My Black hair story is both personal and political.
It took just five weeks to lose all of my hair. But in the nearly four years since then, I’ve gained a powerful community.
In late 2019, I was diagnosed with alopecia, an autoimmune disorder that attacks hair follicles. I used every tool I could to try to prevent my impending hair loss. I wrapped my hair. I wore a bonnet. I slept with a silk pillowcase. I feared going to sleep and waking up with more of my hair falling out. The person I would see in the mirror did not feel like me.
I officially went completely bald the night before I voted to impeach Donald Trump (for the first time). I wore a wig on the House floor to cast my vote. On a day where my job called me to stand up and lean in to this powerful moment, I felt exposed and ashamed. As soon as I finished my speech, I ran to the bathroom and cried for the first time since my diagnosis, mourning the loss of my hair and a large piece of my identity and culture.
But right there in the bathroom, after voting to impeach Donald Trump, I made a decision: I would stop wearing a wig. I wanted to be free from this secret.
This was a transformation that was not of my choosing, but one that I have chosen to stand in. By choosing to show up as my full, authentic self, I hope to provide representation in the halls of Congress to all the other Americans living with alopecia.
I am a bald Black woman navigating the corridors of power and seated at policy-making tables – just how I show up in the world is disruptive. It hasn’t been easy. But my husband Conan reminds me that you don’t need to have hair to rock a crown. And today, I have gained a beautiful new family of people living with alopecia and traumatic hair loss.
As we wrap up September, we’re closing out Alopecia Areata Awareness Month, but I won’t stop shining a light on the nearly 7 million people in America who live with this autoimmune disorder.
Alopecia Areata Awareness Month is a call to action — a reminder to keep fighting for comprehensive care, research to understand the causes, impacts, and possible treatments of alopecia areata, and meaningful public education to combat the stigma, discrimination, bullying, and mental health effects we too often face.
I want everyone to be able to show up in the world as their full, authentic, and unapologetic selves, and to do so without discrimination. And that is why I seek to steward my platform in a way that is thoughtful and impactful to those living with alopecia.
I will always strive to be a champion for the alopecia community. And I will always fight for those who have not had their voices heard by Washington, for those who have not seen themselves in positions of power, and for those whose needs have not been met by public policy.
With love and gratitude,
Ayanna Pressley
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