Filmmaker Refocuses Lens On Black Hair In New Book, My Beautiful Black Hair: 101 Natural Hair Stories from the Sisterhood

This past Friday, the US House passed legislation that would ban race-based discrimination in the workplace, and against those participating in federally assisted programs, housing programs, and public accommodations. The passing of the CROWN (Creating a Respectful and Open World for Natural Hair) Act is a major step in the right direction for the protection of people of color as they navigate through their professional and personal lives. Although this protection ever so slightly trickles down to the little ones we love, children of color are often victims of bullying and ostracized because of their natural hair, and no big people bill or unintelligible law is enough to shield them from it. So what do we do? How do we arm them with the confidence they need to combat the oppression they also face? D.C. based documentary filmmaker St. Clair Detrick-Jules came up with an answer, a photojournalism book titled: My Beautiful Black Hair: 101 Natural Hair Stories from the Sisterhood.

Detrick-Jules who’s also known for her award winning film, DACAmented, a short film documenting the lives of nine DACA recipients who narrate their lives under the Trump administration, redirected her lens after a personal struggle was brought to her by her younger sister. Young Khloe began to express ill feelings about her natural hair beginning at the age of four. Their father would call Detrick-Jules from France – where Khloe lives with both her father and mother (Detrick-Jules’ stepmother) – and tell her how Khloe would come home from school crying because of how she was teased because of her hair.

“I’m bi-racial, my mom is white and my father is from Saint Barts, and out of the four of us siblings, Khloe definitely has the tightest curl pattern,” Detrick-Jules told Allure magazine. “Even before this incident, whenever I would see her, I always made it a point to say, “Oh my gosh, Khloe, I love your hair, it’s so beautiful, do you love it?” And she would say yes.”

But sometimes, and especially to a child, kind words don’t ring loudly enough to mute the harsh ones. Initially intended to be printed as a pamphlet, Detrick-Jules began to interview Black women of all ages about their natural hair journeys, and if they felt so inclined, to share a few words of advice for young Khloe.

“I was honored and humbled by how many people who didn’t know my sister or me but were willing to help her feel self-love,” she told Byrdie. “I think that speaks to the sisterhood and love that Black women have between us.”

As a documentarian, she filmed some of the women also, thinking that at some point it could be transformed into a documentary. But as the project evolved, and the number of women interviewed grew substantially, Detrick-Jules thought it best for the end result to be a book full of all the stories she’d gathered.

With a forward by self love guru and author Alexandra Elle, and a co-sign from writer Rachel Cargle, this 225 page love letter not only to young Khloe, but to Black and brown people everywhere. Published in September, 2021, the book has most recently been included in a book list created by the NYC Department of Education to aid educators in the understanding of the CROWN Act.

You can buy your copy of My Black Beautiful Hair wherever books are sold.