![Michele George's "The Knotty Truth" provides insight that makes transitioning to natural a breeze](http://cdn2-b.examiner.com/sites/default/files/styles/large/hash/12/3f/123f333841fc402806afea9f47eccdb5.jpg "Michele George's "The Knotty Truth" provides insight that makes transitioning to natural a breeze")
The decision to transition hair from chemically altered back to its natural state is one that does not come easy. It’s a process that involves mentally breaking through antiquated beauty standards and reeducating yourself from the roots of your hair up. Unlike in the beginning of this most recent natural boom where information on going natural was sparse, there is now a multitude of Blogs and Websites dedicated to the art and beauty of cultivating natural hair. But if you’re starting your journey like most – especially if you live in an area where the natural wave has not caught on yet – the wealth of information presented can be overwhelming. Do you automatically launch into locs, twist your tresses or break out the scissors for a BC? And what exactly is a BC anyway. Well for naturals in Columbus, the answer to that question and many others could be as close as your neighbourhood bookseller.
The Knotty Truth is a 140 page natural hair guide that breaks the transitioning process into bite-sized portions that even the greenest natural newbie can digest easily. Written by Columbus resident M. Michele George, The Knotty Truth offers insight on every leg of the journey, covering the beginning of Black hair history and providing myth-busting facts to help make natural hair care maintenance a breeze.
About the Author
Mrs. George developed a love for hair early in life, growing up watching her paternal grandmother create works of coiled hair art in her basement beauty shop. This introduction to the world of hair care fostered a desire in Chele, as she is affectionately known, to become a cosmetologist herself, despite her parent’s best wishes.
“I always wanted to do hair but I was discouraged from going into cosmetology in favor of going to college and getting my degree.” Michele confesses.
Although she followed her parent’s direction and went on to earn degrees in both Biology and Physiology, the allure of carrying on her Grandma Gin’s legacy did not abandon Chele. Using her own hair as her canvas, she honed her skill in hair design to maintain salon perfect styles such as twist outs and wet sets on her relaxed tresses. But post graduation her focus on cultivating healthy hair took a turn into the natural side of town.
“I figured since I was wearing natural styles anyway I’d take the next step and transition to a fully natural state.”
Although initially convinced by her beautician to go the texturizer route, Chele began to research safer options that would rid her hair completely of its chemical dependence. All throughout her transition process Chele continued the research which would eventually become The Knotty Truth, gathering all the information she could to help make the experience as safe for her hair as possible. It is through this research that she came upon Nappturality.com which offered her the support and shared wisdom of other naturals that was needed to fully embrace her journey.
“Back then there were very few resources available for going natural, so finding Nappturality was like a saving grace.” Michele explains. “Being able to see pictures and read stories of others' progress was a great encouragement for my journey.”
From her permed “roots” and through her use of a texturizer, Chele transitioned with the help of wigs and protective styles, coming into a completely natural state in 2004. In 2005 she cropped her coils with a dramatic BC (big chop) and began to learn more about her hair as it grew naturally from her scalp. A year later, after growing tired of wearing loose natural styles, Chele decided she was ready for locs, which she started from braids herself after being told by her beautician that it was not possible to do so.
“I decided to do the locs myself because of the negative attitude presented to me by the stylist.” Michele recalls. “Even after I showed her pictures of the successful attempts by Nappturality members she still denied it could be done, and so I decided I did not want that type of energy going into my hair.”
Starting with four hundred tiny braids and graduating to one hundred twenty locs after combining the braids to strengthen the base of each loc, Chele taught herself the loc’ing process and relied on advice from the Nappturality forums to aid her in maintaining her locs. Her tireless work to grow natural hair from the inside out has earned Chele the titles of Notty of The Month on Nappturality in May of 2009, as well as a MotownGirl.com Spotlight of the Week in June 2009.
Additional resources that helped Chele in her journey were books such as No Lye by Tulani Kinard and Going Natural by Mireille Liong-A-Kong. While she found these books tremendously helpful, she found one essential element missing that she herself had been longing to learn.
“Because transitioning is more than just changing how you maintain your hair on a physical level, I was looking for resources that touched on the mental plane of the process. No Lye and Going Natural explained the technical side of transitioning, but spoke very little about how to get past our preconceived notions of beauty standards when it comes to natural hair.”
And this is where her ideal for The Knotty Truth got its foundation. Chele wanted to create a publication that would be a one-stop information shop on the mechanics of “going natural” combined with the mental and spiritual aspects of the process.
About the Book
The Knotty Truth is more than a how-to manual on what to do and not to do when making the transition to maintaining natural hair. It is a ten year labor of love that provided as much education for the author as it does for the readers.
“The hardest part of creating the book was knowing when to stop.” Chele laughs. “Because I was learning so much over time, with certain processes evolving with the times or being rendered obsolete, I wanted to include it all. But I had to narrow the scope to just cover those things newbie transitioners needed to know to start their journey.”
And reader’s reactions? Two time Emmy Award winning news anchor Cynthia Barnes deems The Knotty Truth “A must-read for any woman considering becoming and/or in the midst of being chemical-free… Without it, you are like a ship without a sail.”
"I wish I had this book when I first became natural, it would not have taken me so long to embrace my own natural hair and appreciate it.” Dawgelene Sangster expresses on The Knotty Truth's Amazon.com page. “[Chele] has definitely gotten to the root of natural hair and this book will give you an appreciation for your hair and how to handle it."
So if you’re looking for a launchpad to start your natural journey, whether you’re in Columbus or anywhere in the natural hair world, The Knotty Truth is a great place to start.
Comments
I also wish this book was available early in my journey. I had already decided to be natural, but the lack of support made it difficult. I am excited to have different portals of info available to me and others to remain healthily natural...well done article!!!
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