A Special “Do” for a Special Occasion

Every once in a while I get a special hairdo for a special occasion. It might be a permed style, texturized, a fashionable wig, or braid style. It was a last minute decision, but I decided on a braided hairdo and asked my oldest niece to do it before I left for the International Black Genealogy Summit on Thursday morning.

I'm all smiles as I sported my new hairdo at work on Wednesday and my makeup which was done by a coworker.

She does not work as a hair stylist/braider by profession, but definitely has the natural gift to do such a job. She has never even attended school or training to do hair, but does it for our female family members and some of her close friends.

After a little over two hours under her creative fingers, my niece transformed my hair into this beautiful style which I love and for which I have received numerous complements since this Wednesday.

Actor and Comedian Chris Rock has already revealed many black hair secrets in his recent film, Bad Hair. However, I won’t reveal the details of how my niece transformed my hair. Neither will I post a “Before” picture which will both scare you and amuse you. (Ha, Ha).

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“My niece braided my hair,” I told a friend during a phone conversation on Wednesday night. I had not yet revealed to her the details about the hair style.


“Is it your natural hair?” my friend asked. We have known each other about ten years so she knows my hair history.


“It’s on my head,” I told her, “and I’ll leave it at that.”


We both chuckled and then I described the details of the hair style.

Here I am on Thursday morning at the Atlanta airport seriously tuning up my presentation.

A Braided Crown

Hair braiding or corn rowing hair has been around for thousands of years for African American women. I have worn crown styles of my natural hair or either had a little hair added to make the braids thicker and fuller. Added hair, known as braid hair, comes in a variety of textures and styles. I have worn styles using wavy/curly hair where this hair is braided in my own hair to the ends of my hair, and the added hair is left loose for a long pony tail

In this photo, I am wearing one of my favorite braid styles which I wore for the 1998 Bullock Family Reunion held in Grand Rapids, Michigan. I am standing with James, one of my Bullock cousins, who was the host of the 1998 family reunion.

My hair was braided in thin corn-row braids in a circular pattern around my head. One or two thick braids were incorporated into the hair to create the hat-like crown.

The video below demonstrates the method of braiding hair by adding synthetic hair to the natural hair.