1 00:00:01,000 --> 00:00:02,544 - On tour in Australia, 2 00:00:02,544 --> 00:00:06,048 stopped in Fiji, got in the ocean-- - Oh boy. 3 00:00:06,048 --> 00:00:08,717 - Woo! The weave locked. 4 00:00:08,717 --> 00:00:10,302 The weave-- - And you couldn't get it out? 5 00:00:10,302 --> 00:00:14,890 - It locked like a cement hood on my head. 6 00:00:14,890 --> 00:00:16,850 As soon as it dried, it would, like, be a block 7 00:00:16,850 --> 00:00:18,894 on my head. - Oh, my God. 8 00:00:18,894 --> 00:00:22,523 - I had to have emergency weave assistance. 9 00:00:22,523 --> 00:00:24,566 [both laughing] 10 00:00:24,566 --> 00:00:26,109 Emergency-- - Wait, that's amazing. 11 00:00:26,109 --> 00:00:28,862 - Emergency weave assistance. - Like, they couldn't get at the roots. 12 00:00:28,862 --> 00:00:30,447 You could not get it out. - You couldn't. 13 00:00:30,447 --> 00:00:32,073 - That's, like, my worst nightmare. 14 00:00:32,073 --> 00:00:33,033 - It is a nightmare. 15 00:00:33,700 --> 00:00:35,911 TRACEE ELLIS ROSS: Every kink, curl, and coil 16 00:00:35,911 --> 00:00:39,289 in a Black woman's crown has a hair tale. 17 00:00:39,289 --> 00:00:40,207 Who did your hair? 18 00:00:40,207 --> 00:00:41,542 OPRAH WINFREY: So, that hair journey 19 00:00:41,542 --> 00:00:44,378 started on the porch with my grandmother braiding my hair. 20 00:00:44,378 --> 00:00:47,422 TRACEE: We created a place for us to gather our stories. 21 00:00:47,422 --> 00:00:49,591 - I never know what my hair will do. 22 00:00:49,591 --> 00:00:53,679 TRACEE: Honoring our identity, culture, beauty, and humanity. 23 00:00:53,679 --> 00:00:54,888 - Braided. - Locks. 24 00:00:54,888 --> 00:00:56,348 PERSON 1: Cornrows. - Twist-out. 25 00:00:56,348 --> 00:00:57,516 PERSON 2: Hot comb. PERSON 3: Relaxed. 26 00:00:57,516 --> 00:00:59,142 PERSON 4: Any style you want. 27 00:00:59,142 --> 00:01:00,477 - Big. PERSON 5: Versatile. 28 00:01:00,477 --> 00:01:01,562 PERSON 6: Lush. - Beautiful. 29 00:01:01,562 --> 00:01:03,313 PERSON 7: Resilient. - Hair. 30 00:01:03,313 --> 00:01:05,065 - What version of myself do I wanna be? 31 00:01:05,065 --> 00:01:07,150 - You do not need hair to wear a crown. 32 00:01:07,150 --> 00:01:07,776 - Whoop! 33 00:01:07,776 --> 00:01:09,278 - My hair is like lace, so. 34 00:01:09,278 --> 00:01:10,445 [laughing] 35 00:01:10,445 --> 00:01:12,197 TRACEE: I'm Tracee Ellis Ross. 36 00:01:12,197 --> 00:01:15,325 Join me as we celebrate the truth of who we are 37 00:01:15,325 --> 00:01:18,245 through the wondrous world of our hair. 38 00:01:18,245 --> 00:01:21,248 ♪ upbeat music playing ♪ 39 00:01:26,128 --> 00:01:29,756 So, my hope is that these conversations that we have 40 00:01:29,756 --> 00:01:32,843 create more space for, um, 41 00:01:32,843 --> 00:01:36,221 belonging, um, self-actualization. 42 00:01:36,221 --> 00:01:41,810 And I think there's so much about our hair that is about community 43 00:01:41,810 --> 00:01:44,605 that sort of centers through our hair. 44 00:01:44,605 --> 00:01:48,692 And it can feel like... it's just a conversation about hair. 45 00:01:48,692 --> 00:01:51,445 But it's not, especially not for Black women. 46 00:01:51,445 --> 00:01:53,071 - It never is. - No. 47 00:01:54,323 --> 00:01:58,076 Oprah Winfrey is the fulfillment of possibility and purpose. 48 00:01:58,076 --> 00:02:01,538 ANNOUNCER: Oprah Winfrey and the Eyewitness News team. 49 00:02:01,538 --> 00:02:04,249 TRACEE: From her beginnings on her grandmother's porch 50 00:02:04,249 --> 00:02:08,795 to creating a life, career, and vision beyond expectations. 51 00:02:09,296 --> 00:02:12,758 She generously invites us all to discover a life 52 00:02:12,758 --> 00:02:15,636 bigger and more brilliant than we can imagine. 53 00:02:15,636 --> 00:02:19,264 [all cheering] - You get a car, you get a car, you get a car! 54 00:02:19,973 --> 00:02:23,977 TRACEE: Oprah Winfrey is Beyond a Wild Dream. 55 00:02:26,188 --> 00:02:29,900 Can you take us back to Oprah, seven or eight, 56 00:02:29,900 --> 00:02:33,070 sights, smells, sounds, hairstyles. 57 00:02:33,070 --> 00:02:35,447 - So, that hair journey started on the porch 58 00:02:35,447 --> 00:02:37,407 with my grandmother braiding my hair. 59 00:02:37,407 --> 00:02:39,409 ♪ 60 00:02:40,661 --> 00:02:44,665 Actually, when I think about it, it's one of the most loving times 61 00:02:45,040 --> 00:02:49,545 that I ever spent with her because she was proud of my hair. 62 00:02:50,963 --> 00:02:54,007 That was my claim to fame. 63 00:02:54,007 --> 00:02:58,220 For the earliest years, we'd just sit on the porch, wash our hair. 64 00:02:58,220 --> 00:03:01,515 So the washing process is, literally, your head over a bowl... 65 00:03:01,515 --> 00:03:03,517 - Uh-huh. - ...and you are-- 66 00:03:03,517 --> 00:03:05,143 and they're using a big pitcher. - Oh, like a pitcher. 67 00:03:05,143 --> 00:03:06,645 - Yeah, yeah, to, to rinse your hair out. 68 00:03:06,645 --> 00:03:09,606 So, that only happened, like, once a week or every two weeks. 69 00:03:09,606 --> 00:03:13,110 And then my grandmother is, you know, combing it out and braiding it. 70 00:03:13,110 --> 00:03:14,736 And it was a big deal. 71 00:03:14,736 --> 00:03:16,738 ♪ 72 00:03:19,449 --> 00:03:21,660 - It made me think of, like, the sisterhood around it, right? 73 00:03:21,660 --> 00:03:23,161 [group agreeing] Like, goin' to someone's 74 00:03:23,161 --> 00:03:26,123 and they washin' your hair in the kitchen sink or the bathroom. 75 00:03:26,123 --> 00:03:27,249 You know? Or even college. 76 00:03:27,249 --> 00:03:29,710 I think about first time gettin' a roller set for the first time-- 77 00:03:29,710 --> 00:03:31,336 - Hold my hand through it. - You know what I mean? 78 00:03:31,336 --> 00:03:33,922 [all laughing] - 'Cause it's, it's, it's a sisterhood. 79 00:03:34,214 --> 00:03:37,342 - You know, you see someone, you ask questions about their hair. 80 00:03:37,342 --> 00:03:39,761 It's a story behind it, you know? 81 00:03:40,512 --> 00:03:42,347 - A lot of us remember growing up 82 00:03:42,347 --> 00:03:44,224 and there was a, a Saturday or Sunday, 83 00:03:44,224 --> 00:03:46,393 and that's when your parent did your hair. 84 00:03:46,393 --> 00:03:48,604 Black hair takes a long time to do. 85 00:03:48,604 --> 00:03:51,732 And that is not a negative, even though we're told that it is. 86 00:03:51,732 --> 00:03:54,776 It takes longer to detangle. It takes a while to wash. 87 00:03:55,360 --> 00:03:56,570 With the styles that we do, 88 00:03:56,570 --> 00:04:01,158 it's not going to be, like, a Tuesday after dinner before bed. 89 00:04:01,158 --> 00:04:02,826 Whether it's with our grandparent, 90 00:04:02,826 --> 00:04:06,288 or our parent, or the aunt who's good at hair, 91 00:04:06,288 --> 00:04:09,666 you are spending a lot of time with that person. 92 00:04:09,666 --> 00:04:12,252 And you're talking and you're sharing stories. 93 00:04:12,252 --> 00:04:15,756 You're forming your own mini culture 94 00:04:15,756 --> 00:04:19,593 in this bigger Black hair culture of it being hair day. 95 00:04:19,593 --> 00:04:21,595 ♪ 96 00:04:22,137 --> 00:04:25,140 OPRAH: I started out with the cultural, 97 00:04:25,140 --> 00:04:29,895 Southern, rural upbringing that, "Girl, your hair is your crowning glory." 98 00:04:29,895 --> 00:04:34,566 - Mm-hm. - And that to even cut your hair was like 99 00:04:34,983 --> 00:04:36,401 a s-- a, a sin. 100 00:04:36,401 --> 00:04:38,946 - Yeah. - Like, to cut it, like, you wouldn't. 101 00:04:38,946 --> 00:04:41,031 And I remember wanting to wear bangs. 102 00:04:41,031 --> 00:04:42,783 That's why when I saw you with your 103 00:04:42,783 --> 00:04:44,826 little rolled-up bangs today. [Tracee giggling] 104 00:04:44,826 --> 00:04:48,622 I wasn't allowed to have a bang. - 'Cause that meant cutting your hair. 105 00:04:48,622 --> 00:04:49,873 - 'Cause that meant cutting your hair. - Yeah. 106 00:04:49,873 --> 00:04:52,709 - So, we would take my hair and do that. 107 00:04:52,709 --> 00:04:54,419 And then roll it up. - And how old were you? 108 00:04:54,419 --> 00:04:57,464 OPRAH: Oh, from the time that I ever saw anybody with a bang, 109 00:04:57,464 --> 00:04:58,674 I wanted one, so I was, like, 110 00:04:58,674 --> 00:05:01,176 two years old, three years old... TRACEE: So, when you were young. 111 00:05:01,176 --> 00:05:05,639 - ...four years old with this idea that, "Never cut your hair." 112 00:05:05,639 --> 00:05:07,850 Like, I don't know what would happen to me, 113 00:05:07,850 --> 00:05:10,853 so when I finally did cut my hair as an adult, 114 00:05:10,853 --> 00:05:12,604 not until I was-- - Did anything happen? 115 00:05:12,604 --> 00:05:14,773 - Nothing happened, but, ooh, 116 00:05:14,773 --> 00:05:16,817 I was waiting on the Earth to move. - Yeah. 117 00:05:16,817 --> 00:05:20,821 - Because of what I'd been told about, "Your hair is your crowning glory." 118 00:05:20,821 --> 00:05:24,700 - Hm. - And, fortunately, I was a young girl 119 00:05:24,700 --> 00:05:29,997 who had very thick hair, so my identity was my thick hair-- 120 00:05:29,997 --> 00:05:34,084 and sitting on the porch with my grandmother braiding my hair. 121 00:05:34,084 --> 00:05:35,419 And I never wanted more than three. 122 00:05:35,419 --> 00:05:38,172 I wanted the classic two in the back and the one on the side. 123 00:05:38,172 --> 00:05:40,549 - Aha. I thought you were gonna say the two on the side 124 00:05:40,549 --> 00:05:43,760 and the one in the back. - No, no, no, no, no, no. 125 00:05:43,760 --> 00:05:44,887 [laughs] 126 00:05:44,887 --> 00:05:48,098 No! It's the two in the back. - And then the one that goes-- 127 00:05:48,098 --> 00:05:49,641 - The one that goes here-- - Well, the two in the back 128 00:05:49,641 --> 00:05:51,768 gives you the length. - Yes, it gives you the length. 129 00:05:51,768 --> 00:05:53,937 And they, they do this. They move. - Yeah, they move. 130 00:05:55,439 --> 00:05:57,649 OPRAH: And I've seen every Black girl with this hair. 131 00:05:58,942 --> 00:06:01,361 TRACEE: Isn't that interesting? The, the movement of the hair. 132 00:06:01,361 --> 00:06:04,323 And I just wonder, does that come from 133 00:06:04,990 --> 00:06:07,743 the easy, breezy, beautiful, the bounce-- - Yes, it does. 134 00:06:07,743 --> 00:06:09,203 - So it comes from that, right? It comes from that. 135 00:06:09,203 --> 00:06:10,621 So we're still within that system 136 00:06:10,621 --> 00:06:12,623 that tells us that-- - But even now, 137 00:06:12,623 --> 00:06:15,417 you know, with my own hair that we, like, twist it 138 00:06:15,417 --> 00:06:16,960 and twist it and twist it. 139 00:06:16,960 --> 00:06:19,838 I, you know, was saying to my hairdresser this morning, 140 00:06:19,838 --> 00:06:21,381 I, I, I want some air in it. 141 00:06:21,381 --> 00:06:23,759 I want it to be able to, like, move, move. - Move. 142 00:06:23,759 --> 00:06:26,595 You mentioned this 'cause you said your hair was your crown, 143 00:06:26,595 --> 00:06:31,141 but what, from your childhood, what were you seeing around you? 144 00:06:31,141 --> 00:06:33,393 What was the experience other than being on the front porch? 145 00:06:33,393 --> 00:06:37,064 - Seven or eight, I was already in Nashville, and by that time, 146 00:06:37,064 --> 00:06:40,692 I was allowed to wear the two pigtails, which I also really loved. 147 00:06:41,568 --> 00:06:43,320 The photograph that sits on my desk now 148 00:06:43,320 --> 00:06:46,782 is me at eight years old with those two pigtails. 149 00:06:46,782 --> 00:06:51,453 I think the pigtails and the-- what they represent 150 00:06:51,453 --> 00:06:53,747 of me coming into my own, 151 00:06:53,747 --> 00:06:55,749 feeling smart... - Mm-hm. 152 00:06:55,749 --> 00:07:01,755 - ...feeling, um, like I was gonna be able to do something with my life. 153 00:07:01,755 --> 00:07:04,258 - Did you already know that at seven and eight? - I knew it at eight years old 154 00:07:04,258 --> 00:07:06,468 'cause I discovered Christ at eight years old. 155 00:07:06,468 --> 00:07:07,678 I joined the church. 156 00:07:07,678 --> 00:07:09,680 [choir vocalizing] 157 00:07:13,350 --> 00:07:17,396 I would literally sit in the church on the second pew from the left. 158 00:07:17,396 --> 00:07:19,314 I would listen to every sermon. 159 00:07:19,314 --> 00:07:22,442 I would take it in, then I would go back to the playground. 160 00:07:22,442 --> 00:07:24,069 I would preach to the children. 161 00:07:24,069 --> 00:07:25,863 - Oh, is that true? - Yes, it is very true. 162 00:07:25,863 --> 00:07:27,990 They used to say, "Here come that preacher girl." 163 00:07:27,990 --> 00:07:29,491 So, I was feeling-- - That's amazing. 164 00:07:29,491 --> 00:07:31,201 - Yeah, they would, like, run. 165 00:07:31,201 --> 00:07:33,620 "Here comes the preacher girl. She gon' tell ya 'bout Jesus." 166 00:07:33,620 --> 00:07:36,331 - Is that where you started to fall in love with language 167 00:07:36,331 --> 00:07:38,584 and the, the, the power of language? - Yes. Yes. 168 00:07:38,584 --> 00:07:42,379 I started to fall in love with language really early, early on 169 00:07:42,379 --> 00:07:44,381 because I was brought up in the church 170 00:07:44,381 --> 00:07:48,135 and my first encounter with a public speaking audience 171 00:07:48,135 --> 00:07:49,678 was in the church. - Yeah. 172 00:07:49,678 --> 00:07:51,430 - Like, three or four years old. 173 00:07:51,430 --> 00:07:53,098 "Jesus rose on Easter day. 174 00:07:53,098 --> 00:07:56,226 'Hallelu, Hallelu,' all the angels did proclaim." 175 00:07:56,226 --> 00:08:00,689 That was my first Easter piece, uh, that I was given. 176 00:08:00,689 --> 00:08:05,068 And I had such a strong reaction from the audience, 177 00:08:06,486 --> 00:08:08,322 I thought, "I wanna do this again." 178 00:08:08,322 --> 00:08:10,032 - Ahh. - And so, by the time I was 179 00:08:10,032 --> 00:08:11,700 seven, eight, ten, 180 00:08:11,700 --> 00:08:14,411 I was memorizing all of James Weldon Johnson's 181 00:08:14,411 --> 00:08:15,746 God's Trombones. 182 00:08:15,746 --> 00:08:17,414 - Wow. - I was going from church to church 183 00:08:17,414 --> 00:08:19,041 speaking at different churches 184 00:08:19,041 --> 00:08:23,462 and they'd say, "Little mistress Winfrey will present the Judgment Day." 185 00:08:25,130 --> 00:08:26,965 ♪ 186 00:08:28,258 --> 00:08:30,260 KIM: Grandma used to press my hair, grease was burnin'. 187 00:08:30,260 --> 00:08:32,304 She put those pin curls in my hair for church, 188 00:08:32,304 --> 00:08:33,305 you know, before church. 189 00:08:33,305 --> 00:08:34,932 - Oh, yeah. It's a special occasion 190 00:08:34,932 --> 00:08:38,268 at the-- - Easter, picture day. 191 00:08:38,268 --> 00:08:40,437 We all love a good slay. 192 00:08:40,437 --> 00:08:42,981 But now, I still feel the same. 193 00:08:42,981 --> 00:08:46,693 When I get my hair done, I still feel just as cute as I did at Easter time. 194 00:08:46,693 --> 00:08:47,694 - Yes. 195 00:08:48,111 --> 00:08:50,447 ♪ 196 00:08:51,532 --> 00:08:54,576 JESSICA CRUEL: Church hair for me, I'm thinkin', 197 00:08:54,576 --> 00:08:56,703 you know, two pigtails on the side 198 00:08:56,703 --> 00:08:58,997 with the little snap barrettes. 199 00:08:58,997 --> 00:09:02,543 Maybe some, you know, bobble ball barrettes. 200 00:09:02,543 --> 00:09:04,294 So much hairspray. 201 00:09:06,713 --> 00:09:10,050 The church, it was a place where Black culture thrived. 202 00:09:10,050 --> 00:09:13,512 Where we could truly... be ourselves. 203 00:09:16,515 --> 00:09:20,936 - This desire to inspire came from standing in front of the church 204 00:09:20,936 --> 00:09:22,396 and seeing people being moved. 205 00:09:22,396 --> 00:09:25,399 - That's really a beautiful image to understand sort of the journey 206 00:09:25,399 --> 00:09:27,359 of language for you. - Yes, mm-hm. 207 00:09:27,359 --> 00:09:28,694 - And sort of the power of it 208 00:09:28,694 --> 00:09:31,530 and how it can really pull you into another place. 209 00:09:31,530 --> 00:09:35,659 - Evoke you into wanting to inspire people. 210 00:09:36,034 --> 00:09:38,245 - It's really interesting but also really special 211 00:09:38,245 --> 00:09:41,373 the way you talk about your hair, the way you talk about who you are, 212 00:09:41,373 --> 00:09:43,959 the way you use language, it's wonderful. 213 00:09:43,959 --> 00:09:46,545 You were who you are. 214 00:09:47,296 --> 00:09:51,675 There's something really comforting when you go back 215 00:09:51,675 --> 00:09:56,138 and see-- I'm like, "Oh... she's been Oprah forever." 216 00:09:56,138 --> 00:09:57,181 That's the thing. 217 00:09:57,181 --> 00:10:00,058 I think hair is like a portal into our souls. 218 00:10:00,058 --> 00:10:01,059 - Yes. 219 00:10:02,853 --> 00:10:04,855 ♪ 220 00:10:07,774 --> 00:10:12,613 TRACEE: What, from your childhood, did you learn about hair? 221 00:10:12,613 --> 00:10:15,199 - I learned early on that straighter was better. 222 00:10:15,199 --> 00:10:17,743 - Mm. Was there a specific place you learned it? 223 00:10:17,743 --> 00:10:20,537 - In my grandmother's kitchen in Mississippi, 224 00:10:20,537 --> 00:10:22,372 when my Aunt Kate would come 225 00:10:22,372 --> 00:10:25,083 for special occasions... - Mm. 226 00:10:25,083 --> 00:10:27,336 - ...and you'd get your hair straightened, 227 00:10:27,336 --> 00:10:30,339 and you'd sit there with that Queen Bergamot 228 00:10:30,339 --> 00:10:33,550 and the straightenin' comb on the stove. 229 00:10:33,550 --> 00:10:35,761 [makes sizzling sound] And, and straightening the hair. 230 00:10:35,761 --> 00:10:37,679 TRACEE: Mm-hm. - Straightened, greased. 231 00:10:37,679 --> 00:10:39,306 - And that connected with the good event. 232 00:10:39,306 --> 00:10:42,434 - That connected with the good event. That c-connected with something special. 233 00:10:42,434 --> 00:10:46,647 That connected with, "Now your hair is the way it should be." 234 00:10:47,397 --> 00:10:48,899 - Now you're presentable. 235 00:10:48,899 --> 00:10:50,359 - Prettier. 236 00:10:51,068 --> 00:10:52,277 Prettier. 237 00:10:52,861 --> 00:10:54,863 ♪ 238 00:10:55,656 --> 00:10:58,659 - When I was growin' up, we were in North Carolina. 239 00:10:58,659 --> 00:11:00,869 Everybody was tryna straighten their hair. 240 00:11:00,869 --> 00:11:04,039 Everybody was just tryna fit in with the southern culture 241 00:11:04,039 --> 00:11:08,043 of just being straight and flat and everything, 242 00:11:08,043 --> 00:11:11,880 so my mother definitely burned me with that hot comb 'bout 50-11 times. 243 00:11:11,880 --> 00:11:15,342 I feel like in America we think that the standard of beauty-- 244 00:11:15,342 --> 00:11:17,719 is other cultures' straight hair, 245 00:11:17,719 --> 00:11:18,971 not our coils. 246 00:11:20,097 --> 00:11:21,849 ♪ 247 00:11:21,849 --> 00:11:24,810 - I can distinctly remember being in high school 248 00:11:24,810 --> 00:11:27,896 and my best friend and I havin' competition on who had the longest hair. 249 00:11:27,896 --> 00:11:32,067 I want it to be long. That was the thing that we wanted. 250 00:11:32,067 --> 00:11:34,778 But that's because everyone that we emulated: 251 00:11:34,778 --> 00:11:38,156 Beyoncé, Naomi Campbell, 252 00:11:38,156 --> 00:11:40,784 Oprah, everyone had straight hair. 253 00:11:40,784 --> 00:11:42,327 ♪ 254 00:11:42,744 --> 00:11:44,162 - And that messaging continued. 255 00:11:44,162 --> 00:11:46,206 I mean, 'cause, you know, you learn that in your kitchen, 256 00:11:46,206 --> 00:11:49,168 but then you go out into the world and it's being mirrored back everywhere. 257 00:11:49,168 --> 00:11:52,629 - Everywhere. Ideally-- Oh, my God. What I really wanted was that. 258 00:11:52,629 --> 00:11:55,007 What I really wanted was a ponytail. - Mm-hm. 259 00:11:55,007 --> 00:11:57,634 OPRAH: And so, to this day, that is my favorite way to wear it. 260 00:11:57,634 --> 00:11:58,510 It's just harder. TRACEE: Is it? 261 00:11:58,510 --> 00:12:00,846 - Yes, because I so wanted a ponytail 262 00:12:00,846 --> 00:12:02,514 that would do-- That moves. - That moves. 263 00:12:02,890 --> 00:12:04,725 JESSICA: Media is so important 264 00:12:04,725 --> 00:12:09,354 in how young women view themselves and view what is beautiful. 265 00:12:09,354 --> 00:12:10,856 ♪ 266 00:12:10,856 --> 00:12:15,485 When I think about the magazine and brand that I'm trying to create, 267 00:12:15,485 --> 00:12:18,739 it's one where you can open the pages and see a woman with locks, 268 00:12:18,739 --> 00:12:20,782 a short, cropped afro. 269 00:12:20,782 --> 00:12:22,534 You can see a bald woman. 270 00:12:22,534 --> 00:12:25,996 It's so important that we show young women that variety 271 00:12:25,996 --> 00:12:31,293 because otherwise, they'll think they need to fit into something that they're not. 272 00:12:32,586 --> 00:12:36,632 - When we diversify this hair game, it's not just the afro kinky look, 273 00:12:36,632 --> 00:12:42,012 it's not just locks, it's not just braids, it's, it's not just relaxed hair. 274 00:12:42,012 --> 00:12:46,225 It's a plethora of different styles that we can achieve. 275 00:12:47,184 --> 00:12:49,811 - Do you remember the first time you did your own hair? 276 00:12:49,811 --> 00:12:53,106 - I specifically remember doing it myself 277 00:12:53,106 --> 00:12:56,401 is once I got a job in television 278 00:12:56,401 --> 00:12:59,863 in Nashville and Baltimore, 279 00:12:59,863 --> 00:13:02,616 I was doing the wash and set, 280 00:13:02,616 --> 00:13:05,410 where you literally wash your hair, 281 00:13:05,410 --> 00:13:08,372 set it on the rollers, sit under the dryer. 282 00:13:08,372 --> 00:13:11,416 And, for me, in Baltimore, I had this little Chevy Chevette, 283 00:13:11,416 --> 00:13:16,004 and I would just literally wash my hair, set it, roll the windows down, 284 00:13:16,004 --> 00:13:18,924 drive to work with all the windows down. 285 00:13:18,924 --> 00:13:21,176 - Wasn't it cold? - Well, in the summertime. 286 00:13:21,176 --> 00:13:22,594 - Okay, okay, okay. - In the summertime. 287 00:13:22,594 --> 00:13:23,804 [laughing] 288 00:13:24,429 --> 00:13:26,431 Driving with the-- And then, by the time I get-- 289 00:13:26,431 --> 00:13:28,267 Take the rollers out, leave 'em in the car. 290 00:13:30,060 --> 00:13:33,105 I literally did this in my car. 291 00:13:33,105 --> 00:13:35,607 - Wow, I mean, that's a good hairstyle for the car. 292 00:13:35,607 --> 00:13:37,025 - [laughs] I literally-- - That's top line. 293 00:13:37,025 --> 00:13:39,111 You would've thought that was a salon. 294 00:13:39,111 --> 00:13:42,406 - I remember literally in Baltimore, everybody saying, 295 00:13:42,406 --> 00:13:43,866 you know, "It's a wig. It's a wig. It's a wig." 296 00:13:43,866 --> 00:13:45,826 - You were like-- - Uh-uh, it's my own hair. 297 00:13:45,826 --> 00:13:50,956 - I feel like there's, um, my mom, my aunt, I-- 298 00:13:50,956 --> 00:13:52,124 The roller set was just-- 299 00:13:52,124 --> 00:13:53,667 It was a look. Yeah. - That's what we did. 300 00:13:53,667 --> 00:13:55,669 ♪ 301 00:13:56,670 --> 00:13:58,672 DR. NOLIWE ROOKS: Consistently through history, 302 00:13:58,672 --> 00:14:03,552 Black people learned how to style our hair when everything was denied us. 303 00:14:04,928 --> 00:14:09,099 It's, like, if we just start with the U.S. on these plantations, 304 00:14:09,099 --> 00:14:12,519 you're, you're making combs out of whatever you have. 305 00:14:12,519 --> 00:14:13,979 You don't have a brush. 306 00:14:13,979 --> 00:14:15,939 These are not priorities for people. 307 00:14:15,939 --> 00:14:20,235 Ain't no time to be braiding and styling each other's hair. 308 00:14:20,235 --> 00:14:22,779 We used to tear up these little strips of cloth, 309 00:14:22,779 --> 00:14:25,157 tie 'em around our hair with whatever it was. 310 00:14:25,157 --> 00:14:27,451 Working in the sun all week 311 00:14:27,451 --> 00:14:31,622 meant that when you took these little strips of cloth out, 312 00:14:31,622 --> 00:14:34,041 between the sweat and the grease and the-- 313 00:14:34,041 --> 00:14:36,668 You had curls, you had curled your hair. 314 00:14:36,668 --> 00:14:40,422 And you would pull your hair out on Sunday and you would go to church. 315 00:14:40,422 --> 00:14:43,467 It was hair in its natural state, 316 00:14:43,467 --> 00:14:46,720 but we still figured out how to work with it. 317 00:14:48,096 --> 00:14:53,310 The next big moment is when there's groups of hairdressers. 318 00:14:53,310 --> 00:14:56,021 In the same way that it's almost impossible to think about, 319 00:14:56,021 --> 00:14:59,566 how do you style Black hair with no utensils? 320 00:14:59,566 --> 00:15:02,653 Think about there's no options for work 321 00:15:02,653 --> 00:15:05,948 for Black women in the South and in many parts of the Midwest. 322 00:15:05,948 --> 00:15:09,868 There are laws in these states saying you can't be anything 323 00:15:09,868 --> 00:15:13,539 but a domestic or an agricultural laborer. 324 00:15:13,956 --> 00:15:17,459 Madam C.J. Walker was a member of an entire community. 325 00:15:17,459 --> 00:15:20,671 In fact, she worked for a woman named Madame Annie Malone. 326 00:15:21,213 --> 00:15:27,219 They determined that they were gonna turn hairdressing into a career. 327 00:15:28,011 --> 00:15:34,017 There were thousands of Black women who turned to hairdressing as a career. 328 00:15:34,643 --> 00:15:36,311 And hairdressing 329 00:15:36,311 --> 00:15:41,441 was working with and for other Black women. 330 00:15:41,441 --> 00:15:45,863 They sent kids to school. They paid mortgages. 331 00:15:45,863 --> 00:15:50,242 They got outta bad marriages, one after another, 332 00:15:50,242 --> 00:15:52,870 because there was something for them to do. 333 00:15:53,745 --> 00:15:57,207 The genius, the genius of those Black women. 334 00:15:57,207 --> 00:15:59,751 ♪ 335 00:15:59,751 --> 00:16:02,171 OPRAH: I've understood for a very long time 336 00:16:02,629 --> 00:16:05,132 how political hair really is 337 00:16:05,132 --> 00:16:09,720 and how when we, as Black women, move through the world, 338 00:16:09,720 --> 00:16:11,555 we are making a statement, 339 00:16:11,555 --> 00:16:15,309 uh, in however we choose to wear our hair. 340 00:16:15,767 --> 00:16:18,478 And because my own hair journey has been 341 00:16:18,478 --> 00:16:22,232 so fraught with my own identity 342 00:16:22,232 --> 00:16:27,738 and how I chose to be in the world. 343 00:16:28,739 --> 00:16:30,908 ♪ 344 00:16:30,908 --> 00:16:34,703 OPRAH: I was a young reporter. I've been in television since I was 19. 345 00:16:34,703 --> 00:16:36,079 And in the early years, 346 00:16:36,079 --> 00:16:39,458 I was sent out on assignments to interview people. 347 00:16:39,458 --> 00:16:42,544 And I would always do this with Black women. 348 00:16:42,544 --> 00:16:46,256 I remember once a woman's, you know, house had caught on fire 349 00:16:46,256 --> 00:16:49,885 and she is, like, out in the yard in rollers. 350 00:16:49,885 --> 00:16:51,803 And I ask her to-- [whispers] "Would you mind-- 351 00:16:51,803 --> 00:16:53,639 You wanna take the rollers out?" 352 00:16:54,056 --> 00:16:56,266 "Do you wanna take the rollers out?" - Like, like, like, 353 00:16:56,266 --> 00:16:58,268 maybe that's a good idea. - Yeah, to take the rollers out. 354 00:16:58,268 --> 00:16:59,478 You know why? - Like, I'm, I'm with you. 355 00:16:59,478 --> 00:17:01,772 - I'm wit-- Yeah, because I 356 00:17:01,772 --> 00:17:04,691 understood that the image of this woman standing in the yard 357 00:17:04,691 --> 00:17:08,195 with her rollers was somehow going to-- 358 00:17:08,195 --> 00:17:11,490 She would be perceived as less because she's standing here in the yard 359 00:17:11,490 --> 00:17:12,741 with, with, with the rollers in her hair. 360 00:17:12,741 --> 00:17:14,576 Even though your house just burnt down. 361 00:17:14,576 --> 00:17:17,371 Now, that's why I ended up getting fired as a reporter 362 00:17:17,371 --> 00:17:21,959 because I'm always trying to help the people out in the situations. 363 00:17:21,959 --> 00:17:23,919 Like, we do these-- They're called "Man on the Streets." 364 00:17:23,919 --> 00:17:26,964 And you'd have somebody who-whose hair wasn't combed 365 00:17:26,964 --> 00:17:28,715 as well as I thought it should be, 366 00:17:28,715 --> 00:17:31,218 or she wasn't groomed as well as I-- 367 00:17:31,218 --> 00:17:33,011 I'd say, "I'mma give you a moment to fix your hair." 368 00:17:33,011 --> 00:17:34,221 "Gonna give you a moment to fix--" 369 00:17:34,221 --> 00:17:38,767 Because I understood, you know, innately, that, 370 00:17:38,767 --> 00:17:41,353 "Oh, the perception of you with your hair standing all over your head 371 00:17:41,353 --> 00:17:43,897 "is gonna be that you're not educated, 372 00:17:43,897 --> 00:17:45,315 "that you're not worthy, 373 00:17:45,315 --> 00:17:49,486 that you're not, somehow, uh, ready for this moment." 374 00:17:49,820 --> 00:17:52,906 - Yeah, the perception, the perceived idea. 375 00:17:52,906 --> 00:17:54,408 - The perceived idea. - Yeah. 376 00:17:54,408 --> 00:17:57,703 But interesting that you, you found a, 377 00:17:57,703 --> 00:18:02,291 a, a congruous... place for you to have that care in-- 378 00:18:02,291 --> 00:18:06,503 - Well, it's, it's just that I understand, understood that images are political. 379 00:18:06,503 --> 00:18:09,006 - Yeah. - And I understood that 380 00:18:09,006 --> 00:18:11,967 you're gonna be perceived a certain way 381 00:18:11,967 --> 00:18:14,845 if your hair isn't combed, if your hair isn't right. 382 00:18:14,845 --> 00:18:17,723 So, I wanted to give you a chance to get that right, sista, 383 00:18:17,723 --> 00:18:20,684 because I want the best perception for you. 384 00:18:20,684 --> 00:18:23,478 - And you want the story to be able to be heard. 385 00:18:23,478 --> 00:18:25,147 - And you want the story to be able to be heard 386 00:18:25,147 --> 00:18:27,399 and not you be immediately dismissed because-- 387 00:18:27,399 --> 00:18:29,484 - Yeah, because of the physical appearance. 388 00:18:29,484 --> 00:18:31,445 It's an interesting thing to unpack. 389 00:18:31,445 --> 00:18:32,446 - Yes. - You know? 390 00:18:32,446 --> 00:18:33,822 And I feel like, as Black women, 391 00:18:33,822 --> 00:18:37,618 we are constantly negotiating... - Mm-hm. 392 00:18:37,618 --> 00:18:39,036 - ...all those pieces. 393 00:18:39,036 --> 00:18:41,038 ♪ 394 00:18:46,251 --> 00:18:51,590 - Our hair grows out of our head in a way that cannot be denied. 395 00:18:52,216 --> 00:18:57,221 We straighten it, we braid it, we curl it, twist it, 396 00:18:57,221 --> 00:18:59,139 but it has a life of its own. 397 00:18:59,681 --> 00:19:01,517 It has an emotion. 398 00:19:01,517 --> 00:19:05,145 Often when I talk about my hair, I call-- It's a-- It's she. [chuckles] 399 00:19:06,313 --> 00:19:09,066 She's ready... she's hot. 400 00:19:09,858 --> 00:19:12,861 She actin' crazy. [laughs] 401 00:19:12,861 --> 00:19:14,863 ♪ 402 00:19:15,280 --> 00:19:18,575 But, you know, there's a resilience to our hair 403 00:19:18,575 --> 00:19:22,621 that is also indicative of our culture, and our personalities, and our history. 404 00:19:22,621 --> 00:19:25,457 And that is why I think it's our crown, right? 405 00:19:25,457 --> 00:19:27,459 Crowns are very hard to break, 406 00:19:28,544 --> 00:19:31,547 despite when they fall on the floor, they get passed around, 407 00:19:31,547 --> 00:19:35,175 or empires might be toppled, but the crown remains. 408 00:19:36,385 --> 00:19:39,012 When I think of our hair, I, I think of that. 409 00:19:40,889 --> 00:19:42,891 ♪ 410 00:19:44,726 --> 00:19:48,981 OPRAH: So shortly after I came to Baltimore with my lovely wash and set 411 00:19:48,981 --> 00:19:51,108 that everybody thought was a wig. 412 00:19:51,108 --> 00:19:55,028 I was told that my hair was too thick. 413 00:19:55,028 --> 00:19:57,990 Now, it was the first time I'd ever been called into 414 00:19:57,990 --> 00:20:01,702 someone's office or called and reprimanded 415 00:20:01,702 --> 00:20:04,037 because my hair would-- Because-- - That's your pride and joy. 416 00:20:04,037 --> 00:20:05,122 - That's my pride and joy. 417 00:20:05,122 --> 00:20:08,000 So now I'm being called in to say, "Your hair is too thick. 418 00:20:08,000 --> 00:20:11,670 "It's interfering with the chroma key in the news 419 00:20:11,670 --> 00:20:13,714 "and it's interrupting our ability 420 00:20:13,714 --> 00:20:17,634 "to, you know, uh, portray you well on the new-- 421 00:20:17,634 --> 00:20:21,138 "because we're getting this whatever, a ring around the chroma key. 422 00:20:21,138 --> 00:20:23,974 So you need to n-- Your hair needs to be different." 423 00:20:23,974 --> 00:20:28,645 So... I said, "Well, this, you know, this is, this is my hair." 424 00:20:28,645 --> 00:20:31,023 And he was saying, "Well, is there anything you can do about it? 425 00:20:31,023 --> 00:20:33,025 Is there any way you can get it straighter?" - Oh, wow. 426 00:20:33,025 --> 00:20:34,610 - "Is there any way you can--" 427 00:20:34,610 --> 00:20:39,615 And so, they recommended a hair salon in New York City. 428 00:20:40,157 --> 00:20:41,408 So I'm in Baltimore. They were saying, 429 00:20:41,408 --> 00:20:44,161 "We have this place for you to go in New York City, 430 00:20:44,161 --> 00:20:47,497 and... they're gonna fix your hair." 431 00:20:47,497 --> 00:20:49,917 So, I am 22? 432 00:20:50,375 --> 00:20:53,378 - Wow. - Twenty-two... um. 433 00:20:53,378 --> 00:20:56,423 - They're gonna fix your hair. - We're gonna fix your hair. 434 00:20:56,423 --> 00:20:58,217 - 'Kay. - They also asked me at the time, 435 00:20:58,217 --> 00:21:00,636 "Would I consider plastic surgery?" 436 00:21:01,553 --> 00:21:02,554 - What?! 437 00:21:02,554 --> 00:21:04,264 - Yeah. - Did they say specifically 438 00:21:04,264 --> 00:21:07,392 what they were suggesting? - Uh, yes. They, actually, said-- 439 00:21:07,392 --> 00:21:12,314 He, actually, said that, "Your... eyes are really-- 440 00:21:12,314 --> 00:21:14,107 You know, your eyes are really far apart--" 441 00:21:14,107 --> 00:21:15,108 - Uh-huh. 442 00:21:16,151 --> 00:21:18,570 - "And your nose is a little thick." - Uh-huh. 443 00:21:20,072 --> 00:21:22,282 - "Would you be willing to do something about that?" 444 00:21:22,282 --> 00:21:23,367 - Wow. 445 00:21:23,367 --> 00:21:25,577 - Wow. And I said-- - Wow. 446 00:21:25,994 --> 00:21:29,915 - In my 22-year-old naive self, I go, "What do you mean?" 447 00:21:30,207 --> 00:21:31,959 - Wow. - Yeah, I know. 448 00:21:31,959 --> 00:21:34,086 Makes my eyes water now. "What do you mean?" 449 00:21:34,086 --> 00:21:37,047 "Well, would you consider, like, getting your nose done 450 00:21:37,047 --> 00:21:39,675 or plastic surgery or having your eyes done?" 451 00:21:39,675 --> 00:21:44,388 "I-- No. Like, cutting on my face? Like, really cutting on my face?" 452 00:21:44,388 --> 00:21:45,639 True. 453 00:21:45,639 --> 00:21:47,015 True story. 454 00:21:47,015 --> 00:21:49,601 So then, they settled on, 455 00:21:49,601 --> 00:21:51,603 "Well, let's send you to this place in New York. 456 00:21:51,603 --> 00:21:53,063 "'Cause they can 457 00:21:53,063 --> 00:21:54,982 do something to help fix it." - It does make my eyes water-- 458 00:21:54,982 --> 00:21:57,276 - Yeah, makes my eyes water now that I think about it. 459 00:21:57,276 --> 00:22:00,487 It's interesting because I was just saying to someone recently, 460 00:22:00,487 --> 00:22:01,989 "I never thought anything." 461 00:22:01,989 --> 00:22:03,949 Like, now, everybody thinks everything's racial. 462 00:22:03,949 --> 00:22:05,492 That didn't even occur to me that it was racial. 463 00:22:05,492 --> 00:22:07,494 You know what had occurred to me? 464 00:22:07,494 --> 00:22:08,996 I thought I just wasn't pretty enough. 465 00:22:08,996 --> 00:22:10,998 - Yeah, it's exactly right. That's what makes my eyes water. 466 00:22:10,998 --> 00:22:13,667 - I did not think, "This is happening to me 'cause I'm Black." 467 00:22:13,667 --> 00:22:17,087 I thought, "This is happening to me 'cause I'm not pretty." 468 00:22:20,909 --> 00:22:26,680 - I was told that my hair was too thick, so your hair needs to be different. 469 00:22:28,891 --> 00:22:34,188 And so, they recommended a hair salon in New York City. 470 00:22:34,188 --> 00:22:38,859 - Mm-hm. Mm-hm. Mm-hm. - I go to New York... to the hair salon, 471 00:22:38,859 --> 00:22:40,694 French hair salon. 472 00:22:40,694 --> 00:22:42,905 - [scoffs] I can't. - Yes. 473 00:22:43,363 --> 00:22:46,575 I walk in and I am like, uh, "Hello, I'm here, 474 00:22:46,575 --> 00:22:49,411 and I was sent by the station of Baltimore." 475 00:22:49,411 --> 00:22:51,705 But not one Black person in the place, so I say, 476 00:22:51,705 --> 00:22:54,833 "Excuse me, but do you all do Black hair here?" 477 00:22:54,833 --> 00:22:58,712 And-- true story- the guy says, 478 00:22:58,712 --> 00:23:00,547 [French accent] "Oui, madam, we do Black hair, 479 00:23:01,006 --> 00:23:04,885 we do blonde hair, we do, we do red hair, we do your hair." 480 00:23:05,302 --> 00:23:07,596 So, I sit in the man's chair, 481 00:23:08,305 --> 00:23:11,058 and I let him put a French perm on my hair. 482 00:23:11,058 --> 00:23:12,768 And I'm sitting there 483 00:23:12,768 --> 00:23:15,687 and it is, like, burning through my cerebral cortex. 484 00:23:15,687 --> 00:23:18,524 I am like... "My head's on fire." 485 00:23:18,524 --> 00:23:21,485 And I say-- I-I-I'm looking around for somebody, there's nobody. 486 00:23:21,485 --> 00:23:25,322 And I finally say... "I gotta get this off my head." 487 00:23:25,322 --> 00:23:26,198 And he says, 488 00:23:26,198 --> 00:23:28,242 [French accent] "Oh, no, it says eight more minutes." 489 00:23:28,242 --> 00:23:31,078 I shall never forget, [French accent] "Eight more minutes." 490 00:23:31,078 --> 00:23:32,913 I got-- I-I-I'm not gonna last eight minutes. 491 00:23:32,913 --> 00:23:37,042 So, anyway, they ended up... putting me in the sink 492 00:23:37,042 --> 00:23:40,629 and my hair is held on by scabs. 493 00:23:40,629 --> 00:23:43,131 - No. - Yes. 494 00:23:43,924 --> 00:23:45,425 Yes. 495 00:23:45,425 --> 00:23:50,222 So I leave the salon and my entire head is a scab. 496 00:23:50,222 --> 00:23:52,474 - All that gorgeous hair. - All-- It-It's just a scab. 497 00:23:52,474 --> 00:23:55,352 It's, like-- And the hair is being s-- being held together... 498 00:23:55,352 --> 00:23:57,271 - By... the scabs. - ...by the scabs in the hair. 499 00:23:57,271 --> 00:23:59,189 So, the first time I wash my-- 500 00:23:59,189 --> 00:24:00,649 Every time I'd comb my hair, 501 00:24:00,649 --> 00:24:01,775 a scab would come-- hair would come out. - Hair would come out. 502 00:24:01,775 --> 00:24:06,029 - Every time I wash my hair, comb, it would just fall into the sink. 503 00:24:06,655 --> 00:24:12,661 So, I am, literally, falling apart because... that is my identity. 504 00:24:12,661 --> 00:24:14,913 That is my crowning glory. 505 00:24:15,956 --> 00:24:18,000 ♪ 506 00:24:18,000 --> 00:24:21,503 - Going to a salon where they've never done curly hair, 507 00:24:21,503 --> 00:24:25,174 it's not okay... because you are going to have a problem. 508 00:24:25,966 --> 00:24:29,052 Black hair is its own entity. 509 00:24:29,052 --> 00:24:31,471 And by Black, I don't mean the color black, 510 00:24:31,471 --> 00:24:34,725 I mean ethnic hair that curls. 511 00:24:35,434 --> 00:24:39,897 It cannot be handled in the exact same way as other hair types. 512 00:24:39,897 --> 00:24:44,193 And the knowledge of how to use these chemicals on hair, 513 00:24:45,152 --> 00:24:47,571 it's very specific and you have to be trained in that. 514 00:24:47,571 --> 00:24:51,658 You have to understand the nuances of what happens when the hair grows in 515 00:24:51,658 --> 00:24:55,037 and that the texture is different from the texture of the relaxed hair. 516 00:24:55,037 --> 00:24:59,291 You also have to understand how sensitive the scalp can be. 517 00:24:59,291 --> 00:25:03,337 And applying these products, like relaxers, directly to the scalp 518 00:25:03,337 --> 00:25:04,254 can cause burns. 519 00:25:04,254 --> 00:25:06,340 You need to know that you have to base the scalp 520 00:25:06,340 --> 00:25:07,424 with something to protect it. 521 00:25:07,424 --> 00:25:11,428 Or at least base the edges to protect the edges from burning. 522 00:25:11,428 --> 00:25:13,430 ♪ 523 00:25:15,390 --> 00:25:18,310 - So I had to be taken off of air 'cause my hair's falling out. 524 00:25:18,310 --> 00:25:22,564 I had to be taken off of air because there was not a wig, at the time, 525 00:25:22,564 --> 00:25:27,110 this is in 1977, big enough to fit my 25-inch head. 526 00:25:27,528 --> 00:25:29,947 We could not find a wig in a store 527 00:25:29,947 --> 00:25:33,158 and they were not gonna allow me on the air with scarves. 528 00:25:33,158 --> 00:25:35,786 - What I-- What I would like to say... 529 00:25:35,786 --> 00:25:38,121 - Yeah. - ...is I'm very sorry that happened. 530 00:25:38,121 --> 00:25:41,917 Um... and I think you are not the only one 531 00:25:41,917 --> 00:25:43,794 that has stories of this nature, 532 00:25:43,794 --> 00:25:48,465 of moments in our lives where you don't know the context. 533 00:25:48,465 --> 00:25:51,134 - Right. - So, all you hear is the "you." 534 00:25:51,134 --> 00:25:56,890 - Yes. The fact that I was sent to, you know, change the way I look 535 00:25:56,890 --> 00:25:59,309 because my hair was too thick, 536 00:25:59,309 --> 00:26:02,437 even in a, you know, semi-straightened form, 537 00:26:02,437 --> 00:26:07,276 that that was not appropriate in their minds. 538 00:26:07,276 --> 00:26:12,114 I mean, if I had made the decision early on in my career 539 00:26:12,114 --> 00:26:14,324 that I'm gonna wear braids regardless of what you think, 540 00:26:14,324 --> 00:26:17,536 I-I-I would not have been where I am today. 541 00:26:17,536 --> 00:26:21,164 I would just not have been afforded the opportunities I've been afforded. 542 00:26:21,164 --> 00:26:23,041 ♪ 543 00:26:23,041 --> 00:26:27,713 - In my day, when I started, 1995, wearing natural hair and twists, 544 00:26:27,713 --> 00:26:30,174 it was not mainstream in corporate America. 545 00:26:30,174 --> 00:26:33,677 And what I love that we're mainstreaming today, as well, 546 00:26:33,677 --> 00:26:35,679 is that we can change our hair. 547 00:26:35,679 --> 00:26:38,599 One day, I can wear it in locks, 548 00:26:38,599 --> 00:26:40,017 one day, I can wear it in braids, 549 00:26:40,017 --> 00:26:42,603 one wear-- one day, I can wear it as a natural, 550 00:26:42,603 --> 00:26:46,064 and one day, I can wear it pressed if I choose 551 00:26:46,064 --> 00:26:48,317 because... that's what our hair does. 552 00:26:48,317 --> 00:26:53,405 And, and what our hair does is an extension of the many attributes 553 00:26:53,405 --> 00:26:55,532 that I have and, and can contribute. 554 00:26:55,532 --> 00:26:59,328 - I, Ketanji Brown Jackson, do solemnly swear-- 555 00:26:59,328 --> 00:27:00,537 - That I will support and... 556 00:27:00,537 --> 00:27:02,915 ESI EGGLESTON BRACEY: Thinking about the impact 557 00:27:02,915 --> 00:27:08,712 of the first Black woman Supreme Court Justice 558 00:27:08,712 --> 00:27:13,258 having natural hair moves me 559 00:27:13,258 --> 00:27:16,011 because what people see at the highest level 560 00:27:16,011 --> 00:27:21,391 in the highest court and express their truly natural hairstyles, 561 00:27:21,391 --> 00:27:23,477 I know the impact that will have, 562 00:27:23,477 --> 00:27:26,772 for not just young girls and Black women, 563 00:27:26,772 --> 00:27:31,235 but all people around the world who are watching. 564 00:27:31,652 --> 00:27:35,155 - Women should be able to wear their hair in whatever way that makes them 565 00:27:35,155 --> 00:27:38,992 feel most confident and most beautiful. - Mm. 566 00:27:38,992 --> 00:27:40,994 - That, certainly, is 567 00:27:40,994 --> 00:27:45,707 not an opportunity that my generation or your mother's generation had. 568 00:27:45,707 --> 00:27:47,167 - Was afforded. No. 569 00:27:47,167 --> 00:27:49,753 - We have just been raised 570 00:27:49,753 --> 00:27:54,800 to know that the value that is placed on your hair 571 00:27:54,800 --> 00:27:58,303 is also connected to the value that people hold for you. 572 00:27:58,303 --> 00:28:00,222 And that's unfortunate, but it certainly-- 573 00:28:00,222 --> 00:28:03,851 it has been the way I experienced growing up. 574 00:28:06,019 --> 00:28:08,438 - When everything you've been told about your identity-- 575 00:28:08,438 --> 00:28:10,732 I mean, that was my big identity was the hair. 576 00:28:10,732 --> 00:28:12,568 And then, now you don't have the hair anymore. 577 00:28:12,568 --> 00:28:15,362 I, literally, was like, "Okay then, who am I?" 578 00:28:15,362 --> 00:28:18,240 - Mm-hm. - So, I remember this so well, at 22, 579 00:28:18,574 --> 00:28:22,411 woman named, Lydia Lively, who was on the assignment desk. 580 00:28:22,411 --> 00:28:25,747 She was a Black woman. Her official job was Assignment Editor. 581 00:28:25,747 --> 00:28:28,375 And one day, I was walking through the newsroom, 582 00:28:29,251 --> 00:28:30,669 and she said, "What are you doin'?" 583 00:28:32,045 --> 00:28:34,006 I go, "What do you mean?" She goes, "What are you doin'?" 584 00:28:34,006 --> 00:28:37,176 'Cause, by this time, I was, like, doing a little comb-over. 585 00:28:37,176 --> 00:28:40,012 I had a little Dippity-do little gel, little whatever. 586 00:28:40,012 --> 00:28:41,680 And I was trying to-- And then she goes, 587 00:28:42,347 --> 00:28:45,350 "You don't have any hair. Your hair's gone." 588 00:28:46,143 --> 00:28:48,020 I go... "You think so?" 589 00:28:48,020 --> 00:28:50,522 She says, "No, your hair is gone. 590 00:28:51,690 --> 00:28:54,276 And let me help you. Let me take you to my barber." 591 00:28:54,276 --> 00:28:55,611 So, Lydia had an afro. 592 00:28:55,611 --> 00:28:57,446 She took me to her barber 593 00:28:58,363 --> 00:28:59,740 and the barber shaved my head, 594 00:28:59,740 --> 00:29:02,242 which was... major. 595 00:29:02,242 --> 00:29:03,994 - That is major. 596 00:29:03,994 --> 00:29:05,037 - Major. 597 00:29:05,037 --> 00:29:07,539 So now, I have a shaved head. 598 00:29:07,539 --> 00:29:10,417 But at least it was better than 599 00:29:10,417 --> 00:29:14,338 pieces here and pieces there and trying to hold on to what wasn't-- 600 00:29:14,338 --> 00:29:16,215 Yeah [stammers]. It's over. 601 00:29:16,215 --> 00:29:18,342 You know, after a couple of weeks, it started to grow back. 602 00:29:18,342 --> 00:29:19,635 And so, I had this teeny-weeny afro 603 00:29:19,635 --> 00:29:21,220 and then a little-bitty afro and little-- 604 00:29:21,220 --> 00:29:23,514 And then, for years, like, for eight years, 605 00:29:23,514 --> 00:29:25,516 I didn't let anybody touch my hair. 606 00:29:25,516 --> 00:29:28,143 - That's the way that happens. - That's the way that happens. 607 00:29:28,143 --> 00:29:30,145 ♪ 608 00:29:32,189 --> 00:29:36,443 - There's something about the freedom to style ourselves. 609 00:29:36,860 --> 00:29:39,988 There's something about how we know we look good. 610 00:29:39,988 --> 00:29:43,242 We don't ever think we look good if our hair doesn't look good. 611 00:29:44,034 --> 00:29:46,286 And it's not even a sense of, 612 00:29:46,286 --> 00:29:50,749 "Your hair has to look like what society says, like the latest style." 613 00:29:51,667 --> 00:29:54,294 I have never talked to a Black woman 614 00:29:54,294 --> 00:29:58,549 that doesn't have a personal sense of when your hair has clicked in. 615 00:29:58,549 --> 00:30:02,052 And that that is the first thing that has to happen 616 00:30:02,052 --> 00:30:04,888 for you to know that you're about to go out and slay, 617 00:30:04,888 --> 00:30:06,306 as the young people say. 618 00:30:06,306 --> 00:30:08,809 I don't know if they still say it, but I like it, 619 00:30:08,809 --> 00:30:12,104 so if we are going to slay [laughs] 620 00:30:12,104 --> 00:30:16,733 our hair has to, uh, make us feel good. 621 00:30:16,733 --> 00:30:19,027 ♪ 622 00:30:19,027 --> 00:30:22,030 OPRAH: I loved seeing Cicely Tyson on whatever show that was 623 00:30:22,030 --> 00:30:24,867 when she had the little afro. TRACEE: Mm. 624 00:30:24,867 --> 00:30:27,327 - And I remember my father saying, 625 00:30:27,327 --> 00:30:28,495 "That's just a shame. 626 00:30:28,495 --> 00:30:30,455 Woman walkin' 'round with her hair lookin' like that." 627 00:30:30,455 --> 00:30:36,295 And I'm thinking, "Wow, I think that's pretty amazing that she could do that." 628 00:30:36,295 --> 00:30:40,048 And she was wearing her hair as herself. That's the first time I'd ever seen it. 629 00:30:40,048 --> 00:30:41,550 - Yeah, and you see the generational difference-- 630 00:30:41,550 --> 00:30:43,427 with your dad and his response, yeah. 631 00:30:44,511 --> 00:30:46,513 - Then the hair grew back, then I had an afro, 632 00:30:46,513 --> 00:30:47,764 then I wouldn't let anybody touch it. 633 00:30:47,764 --> 00:30:50,142 And... that was it. I would just go to the barbershop. 634 00:30:50,142 --> 00:30:51,476 Back to you, Rich. 635 00:30:52,102 --> 00:30:55,564 This was such a big deal to be able to be sitting on the air 636 00:30:55,564 --> 00:30:58,817 with this afro at the time. And he always used to say he had one, too. 637 00:30:59,568 --> 00:31:01,778 Especially since they had always wanted-- 638 00:31:01,778 --> 00:31:04,114 You know, I got sent away to try to get it straightened 639 00:31:04,114 --> 00:31:06,450 and to look like somebody that I wasn't. 640 00:31:06,450 --> 00:31:09,119 And then, to be able to be allowed to sit there and... 641 00:31:09,119 --> 00:31:10,787 - On camera. - ...on camera in my fullness, 642 00:31:10,787 --> 00:31:11,705 that was a big deal. 643 00:31:12,497 --> 00:31:15,125 That was around 1977, '78. 644 00:31:15,125 --> 00:31:17,002 Black culture, at the time, 645 00:31:17,002 --> 00:31:21,673 was also mirroring that wearing an afro was an okay thing. 646 00:31:21,673 --> 00:31:24,635 TRACEE: Mm-hm. - That, um, it-- I was allowed 647 00:31:24,635 --> 00:31:27,846 to keep that afro on the air, otherwise, I would not have. 648 00:31:27,846 --> 00:31:28,680 And I'm Oprah Winfrey. 649 00:31:28,680 --> 00:31:30,557 We'll help you make it a great Labor Day weekend. 650 00:31:30,557 --> 00:31:32,643 Join us Monday for People Are Talking... 651 00:31:32,643 --> 00:31:34,770 For the longest time, I wore the afro 652 00:31:34,770 --> 00:31:37,856 and I remember coming into Chicago 653 00:31:37,856 --> 00:31:42,402 with, like, a little Jheri curl situation 654 00:31:42,402 --> 00:31:43,820 and still not wanting 655 00:31:43,820 --> 00:31:45,948 anybody to touch my hair. - Mm-hm. 656 00:31:45,948 --> 00:31:50,077 - And I ran into, um, a hairdresser, Andre Walker, 657 00:31:50,077 --> 00:31:50,994 who became my hairdresser 658 00:31:50,994 --> 00:31:52,579 for over 30 years. TRACEE: For so long. 659 00:31:52,579 --> 00:31:53,664 OPRAH: Yeah. 660 00:31:53,664 --> 00:31:56,875 And he said, "You should try doing your hair. 661 00:31:56,875 --> 00:31:58,293 You should try blowing out your hair." 662 00:31:58,293 --> 00:32:00,295 And I was like, "Well, nobody's touched my hair." 663 00:32:00,671 --> 00:32:03,966 And he became a trusted friend 664 00:32:03,966 --> 00:32:08,804 and someone who, literally, every other day of The Oprah Show, 665 00:32:08,804 --> 00:32:10,305 blew dry my hair 666 00:32:10,305 --> 00:32:12,641 and managed, in all of those years, 667 00:32:12,641 --> 00:32:15,227 never to have my hair fall out again. 668 00:32:15,227 --> 00:32:18,063 - Well, that's a sacred relationship. - That's a sacred relationship. 669 00:32:18,063 --> 00:32:19,314 TRACEE: It really is. OPRAH: Yeah. 670 00:32:19,314 --> 00:32:23,527 Be able to maintain healthy hair? That's a very difficult thing to do. 671 00:32:23,527 --> 00:32:25,737 - That's why you need the same person who knows your hair 672 00:32:25,737 --> 00:32:28,824 doin' it all the time, as well. - Well, Andre, your job is secure. 673 00:32:28,824 --> 00:32:30,450 [all laughing] 674 00:32:30,450 --> 00:32:32,077 Your job is secure! 675 00:32:33,912 --> 00:32:36,498 SHARDE: Since I do feel like this is just a safe space, 676 00:32:36,498 --> 00:32:38,125 I'mma share a story with you guys. - This a safe space. 677 00:32:38,125 --> 00:32:43,505 - Um, actually, I went through a bout of, um, depression at the end of 2021 678 00:32:43,505 --> 00:32:47,801 and I did not comb my own hair, uh, for some months 679 00:32:47,801 --> 00:32:49,678 and I was just, you know, wiggin' it up. 680 00:32:49,678 --> 00:32:53,015 I was kinda, like, slickin' the front, but the inside was just a matted mess, 681 00:32:53,015 --> 00:32:56,185 and I was ready to just, you know, take it to the studs, 682 00:32:56,185 --> 00:32:57,519 like, just shave it all off 683 00:32:57,519 --> 00:32:59,229 and we was just gonna have to start from there. 684 00:32:59,229 --> 00:33:01,773 And one of my really good girlfriends-- 685 00:33:01,773 --> 00:33:04,234 I asked her to come over and cut my hair off for me 686 00:33:04,234 --> 00:33:06,987 and she showed up with all these combs and brushes 687 00:33:06,987 --> 00:33:11,283 and products and she spent four hours detangling my hair. 688 00:33:11,283 --> 00:33:14,119 I'm telling y'all, I had freeform baby locks at that point. - Yes, she did. Yes, she did. 689 00:33:14,119 --> 00:33:16,830 - Right, right. - Do y'all-- I have-- I felt so loved. 690 00:33:16,830 --> 00:33:21,168 I still-- I get chills. Even this moment, me being able to get my hair done now, 691 00:33:21,168 --> 00:33:24,546 it's on my head because... she wanted me to, 692 00:33:24,546 --> 00:33:27,591 if I wanted to cut my hair, it'd be because I wanted to cut my hair 693 00:33:27,591 --> 00:33:30,511 and not it be, you know, in response... - Sure, right. 694 00:33:30,511 --> 00:33:32,930 - ...to some traumatic things that I had gone to. 695 00:33:32,930 --> 00:33:36,016 And, I mean, who's gonna get that but us? [all agreeing] 696 00:33:37,559 --> 00:33:41,271 - We understand that these hair stories and these hair tales 697 00:33:41,271 --> 00:33:43,106 are communal. 698 00:33:43,106 --> 00:33:47,069 We all know that we have to feel good 699 00:33:47,069 --> 00:33:51,448 about who's looking back at us in a mirror to get that confidence. 700 00:33:51,448 --> 00:33:54,910 That really becomes a communal project. 701 00:33:54,910 --> 00:33:58,497 And if you got friends who will let you go out the house lookin' any kinda way, 702 00:33:58,497 --> 00:34:00,958 you need to reevaluate those relationships. 703 00:34:00,958 --> 00:34:03,794 That is one of the ways you can tell 704 00:34:03,794 --> 00:34:06,672 who is gonna be with you for the long haul and who's not. 705 00:34:07,673 --> 00:34:09,675 OPRAH: I was interviewing Elizabeth Taylor... 706 00:34:09,675 --> 00:34:10,717 TRACEE: Oh, I remember this. OPRAH: ... and my-- 707 00:34:10,717 --> 00:34:11,885 Do you remember it? TRACEE: I remember this. 708 00:34:11,885 --> 00:34:15,931 - Gayle is the one that called me and said, "You-- This is not the look." 709 00:34:15,931 --> 00:34:17,933 [Tracee laughing] Says, "This is, this is not the look." 710 00:34:17,933 --> 00:34:19,935 And I was goin', "No, I really like this." 711 00:34:19,935 --> 00:34:22,771 First of all, I have on enough makeup for all of us. 712 00:34:22,771 --> 00:34:23,981 - But it was... - It was out-- 713 00:34:23,981 --> 00:34:26,024 TRACEE: ...really alive. OPRAH: Yeah, and yeah, it was alive. 714 00:34:26,024 --> 00:34:27,234 And, and Gayle is like, 715 00:34:27,234 --> 00:34:29,236 "You look like you stuck your finger in a socket." 716 00:34:29,236 --> 00:34:30,571 [Tracee laughs] 717 00:34:30,571 --> 00:34:33,740 Going, "No, I think it's, like, natural--" "You go back and look at it." 718 00:34:33,740 --> 00:34:35,742 - And you're like, "Oh, goodness." Yeah. - Yeah, yeah. You're right. You're right. 719 00:34:35,742 --> 00:34:36,827 That's why you need friends. 720 00:34:36,827 --> 00:34:38,954 ♪ 721 00:34:38,954 --> 00:34:40,706 DANEHSIA: There's so many different eras of Oprah. 722 00:34:40,706 --> 00:34:42,249 Like, for me-- O-Okay. 723 00:34:42,249 --> 00:34:44,960 My favorite era of Oprah is, is straight hair Oprah. 724 00:34:44,960 --> 00:34:46,503 It's, like, when she had a little bit of a bang. 725 00:34:46,503 --> 00:34:47,880 It was, like, early '80s. 726 00:34:47,880 --> 00:34:50,924 - When Oprah went-- Okay, first of all, Oprah had some looks. 727 00:34:50,924 --> 00:34:52,467 We were talk-- You were talkin' the feather. 728 00:34:52,467 --> 00:34:54,469 Oprah's feather was iconic 729 00:34:54,469 --> 00:34:57,181 and then when she came with the big body curls. 730 00:34:57,181 --> 00:34:59,308 When she came with the big body curls, 731 00:34:59,308 --> 00:35:02,227 I was like, "Okay, Oprah!" [crosstalk] 732 00:35:02,227 --> 00:35:04,479 - And she would kill a ponytail, too. 733 00:35:04,479 --> 00:35:07,274 - You better let us know. - Yeah, we've seen her hair journey. 734 00:35:07,274 --> 00:35:09,193 - Listen, I love every stage of Oprah. 735 00:35:09,193 --> 00:35:10,652 ♪ All at once ♪ 736 00:35:10,652 --> 00:35:12,154 ♪ Show your crown ♪ 737 00:35:12,154 --> 00:35:15,324 ♪ Don't you ever let the world make you put it down ♪ 738 00:35:15,324 --> 00:35:18,285 ♪ 'Cause they never gon' do it, they never gon' do it ♪ 739 00:35:18,285 --> 00:35:21,038 ♪ Like you never gon' do it, they never gon' do it ♪ 740 00:35:21,038 --> 00:35:23,248 ♪ For my queens, take your throne... ♪ 741 00:35:23,248 --> 00:35:25,250 - Describe your hair in three words. 742 00:35:27,794 --> 00:35:32,049 - Strong... Ooh, I got some strong hair. - Mm-hm. Mm-hm. [chuckles] 743 00:35:32,049 --> 00:35:33,050 - Um... 744 00:35:33,550 --> 00:35:36,553 it's resilient 'cause it's been through everything. 745 00:35:37,763 --> 00:35:39,431 Strong, resilient, purposeful. 746 00:35:39,765 --> 00:35:41,141 - Woo. 747 00:35:41,141 --> 00:35:43,769 - Strong. BOTH: Resilient, purposeful. 748 00:35:43,769 --> 00:35:45,771 - Just like me. - That is exactly right. 749 00:35:46,188 --> 00:35:47,397 ♪ Shades of brown ♪ 750 00:35:48,398 --> 00:35:52,069 - I had been filming the movie Beloved 751 00:35:52,069 --> 00:35:55,948 in 1997 and had discovered wigs 752 00:35:55,948 --> 00:36:00,744 because every single person in that movie Beloved 753 00:36:00,744 --> 00:36:02,454 is wearing a wig. TRACEE: Mm-hm. 754 00:36:02,454 --> 00:36:06,041 OPRAH: And the wigs were made by the esteemed Peter Owen, 755 00:36:06,041 --> 00:36:09,086 who's now, you know, won, won Oscars and all that for hair. 756 00:36:09,086 --> 00:36:12,381 I-I-I didn't even know you could have wigs that, 757 00:36:12,381 --> 00:36:13,715 like-- - Look like your hair. 758 00:36:13,715 --> 00:36:15,759 - Look like your hair. They come and they do a mold 759 00:36:15,759 --> 00:36:17,261 of your head and the whole thing. 760 00:36:17,261 --> 00:36:21,473 And one at a time, they put the hairs in, and, oh, my God, these extraordinary wigs. 761 00:36:21,473 --> 00:36:25,185 I ended up getting a weave to do The Ellen Show 762 00:36:25,185 --> 00:36:26,812 for The Puppy Episode. 763 00:36:26,812 --> 00:36:29,857 It was the first time I'd worn anything other than my hair. 764 00:36:29,857 --> 00:36:32,860 Has there ever been anyone you felt you clicked with? 765 00:36:35,112 --> 00:36:36,572 And what was his name? 766 00:36:38,198 --> 00:36:40,409 - Susan. [audience laughing] 767 00:36:42,536 --> 00:36:46,373 - In, like, 1997, I was like, "Well, this was convenient." 768 00:36:46,373 --> 00:36:49,585 - Mm-hm. - Who knew you could do this? 769 00:36:49,585 --> 00:36:51,753 Although I'd been hearing a lot about weaves, 770 00:36:51,753 --> 00:36:54,631 I always thought it was, you know, a choice that women made 771 00:36:54,631 --> 00:36:56,592 just because they wanted, you know, 772 00:36:56,592 --> 00:36:57,718 more hair, different hair... - Different hairstyles. 773 00:36:57,718 --> 00:36:58,594 - ...different hairstyles. 774 00:36:58,594 --> 00:37:01,972 I didn't know that you could, actually, use it as a protection. 775 00:37:01,972 --> 00:37:06,852 So, '97 is when I started experimenting with other hair. 776 00:37:06,852 --> 00:37:08,770 Oh, my God, girl, let me just tell ya. 777 00:37:08,770 --> 00:37:13,192 I haven't had a weave since 2015. 778 00:37:13,192 --> 00:37:15,360 Let me tell you this funny story. 779 00:37:15,360 --> 00:37:18,906 Had a weave on tour in Australia. Weaves, dun-dun-dun-dun-dun, 780 00:37:18,906 --> 00:37:21,825 doing very well, stopped in Fiji, 781 00:37:21,825 --> 00:37:23,785 got in the ocean. - Oh boy. 782 00:37:23,785 --> 00:37:26,455 - Woo! The weave locked! 783 00:37:26,455 --> 00:37:28,248 The weave-- - And you couldn't get it out? 784 00:37:28,248 --> 00:37:30,876 - Couldn't get it out. It was hard as a rock. 785 00:37:30,876 --> 00:37:35,172 We put an entire case of cream conditioners on it. 786 00:37:35,172 --> 00:37:37,758 You could unlock it and then, as soon as it dried, 787 00:37:37,758 --> 00:37:40,844 it would, like, be a block on my head. - Oh, my God. 788 00:37:40,844 --> 00:37:44,264 - I had to have emergency weave assistance. 789 00:37:44,264 --> 00:37:48,060 [laughing] - Wait, that's amazing. 790 00:37:48,060 --> 00:37:50,979 - Emergency weave assistance. - Like, they couldn't get at the roots. 791 00:37:50,979 --> 00:37:52,606 You could not get it out. - You couldn't! 792 00:37:52,606 --> 00:37:54,608 It was, it was-- - That sounds terrifying. 793 00:37:54,608 --> 00:37:59,530 - It locked like a brick cement hood on my head. 794 00:37:59,530 --> 00:38:01,573 [laughs] He was like, 795 00:38:01,573 --> 00:38:03,367 "Don't go in the ocean 796 00:38:03,367 --> 00:38:04,743 with a certain kind of weave." - Well, what-- 797 00:38:04,743 --> 00:38:06,995 - I don't know what happened. I don't know what happened. 798 00:38:06,995 --> 00:38:08,914 I know the woman who put it in had some, like, 799 00:38:08,914 --> 00:38:11,416 "Well, I think the somethin' somethin' got stripped 800 00:38:11,416 --> 00:38:13,502 in the hair follicles." - Oh, my God. Or maybe there was a glue 801 00:38:13,502 --> 00:38:16,046 that she had used. - I don't know, but that-- 802 00:38:16,046 --> 00:38:20,926 The hair locked on my head, had to fly somebody in to cut it out! 803 00:38:20,926 --> 00:38:23,470 - That's, like, my worst nightmare. - It is a nightmare. 804 00:38:23,470 --> 00:38:26,974 Luckily, we're on vacation, but, oh, my God, I'm now scared. 805 00:38:26,974 --> 00:38:30,185 - Well, that's understandable. There is a real freedom with wigs, 806 00:38:30,185 --> 00:38:32,396 but I love that you're at peace with the... 807 00:38:32,396 --> 00:38:33,814 - With all it. - ...the variation. 808 00:38:33,814 --> 00:38:35,816 ♪ 809 00:38:37,401 --> 00:38:38,902 OPRAH: I love my own hair. 810 00:38:38,902 --> 00:38:40,904 TRACEE: Mm-hm. - I love the opportunity 811 00:38:40,904 --> 00:38:43,156 to line up all my girls 812 00:38:43,156 --> 00:38:46,493 in my [chuckles] da-da-da and I have them all named. 813 00:38:46,493 --> 00:38:47,744 - I love it. - I have one after your mom. 814 00:38:47,744 --> 00:38:49,413 - You do? - Yeah, I have a Diana, 815 00:38:49,413 --> 00:38:51,498 I have a Beyoncé, I have a Michelle, 816 00:38:51,498 --> 00:38:53,500 I have a Cicely, I have the blah, blah. 817 00:38:53,500 --> 00:38:56,128 So, I have made peace with it all. 818 00:38:56,128 --> 00:39:00,674 I love it when I can wear my own hair, but it is, it is a lotta work. 819 00:39:00,674 --> 00:39:03,927 - Mm-hm. There really is so much pride in-- 820 00:39:03,927 --> 00:39:06,471 - This is my own hair. - "This is my hair." 821 00:39:06,471 --> 00:39:09,183 - I have made complete peace with my hair. 822 00:39:09,183 --> 00:39:11,351 - What a beautiful liberation. 823 00:39:11,560 --> 00:39:12,978 - Mm-hm. 824 00:39:13,312 --> 00:39:16,148 - What about you is beautiful to you? 825 00:39:16,148 --> 00:39:20,068 - Mmm. My generosity of spirit. - Mm. 826 00:39:20,068 --> 00:39:22,321 [cheers, applause] 827 00:39:22,321 --> 00:39:24,198 - Anything that I have 828 00:39:24,656 --> 00:39:26,992 feels better to me if I can share it. 829 00:39:26,992 --> 00:39:29,912 - Mm. - And that comes from 830 00:39:30,579 --> 00:39:35,584 being that little girl... on the Mississippi dirt road, 831 00:39:35,584 --> 00:39:37,544 sitting on the porch with my grandmother. 832 00:39:37,961 --> 00:39:43,258 And... so seldom would we ever, you know, have sweets or candy or anything, 833 00:39:43,258 --> 00:39:46,762 but whenever I would get some, I would save it... 834 00:39:46,762 --> 00:39:50,307 - Hm. - ...for when the kids down the road 835 00:39:50,307 --> 00:39:52,768 or my cousins, Willie Mack and Lonnie, came 836 00:39:52,768 --> 00:39:57,147 because... a Snickers bar, a Three Musketeers 837 00:39:57,147 --> 00:39:59,650 always tasted better if you could say, 838 00:39:59,650 --> 00:40:01,652 "You want some?" - Oh. 839 00:40:02,110 --> 00:40:03,862 - "You want some?" - Mm. 840 00:40:03,862 --> 00:40:05,072 - Or to be able to say, 841 00:40:05,072 --> 00:40:07,699 "Isn't it good?" - Mm. 842 00:40:08,033 --> 00:40:10,702 - I wake up every morning 843 00:40:10,702 --> 00:40:12,621 and I-- 844 00:40:12,621 --> 00:40:14,915 Literally, some days I go, 845 00:40:14,915 --> 00:40:18,752 "I can't believe... I live here." - Mm-hm. 846 00:40:18,752 --> 00:40:22,506 - I feel that I'm living in, um-- 847 00:40:22,506 --> 00:40:24,007 Like, I'm living in a painting. 848 00:40:24,007 --> 00:40:26,343 - Mm. - And I feel like 849 00:40:26,760 --> 00:40:28,595 even though I worked for it... 850 00:40:28,595 --> 00:40:30,514 - Yeah, but still. - ...I earned it, 851 00:40:30,514 --> 00:40:32,432 I feel like it's a gift. 852 00:40:32,432 --> 00:40:34,393 I feel just like I'm-- 853 00:40:34,393 --> 00:40:36,562 I, I live in God's dream for me. 854 00:40:36,562 --> 00:40:37,604 I really do. - Stunning. 855 00:40:37,604 --> 00:40:38,605 - Yeah. 856 00:40:38,605 --> 00:40:40,816 ♪ 857 00:40:40,816 --> 00:40:43,193 TRACEE: Next on The Hair Tales... 858 00:40:43,193 --> 00:40:45,821 - And I tell anybody now, anybody who comes to me 859 00:40:45,821 --> 00:40:48,073 and is like, "I'm thinking about choppin' all my hair off." 860 00:40:48,073 --> 00:40:51,368 I'm like, "Do it, your hair-- your life's gonna change. Like, that's it." 861 00:40:51,368 --> 00:40:53,495 - For me, that's been the beauty of getting older 862 00:40:53,495 --> 00:40:56,915 is the realization that, like, you don't have to be the same person forever. 863 00:40:56,915 --> 00:40:57,749 - No, you don't. 864 00:40:57,749 --> 00:40:59,418 A lot of people don't know that. - Yeah. 865 00:40:59,418 --> 00:41:01,461 - And you grow and you change and you evolve. 866 00:41:01,461 --> 00:41:04,840 There's a specific validation of just being and living in you. 867 00:41:05,841 --> 00:41:07,843 ♪