Loving who you are with St. Clair Detrick-Jules

”As Black women, we have to stop waiting for the world to love us and love ourselves unconditionally,” St. Clair Detrick-Jules said at her presentation in the SUB this past Wednesday. The filmmaker, photographer, activist and author spoke to members of the MSU community to spread her message of love and joy. Her presentation detailed the story and the message of her book, “My Beautiful Black Hair.”

“For me, it was a project born out of a love for my little sister,” Detrick-Jules said. Her book is a collection of 101 stories from different Black women who have embraced their natural hair. During her presentation, Detrick-Jules told the audience a story about her little sister who had been made fun of at school for her hair. Upon hearing this, Detrick-Jules wanted to find a way to let her sister know that she is beautiful and should embrace herself. 

Detrick-Jules explained that many Black women choose to use relaxers and straighteners in their hair. In doing this, the natural curls of their hair are chemically altered to be straighter. She said that this has been a common choice throughout generations as a way to conform to westernized beauty standards. 

Many Black women are now choosing to accept their natural hair, and not just accept it but celebrate it. Her book recorded these stories. “For myself, it was really an affirmation that I didn’t necessarily know I needed,” Detrick-Jules said. She explained that growing up in a biracial family, she didn’t have a connection to any Black female family members to look up to. 

“I often felt very disconnected and doing this book was really an affirmation of how connected I am to my community,” she said. 

“It’s been interesting and eye-opening for me coming to places where there is not as much diversity,” Detrick-Jules said about traveling to Montana. She emphasized that her message of self-love and vulnerability can connect with a lot of different people and having the chance to share that with a lot of different people is special.

“We think we’re the only people going through it but then once we share we might realize there are other people going through the same thing and we can talk about it and get through it together,” Detrick-Jules said. 

During the question section of the event, Detrick-Jules responded to a question about student involvement. She encouraged students to create a community around whatever they are passionate about and to promote the idea that “we all have the ability to create the world we want.” 

If you want to learn more about Detrick-Jules, her work or her book you can visit her website. https://www.stclairdetrickjules.com/.