.

“I didn’t start accepting who I was as a young, black woman until I went natural. So just to be able to come to UNT and meet a group of women who love, support, and are like minded is just amazing,” Porche said.

For most, being natural is not altering your natural hair with chemicals, such as perms, relaxers and even hair dye, Adams said. However, she said doesn’t want the group’s only focus to be natural hair.

“I don’t want the group to just be about a natural sense of hair. More like a natural sense of you,” she said.

The Natural Hair Group has already gained traction with students. A little more than 1,200 people currently follow them on Twitter.

Adams and Porche created a GroupMe chat to interact with those interested in the organization or those just wanting to relate with others on different subjects. Recently, the group chat hit the maximum of 200 people. They have contacted GroupMe to see if they could increase that limit.

“We actually talk every single day,” Adams said. “It’s really nice to see seniors talking to freshmen and giving them advice.”

During meetings, they plan on discussing different aspects of beauty, friendship, and understanding one’s purpose in life. As the organization grows, Porche wants to see the Natural Hair Group become something that establishes change on and off campus.

The groups holds regular meetings, but an official room has not yet been booked for the semester. To find out more about the meetings, follow them on Twitter.

Featured Image: Interdisciplinary studies senior Danika Adams poses for a photo in the Business Leadership Building. Adams is the founder of UNT’s Natural Hair Group. Meagan Sullivan | Senior Staff Photographer