Dismantling Shame: Embracing Curly Hair in Latine Culture

woman with curly hair standing with her head down in shame

My hair journey has been one of self-love and acceptance.

As a young child I remember having curly hair and the rest of my immediate family having very straight hair. I was also the child with a darker complexion so the question my mother often received (in front of me) was usually along the lines of, ‘Is this your daughter too?’


This was something that often made me feel like I didn’t belong, and to adapt to these feelings I did things to be celebrated like being a great student and a very obedient daughter. My mother loved my curly hair so in the process of making her happy I never wanted straight hair.

As a young teen I remember putting my head over the bathtub and scrunching a ridiculous amount of Tresemme mousse until my curl strands were nice and crunchy. This became a habit of mine until I reached high school, when hair straightening started and when I abandoned my curls. It’s as if there was an understanding that I was now entering a professional space and needed to adapt to the life I would be living after high school. Not to mention at this point hair straighteners finally became accessible to everyone. You could go to your local beauty supply store and get a BabyBliss straightener for a fraction of those expensive Chi straighteners. I think a lot of us felt like we could finally have what so many celebrities had had for so long and it felt good to resemble them with their long, straight tresses.

For 10 years I used a straightener. One day I woke up and decided to stop. It wasn’t hard or challenging because I made the personal decision to embrace my texture as part of my culture and my identity. While my immediate family did not have curly hair, it was a reminder that somewhere down my lineage I had indigenous ancestry that were living in Mexico before colonization. In a world of eurocentric beauty standards, wearing my natural hair was a symbol of resistance. I still get the comments, ‘You look so nice when you straighten it,’ ‘Why don’t you straighten it more often?’ However, this is who I have always been and my curly hair is a big part of it because it’s not tamed, it’s unpredictable and every curl is unique. It’s the way I’m navigating life nowadays – no restrictions, no boundaries, unapologetically showing up.

One of the exciting parts is that in the process of my own hair journey I’m seeing other friends and family love their hair! The beauty market has now learned to cater to us. You can go into any beauty store and find dozens of options for your curly mane. In the process of writing this, I asked some amigas how they had navigated their own curly hair journey and here’s what they said:

“The journey to restore my natural curl’s health was about a year in the making. I felt it was important to understand my locks in their natural state, the process of taking care of them, and the history behind my rizos. They were proudly passed down to me by my mami & her eyes light up anytime I rock my natural hair. My curl journey has provided me with a new level of love, respect, and admiration for myself and my culture!”– Jennifer Hernandez, Dallas, Texas

“My curly hair is one of the things that makes me who I am. The journey hasn’t been easy. Growing up I always wished I had straight hair so I could fit in with the other girls. I tried all sorts of products and procedures to the point where my hair was falling out. Not happy to admit one time I let a friend flatten my hair with a clothing iron. Honestly it wasn’t till my 30s when I finally fell in love with my curls. There was a Dove commercial a while back about teaching little girls to love their hair. I wish I would’ve seen that when I was young.” – Liz Vazquez, Washington, DC


“Fully embracing my curly hair has been part of my journey of radically loving myself. Growing up, I was constantly told by mainstream media and my community that beautiful looked like white very thin women with straight blonde hair and I didn’t fit any of those molds. For many years I felt doubt about my hair, body, and skin color. When I started seeing a therapist, we began to unpack and unlearn those standards of beauty. One of my therapist’s first suggestions was to follow other women that looked like me but as a biracial Latina I couldn’t find many people that looked like me so instead I decided to create content that made me feel beautiful with the hope that other women going through this same journey would feel seen.” -Michelle Dhasinghani, New York, NY

This journey is far from over for me because ultimately it’s more than just my hair, it’s undoing all the mainstream beauty standards that I have bought into.

It’s understanding that I’m whole as I am and without wanting to change my natural features to fit eurocentric beauty standards. It’s probably a journey most of us are on because the unrealistic beauty and body standards set by mainstream media and social media outlets can be overwhelming. Here’s your reminder for today amiga, you are enough, no matter how you decide to show up to the world.

hands holding up yellow protest signs that say Hands Off Our Bodies
Photo Credit: Gayatri Malhotra via Unsplash

Originally published in Common Dreams. Reprinted with permission.

The Latino electorate will prove decisive in securing reproductive freedom and abortion access through ballot measures around the country, particularly in states where Latinos are a significant portion of the electorate.

In November, abortion rights measures will appear on ballots across ten states, including Arizona, Colorado, Florida, Nevada, and New York, where Latinos make up a significant portion of the electorate. For decades, pundits and politicians have recycled long-held misconceptions about Latino voters and abortion access, citing our conservative and religious beliefs.

Anti-abortion extremists have long fueled these misconceptions through misinformation and disinformation campaigns targeting Latino communities with egregious lies and inflammatory rhetoric about abortion. Yet, polling, focus groups, and direct interactions with Latino communities have debunked these outdated tropes.

The Latino electorate will prove decisive in securing reproductive freedom and abortion access through ballot measures around the country, particularly in states where Latinos are a significant portion of the electorate.

For Latinos, the freedom to decide, a pillar of our American democracy, is critical. Meanwhile, Latinos are being hit directly with anti-abortion efforts that take away that freedom such as the six-week abortion ban put into effect by the Florida Supreme Court and the 1864 abortion ban upheld by the Arizona Supreme Court. In the wake of the Dobbs decision, people of color and Latinas have felt the impact of a lack of abortion access, an element of basic healthcare.

A 2023 report by the National Partnership for Women and Families estimated that nearly 6.5 million Latinas, or 42% of all Latinas of reproductive age in the country, live in a state that either had or was likely to ban abortion. Ironically, it will be abortion access and anti-choice efforts to restrict freedom of choice that will mobilize Latino voters this election.

In a poll conducted by three national reproductive justice organizations, 87% of Latinas named abortion and women’s rights as one of their top priorities as they head to the polls. Another battleground poll conducted by Somos PAC and BSP Research found that 61% of Latino registered voters expressed a more positive/favorable view of Kamala Harris after hearing that she will protect abortion rights, versus only 19% of Latinos who said they had a more negative view of Harris after hearing that.

In key states to secure the White House and both chambers, Latinos make up large chunks of the electorate: Arizona (25%), Colorado (15%), Florida (20%), Nevada (20%), and New York (12%). In the face of unprecedented attacks on basic healthcare access and targeted attempts by extremists to mislead and divide our community on this issue, this November Latinos will be key deciders on abortion access across the country.

Mari Urbina, Managing Director of Indivisible, Battleground Arizona Lead and former Harry Reid advisor.

Héctor Sánchez Barba is president and CEO of Mi Familia Vota (MFV).

This Viral Video Game Is Changing the Face of Voter Outreach

In 2024, voting campaigns have evolved greatly, to say the least. Creativity is now the name of the game and tongue-in-cheek humor is expertly leveraged to drive action. One example of that is Bop the Bigot, a revival of a viral game created in 2016 by Bazta Arpaio, an Arizona activist group, as part of a campaign to unseat Maricopa County’s Sheriff Joe Arpaio. Arpaio lost his re-election to Paul Penzone that year.

The game has now been updated for the current election cycle and relaunched by On Point Studios, with new features added to enable players to find out what’s on their ballot, confirm voter status, and register to vote.

Much like its former 2016 version, the game allows users to take out their political frustrations by virtually “bopping” GOP candidates in the head. It’s very similar to whack-a-mole, except the mole is replaced by former President Donald Trump, Ohio’s Senator J. D. Vance, and Kevin Roberts, President of the Heritage Foundation, which is spearheading Project 2025.

cartoon renditions of Donald Trump and J.D. Vance around a Bop the Bigot logoPromotional image provided by On Point Studios.

B. Loewe, Director of On Point Studios, came up with the concept for this game when working as the Communications Director at Bazta Arpaio in 2016, and is the executive producer of this revamped version. In the first version of the game, Bop the Bigot players used a chancla (flip flop) to “bop” the characters, tapping into Latino culture by leaning on the childhood experience of being set right by a flying chancla from a fed-up mother or grandmother.

This year, the chancla is replaced by a more current element, a green coconut, referencing Kamala Harris’ coconut tree meme. There are also side characters like “the couch,” cat ladies, and more coconuts. All references to jokes about Vice-Presidential candidate Vance, or insults Vance has made about women on the campaign trail.

Another new addition is that Harris’ laugh is immortalized as the game-over sound effect, an unexpected detail that adds even more humor and levity to the game.

cartoon renditions of Donald Trump, Kevin Roberts, and J.D. Vance around a Bop the Bigot logoPromotional image provided by On Point Studios.

Bop the Bigot, which is playable on desktop and mobile, is intended not just as a way to vent political frustrations, but also as a tool for activism and securing voter engagement.

For example, the game supports the work of Mexican Neidi Dominguez Zamorano, Founding Executive Director of the non-profit organization Organized Power in Numbers by using the “game over” screen to prompt players to donate to it and support their efforts.

Organized Power in Numbers is focused on empowering workers in the South and Southwest of the U.S. through collective action and comprehensive campaigns. Their mission is to create a large-scale movement that challenges the status quo and advocates for workers' rights, and racial and economic justice.

Currently, Dominguez Zamorano is leading worker outreach to 2 million working-class voters in the South and Southwest through doorknocking, texting, and calls with the help of local groups in North Carolina, Arizona, New Mexico, and more.

“We have been blown away by the enthusiastic reception for the video game. We knew we wanted to be part of its creative approach because our movement needs more fun and laughter. We need more ways to connect with nuestra gente so we can feel joy among all the absurdity we witness every day,” Dominguez Zamorano shared with Luz Media via email.

“Our people are gente trabajadora and we deserve to feel uplifted even in our toughest moments. We are deeply involved in the South and Southwest so we know what’s at stake in this election and we’re happy this can be a resource to mobilize, raise spirits, and get out the vote," she concluded.

Dominguez Zamorano is a committed activist for immigrants and workers' rights, known for her strategist skills and expertise. She played a key role in the campaign to win DACA and has also held roles in major campaigns, including as Deputy National States Director for Bernie Sanders' 2020 presidential campaign. In addition to her work with Organized Power in Numbers, Dominguez Zamorano is serving as a Senior Advisor to Mijente’s Fuera Trump Initiative.

Grassroots efforts like these have taken on new life in 2024, with Bop the Bigot adding to the larger, ongoing fight against political apathy and disinformation. Just as it did during the 2016 race, the video game uses humor to soften the serious task at hand—getting people to the polls.

"We want the game to be a fun and comical outlet for anyone who’s been insulted, frustrated, or harmed by Trump in the past and everyone who is ready to move forward as a country after election day," explained Loewe in a press release. "The proposals in Project 2025 and the beliefs of Trump and Vance aren’t just weird, they’re truly harmful. We wanted to give people a humorous and peaceful way to smack down their racism and sexism. We hope it makes people laugh and also feel empowered and motivated to get to the polls on or before election day."

With a mix of satire, sharp political critique, and nostalgia, the game is a call to action. The upcoming election, which is getting closer by the minute, has sparked fierce activism and creative yet grounded initiatives like these aim to ensure voters are engaged, especially young Latinos and disenfranchised groups.