Video by Kennedy Dendy, Story by Savannah Cooper | Staff Writer
With the simple goal of creating a community on campus, last year a group of friends saw the need for students to come together to talk about natural hair and all that comes with it. ROOTS natural hair club is now in full swing with bi-monthly meetings in the Bill Daniel Student Center.
ROOTS is a multicultural student ran organization hoping to educate Baylor’s campus and the greater Waco community not just about natural black hair, but hair across the chart.
Hosted on every other Tuesday at 6:00 p.m., their meetings consist of a powerpoint highlighting announcements along with the central discussion topic. Such topics range from colorism, stigma of natural hair in the workplace and how do men feel about natural hair.
Missouri City junior and ROOTS treasurer Gabby Chaney said she is excited to grow as an organization that connects with Baylor’s community.
“Our goal is to expand, we want more people involved and we want to talk about hair,” Chaney said. “We want to talk about ways to just grow as a black Baylor community.”
After the discussion, there’s a game or activity for all those present to participate in. Tuesday’s meeting kicked off a friendly game of Family Feud where a hairbrush was the red buzzer with questions ranging from naming what oils are the best for the scalp to what artists sing about natural hair.
Sugar Land junior Morenike Tajudeen is learning through her involvement with the club that hair isn’t simply for just one category.
“Talking about hair isn’t just a one dimensional, one race thing – it’s multifaceted,” Tajudeen said.
Atlanta freshman Morgan Bolden came to ROOTS looking for some help with her daily maintenance.
“More tips and tricks on how to maintain my hair everyday because I get lazy and don’t want to walk around with a matted puff ball,” Bolden said.
As part of the executive board especially, Tajudeen is looking to expand ROOTS membership by reaching out to those who might feel disconnected from Baylor’s black student population.
“We really try to stress unity amongst the black students on campus by reaching out to the athletes, engineering students, international students; to everyone who hasn’t been able to feel connected,” Tajudeen said.
At the end of each meeting, for paid members only, there’s a goodie bag filled of natural hair care products. Dues are $15 for a t-shirt and $35 for a full membership. To keep up with what ROOTS you can follow their Facebook and Twitter to stay updated with upcoming meetings.
