- World Afro day is celebrated every 15th September of the year.
- Natural hair is now a movement that has been embraced by the young and the old from all walks of life.
5 years ago Michelle De Leon organised the first world’s first National Afro Day after hearing her daughter singing about her natural hair.
This inspired her and she wanted every child of African descent to feel as positively about their hair as her daughter did.
The aim of the day is to give people with afro hair the confidence to wear it the way they like, so that they don't feel pressure to straighten it.
Brenda Kamurasi is a natural hair salon owner.
She says she was forced to venture into the business to provide quick and easy solutions for people struggling with natural hair especially after her 4 daughters and herself would be going through a lot to maintain their hair.
Uzuri Natural Hair Salon was opened up in 2017 in a small location with just 2 stylists however by the end of the year the business had grown with 10 stylists on board, Brenda however adds that because of the natural hair movement she was pushed to open up another branch in Naalya to be able to serve her ever increasing number of clients.
something that am really happy about today is that as more people embrace natural hair,Brenda Kamurasi
She says there are many service providers that join the market to provide hair maintenance solutions and there are so many good brands to pick from.
“Another thing that am grateful for as a saloon owner and a mother is that the young generation is happy and comfortable about keeping their hair natural, they are not going through any kind of pressure to change their hair whatever texture it is, I think that is something we should celebrate” Brenda adds.
But how do we celebrate the day without speaking to some of you about how you feel about your hair.
Lucky Mbabazi a Radio personality at Capital Radio.
Mia Agatha, sales executive at Capital Radio
It’s been 3 years now and I love this natural hair journey. Natural Hair represents being real with yourself. It reflects how you look at yourself as a person.
Celine TheHoneyGirl.
I chose to grow natural hair because it’s easy to play with especially for me because I love head gears, bands and wraps.
Most people think natural hair is expensive however I disagree, am also happy that I can do a clean work by myself though am still leaning more like detangling.
Patricia Osman, Journalist and author of this piece
Initially it was tough to have natural hair, I would see my sister struggle with hers but today there are a lot of options from saloons to hair products and professionals. I think it’s a great time be natural now.
I have no regrets, I love and rock my natural hair with pride.