Naleighna Kai's Literary Cafe Magazine NK Literary Cafe Magazine - April 2018 Issue | Page 15

On the Saturdays before Easter, my grandma straightened my cousins and my sis-
ter’s hair. All the Vernon girls had masses of thick, long hair and I watched it,
transformed into shining, sheets of hair. I envied that because my hair was long and
wavy and only needed water and royal crown hair grease. It wasn’t the straighte-
ning in as much as the closeness to Bi’Ma I wanted. One time, she called me outside
and said, “Baby, I know you want your hair straightened but it’s not meant to be.
They hate it, see it as one less black woman burden to bear.”
—Angelia Vernon Menchan, author of How Being Broken Saved Me.
NKLC Magazine | 15