Tonya Mosley: She makes my heart sing!!

The background for this post is that I recently discussed the 'Your Africa is Showing' syndrome where a freshly washed natural head of hair is perceived as unnattractive even perhaps 'too African'. This leads some people to think that the only acceptable way to wear free natural hair is in a 'done up' style like a twist out.

I am all for abolishing this myth and encourage the ideal that freshly washed natural hair is cute. Well while I was zipping through comments on BGLH, I spotted this link from Tonya and in my opinion she is breaking boundaries. She wore her own free form natural hair on TV which is not something you see very often! It is time to abolish the idea that natural hair is not professional or tidy enough for a corporate job. Congratulations Tonya for embracing your natural hair, I am hugely proud of you!

Comments

  1. Yay! She makes me happy too..go on w/ your bad self girl! Love it..it looks vibrant and professional.

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  2. It's cute and contemporary!

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  3. Squeee! It's lovely to see Tonya and her beautiful hair featured here!

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  4. Lovely! She looks beautiful, polished and professional. Take that all you naysayers!!

    Last night I watched Wanda Sykes on Jay Leno's show. Her fro was larger than usual and she looked great. Sometimes I wear my hair out i.e. in a large puff but I still feel a bit self conscious because it does attract attention. I couldn't help but wish that more non-celebrities wore their hair out that freely.I'm glad to see it is indeed happening!

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  5. Great point. A lot of naturals are always trying out puddings and gels and what not in search of "curl definition" which just means a more acceptable kind of curl. It's not relaxer, but they are still working hella hard to change what their hair really looks like.

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  6. Her hair is gorgeous! She looks really "professional" with it as well. I've got hair envy right now.

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  7. Im glad to see this especialy becuase im in the Northwest! Very inspireing.

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  8. MARIA, THAT'S A BIG YEP, I AGREE WITH YOU!

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  9. Beautiful!! I applaud the producers for allowing her to wear her free-form as well. I do believe more women on tv would follow suit if they were "allowed."

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  10. Even after reading Jc's writeup before watching the video-- and knowing more or less what I could expect to see in the video-- the amount of delight I got when Tonya first came on screen caught me off guard. (I think I might have sputtered to my laptop, "Her hair looks like my hair!") To see someone with whom I can identify hair-wise on the news, and not just in an iPod commercial or something "hip," warms my heart far more than I'd ever imagined. Having never been relaxed, I guess I've just gotten so used to how marginalized you can feel when you don't have straight hair and aren't typically represented in "professional" settings in the media.

    But, this? This makes me smile.

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  11. Anon on allowance - I think more producers would 'allow it' if they understood that it is simply how our hair grows - i.e the default. I think that learning curve requires we with the hair to be the teachers.

    Could not have said it better Nefertiti :)

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  12. she looks elegant and very professional! this is brilliant! :)

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  13. Wow, this post makes MY heart sing! Thank you JC for posting this and thank you ladies for the heartwarming responses. @Nefertiti your comments really touched me.

    Thanks again ladies!

    Tonya Mosley

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  14. Thanks for stopping by Tonya! You are awesome!

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  15. she looks great!

    and JC thanks so much for a fantastic blog - love the scientific perspective (studied chemistry & chemical engineering)


    my hair has been braids for a couple of years but i went natural at work for the first time this week -and the reactions have been fascinating. the best reaction was " i feel like i'm in a disco) accompanied by dance moves! lol.

    Thanks once again and keep up the good work

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  16. I agree with Anonymous. I believe more women would too if allowed. Unfortunately, we can't teach sometimes if we are not in the position of power. The bosses have the final say.

    Tonya is a beautiful woman with beautiful hair. I hope she inspires more women in TV. The more this image of us is out there, the more it will be allowed and embraced.

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  17. To me, she just looks "normal" gorgeously normal at that. What I find abnormal is the sisters of color with the unnaturally straight Euro/Asian hair....I just think that straight hair looks strange on women of color whose hair is not naturally so. I'll be happy to see if everyone would embrace the natural hair that they have been given by The Creator.

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  18. Awesome post JC. @ Maria touche, you hit the nail on the head. The first time I heard curl definition, I thought oh no, not the Jherri curl. Lol!

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  19. ummm J a mention on Japan
    and the suffering people are going through
    could hve been mentiioned here...
    just saying lets not forget others who dont have it as good as us

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  20. Anonymous on Japan - This blog is a personal platform meaning I decide what to discuss. I intentionally do not discuss current world happenings because frankly I do not have the time to give them proper justice beyond 'a mention'. Frankly the news outlets do a better job of telling people how to help.

    It is funny that you didn't mention that I did not talk about the devastation in Haiti or Indonesia (all recent events!). Are these deserving of less attention?

    In short there are different blogs for different purposes. This is a hair blog..deal with it.

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  21. @ Jc (this is a different Anonymous here) I think she meant you could have mentioned it because that's what the video was about-the disaster in Japan. I understand that you did not mention Haiti or Indonesia because it never came up, but in this instance it did. I mean it doesn't have to be the focus of the post because obviously this post is about the women's hair (which is gorgeous btw), but just a note wishing them well at the end maybe. Anyway, no harm done. :-)

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  22. Anon 21 March - I do appreciate that you are so sweet in your comment and I can see that there is no malice in your statement.

    I do simply choose to be equal. You say that Haiti did not come up but how could I miss it when 80% of the blogs I follow were making appeals? I could have made Haiti come up but I did not. I could have made New Zealand come up seeing that two of my friends had actual family in Christchurch but again I did not.

    Simply put, it seems like a tiny thing for me to say, 'all the best to the people of Japan' but what good is that? No, that is lip service (I actually have a stronger term for it which I will keep to myself), something I do not do.

    I think appeals with clear instructions on what people can and should do is the way forward. There are plenty of news outlets and blogs who are involved and helping in this way.

    The one positive that I see from Anon 1's remark is that she did listen to the report showing that it was indeed professional as I was emphasizing in this post.

    I just find comments like 'just saying lets not forget others who dont have it as good as us ' quite pathetic. I am from Kenya and my house is not far from the largest slum in Nairobi where child mortality is huge and only
    20% of kids make it to the age of 5. 50% of kids are orphans due to HIV and people live in houses with raw sewage and no running water. In short I have my causes that I am passionate about. I am not blind to the suffering of others least of all those in catastrophes. I just strongly believe in equality and I will not ever discuss one over the other.

    Finally I draw the line in the sand here. I will not accept any further comments unrelated to the topic at hand which is - natural hair is professional.

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  23. Tonya you look great I'd wish more of us would do this so we (or maybe me) would feel less weird about it

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  24. Officially freaked out here - Nami pia ninaishi UK sasa. Nilizaliwa Kenya na nyumba yetu ilikuwa karibu na slum kubwa.

    Appreciating the science you continue to bring to hair care.

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  25. Karibu hapa kn. Dunia hii kweli ni ndogo!

    (which translates to Welcome Kn - isn't this a small world!)

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