 "Photo: Morgan Crutchfield Staff Photographer")
 "Photo: Morgan Crutchfield Staff Photographer")
 "Photo: Morgan Crutchfield Staff Photographer")
 "Photo: Morgan Crutchfield Staff Photographer")
The natural hair population has grown.
At N.C. Central University, many students have taken on the challenge of sporting Afro-puffs, locks, and sister locks.
But is this a trend or the start of another Black Pride movement?
"I just like the way my hair looks," said Brittany Dyke, psychology sophomore. "It is part of becoming a woman and growing into myself."
Ever since Angela Davis came out with her iconic Afro in the ‘60s, going natural has been seen as a political statement.
Some NCCU students believe going natural is only a trend. Others believe it has a deeper meaning.
"My family wasn't too keen on me going natural and the women in my family are real big on relaxed hair," said Dyke.
"After they saw me when I first cut my hair, they figured and hoped I would get a relaxer soon after, but I haven't."
Some students said that they believed racial oppression led African-Americans to believe that natural black hair was never good enough.
"My friends supported me but my dad really didn't like it because I guess he thought I would always have long straight hair like a girl should have," said Melanie Davis nursing freshmen. "People shouldn't be scared to be themselves."
Dyke said that she wanted to make her own decisions regarding beauty.
"I was tired of being told how I am supposed to look as a black woman," said Dyke.
Natural hair and what it means to be a black woman has made an impact in the media including books and movies.
"The resistance to the natural hair hasn't really come from the white community," said Shauntae White, associate professor in the English and mass communications. "It really comes from the black community."
White recently published a book chapter on the subject, "The Big Girls Chair: A Rhetorical Analysis of how ‘Motion for Kids' Markets Relaxers to African American Girls."
"The socialization we get at a young age tells us the natural state of our hair is unacceptable," said White.
According to statistics presented in Chris Rock's 2009 "Good Hair," 30–34 percent of all hair products in the U.S. are purchased by African American women and 65 percent of hair-care revenue comes from weaves.
"Going natural can be a life changing experience," said White. "I straightened my hair for so long because that is what you did. There was never another option presented."
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