TV: What is your earliest, fondest memory regarding your hair?

SS: My dad was a Rastafarian, so he had long locs and I always loved his hair. I never had locs, but my brothers did, and I would say that’s just a really fun memory for me, because I always thought, “He just looks so powerful. No one else has that.”

TV: Are there specific beauty and haircare practices from your Gambian culture and heritage that you remember partaking in while growing up? When did you realize that the outside world may see your hair differently than how you were raised to take pride in it?

SS: I was in Gambia until I was like seven years old, then I moved to Germany, so that was a culture shock. It was very different. In Gambia, my cousins would braid my hair. I had mixed hair, so it was also different, but I really got to love and know different styles. Like, my cousin had the craziest, beautiful hairstyles. We would do a lot of cornrows more than box braids, but in all the different shapes and forms. Then, when I came to Germany, it was just very different. It was very bland, and I almost hid that part of my culture once I was there. I didn’t find it again until I was 15 or 16, until I had this epiphany.

In Germany, I was often the only person of color in the classroom many times. Boys would try to be funny and throw paper straws in my hair because it would get caught in my fro. I came home crying one time and I told my mom, “I want straight hair. I don’t want my curls anymore.” After I had this really frustrating hair day at school, my mom just made me really feel beautiful. She took her time with me, brushed my hair, did a deep condition and we had a whole spa day. I have a white mom, so when I look at younger baby pictures, I’m like, “Oh my gosh, she let us walk around like [that],” but it was a learning process for her too. How you tend to yourself is really powerful, so take those moments just to be with yourself and love your hair, truly. But around 15 years old, when she didn’t allow me to straighten my hair for that exact reason, it completely shifted my mindset.