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Isis Brantley fought a fight that few in Dallas even know existed. A leader in the underground hair-braiding movement, Brantley was arrested in ’95 for practicing her craft without a cosmetology license. Known throughout the international hair community as Naturally Isis, she refused to accept the charge, arguing that cosmetology courses required 1,500 hours of training for an unrelated field. It took nine years until Naturally Isis’ case was overturned. She used the time to define and change the course curriculum for future stylists within her field. Now only 35 class hours are required, and they focus directly on braiding and other fundamentals of natural hair. Isis was even grandfathered in as a licensed educator. Saturday, she unites the natural hair community with the Naturally Isis Hair Parade and Festival, and Erykah Badu will grand-marshal the thing. Celebrate your natural hair and join the foot march. It starts at 10:30 a.m. at Lamar Street and Martin Luther King Boulevard and ends in a festival at Akwete Tyehimba’s wonderful Pan African Connection. Visit naturallyisis.com.
Sat., Sept. 7, 2013
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