The War on Natural Hair

Jessica Sims is being honorably discharged from the Navy.

Sailor Discharged from the Navy for Locks  - Jessica Sims, a Navy Hospital Corpsman 2nd Class, will be honorably discharged on Aug. 29 for wearing her locks, as it is ?too bulky to be work with a gas mask,? the Navy Times reports. She was ordered to cut the hair she has worn since 2005. Sims said her hair was never an issue before checking into a boot camp at Greak Lakes, Illinois. ?I don?t think I should be told that I have to straighten my hair in order to be within what they think the regulations are,? she said to the Navy Times. BET.com takes a look at the war on natural hair. ? Dominique Zony?? and Nateleg? Whaley (Photo: Courtesy HM2 Jessica Sims)
Rastafarian Student Banned from Louisiana High School  - On Aug. 25, the American Civil Liberties Union wrote an open letter to a Louisiana High School Board on behalf of a South Plaquemines High School student who wears dreadlocks as a form of religious expression and was told that he had to cut his hair. His mother provided a letter from their 1st Church of Rastafar I, asking that he be exempt from the school?s dress code. Yet he still remains banned from the school. --- (Photo: Erik Isakson/Rubberball/Corbis)
/content/dam/betcom/images/2011/05/National/050411-National-Black-Women-News.jpgFired for Defending Natural Hair - Meteorologist Rhonda Lee was fired from Louisiana KTBS 3 news in October 2012 after defending her natural hair on Facebook following racist comments. Recently, WeatherNation, KTBS 3's main competitor, hired Lee as a meteorologist. Lee is suing her former station, and says she doesn't yet know when her new job will begin.(Photo: Courtesy of Rhonda A. Lee)

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Sailor Discharged from the Navy for Locks  - Jessica Sims, a Navy Hospital Corpsman 2nd Class, will be honorably discharged on Aug. 29 for wearing her locks, as it is “too bulky to be work with a gas mask,” the Navy Times reports. She was ordered to cut the hair she has worn since 2005. Sims said her hair was never an issue before checking into a boot camp at Greak Lakes, Illinois. “I don’t think I should be told that I have to straighten my hair in order to be within what they think the regulations are,” she said to the Navy Times. BET.com takes a look at the war on natural hair. — Dominique Zonyéé and Natelegé Whaley (Photo: Courtesy HM2 Jessica Sims)

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