Four Wednesdays, 5:30pm to 7:30pm Pacific time, on Zoom
11/5/25 – 12/3/25 (No class on 11/26)
$180
For over four hundred years, Black natural hair has been the target of erasure efforts, demarginalizing us both as African Americans and as women. The various institutional modalities of policing Black women's (and men's) hair is a form of racist politics. Despite structural denials to the contrary, the fact is that our natural hair remains a heretical war zone. Policing of both Black bodies and our natural hair is a form of structural oppression.
White American society hasn't had to live as racialized beings. The White standard is implicitly the baseline against which all other standards are measured-- precisely the type of lens that problematizes Black, Afro Latina, and multiracial women's natural hair.
This month-long writing workshop is a safe, nurturing, intentional space to write and share your hair stories. While you will learn the conventions of good essay/memoir writing, we're not after perfection in this workshop; we're after exploration and reconciliation. Poems, essays, short stories, and hybrid pieces are all welcome. Bring your writing materials, be that a literal notebook, journal, sketchbook, or a screen and keyboard. If emotions come up, be they anger, sadness, outrage, or tears, those emotions are welcome. We'll begin with a series of prompts to help you begin writing. Each week we'll workshop our drafts with a partner, engage in revision, and have an opportunity to share our stories with the group.
Led by the author of TRAUMA, TRESSES, & TRUTH: Untangling Our Hair through Personal Narratives (Chicago Review Press) and producer of the 2021, 2023, and 2024 TRAUMA, TRESSES, & TRUTH conferences.
Reserve your space in this online workshop. Enrollment is limited.
A Muses & Melanin production.