Tabitha Brown Says When She Was Five A Teacher Changed Her Afro-Puff Hairstyle

The widely known vegan meal cooker Tabitha Brown recently opened up about her journey towards self-acceptance, which included her experience embracing her natural hair.

Brown, who is also an actress and activist that amassed millions of followers through her inspirational messages of hope and positive affirmations of self-love recalled a moment she experienced insecurity as a Black girl wearing natural hair.

She told PEOPLE, that while in grade school, she was excited that her mom had styled her hair in two afro puffs for school. But she was left “distraught” when a teacher’s assistant — who didn’t approve of her hairstyle — changed her hairstyle.

“I thought I did something wrong even though my mother let me wear my hair that way. I didn’t understand why it was a problem. And that happened at 5, I was in kindergarten, and I still remember that like it was yesterday,” she recounted.

Brown — a North Carolina native, TikTok sta, and mother of two — said that her hair being considered “inappropriate” or “unprofessional” became a typical thing throughout her life and she even experienced it in Hollywood.

“When I got to L.A., I had agents and casting directors tell me that, you know, for my complexion, straight hair would help me work better. The natural hair wasn’t a good look,” she continues. “Natural hair is not something people want to see on television.”

She went on to say that for the next 20 years,  she was “conflicted” and often straightened her hair to meet the standards imposed on her.

“It was something that felt like it was controlling me,” she says. “It also made me spend the years thinking that I had to do things to make other people feel comfortable, right, which is not a way to live.”

Brown insists that she is now comfortable wearing her hair how she wants regardless of others opinions but admits that her childhood experience is something that continues to “trigger” her today.

Studies revealed that Black girls are more susceptible to hair discrimination starting as early as 5 years old. The discovery and Brown’s firsthand experience are, in part, why she partnered with Dove for the brand’s “As Early As Five” campaign to help bring awareness of the CROWN Act, a bill created in 2019 which would prohibit discrimination based on natural hair textures and hairstyles.

“As soon as I heard about it a few years ago, I was immediately heartbroken and in anger that it even had to exist,” she explains.

“It’s sad that this even has to happen. But it’s so important that we are all treated fairly when it comes to how we wear hair, whether it’s in school, whether it’s in the workplace,” Brown adds. “It’s professional, it’s acceptable, and it’s appropriate, and we should always be made to feel that way from children to adults.”

Brown recalled the “turning point” for her self-acceptance, which started about five years ago when she was battling undiagnosed chronic autoimmune pain. She chose to make drastic life changes that included a vegan lifestyle and cutting off all her hair.

“I just decided, you know what? I’m gonna be me 100%. And however my hair grows is how it’s gonna be,” she adds. “I shaved off all my hair and started over and started taking the layers off of the old me every day. I’m still taking layers off today. But I decided that I was enough, just how God created me and I’ll continue to be enough.” 

“And I’m so glad that I found my way back to freedom,” Brown continues.