Curl TYPE

For renowned writer Elizabeth Acevedo the journey to self-love began with embracing her hair.

- Naima Coster

A few years ago, a Dominican relative read an essay I wrote about embracing my curly hair, and she told me it had never occurred to her that hair straightening was about proximity to whiteness. My white editor for that piece also had difficulty with that idea and asked me, "But what is it about straight hair, besides proximity to whiteness, that made it so desirable to your family?" And I had to say, "No, that's it. It's just that."

Elizabeth Acevedo, a National Book Award recipient and the first writer of color to win the UK's Carnegie Medal, understands the racial implications of hair type. Her visual poem Inheritance, a picture book with illustrations by Andrea Pippins, examines the complexities of Black hair from the perspective of a first-generation Latin American. As a fellow Dominican writer, I've been a longtime admirer of Acevedo's. She spoke with me about self-love, her own hair journey, and learning to listen to your inner voice.

NAIMA COSTER: Tell me about your earliest hair memory.