When we last checked in on Rachel Dolezal, the former NAACP chapter president and self-identifying black woman was doing weaves and braids three days a week to make ends meet.
Not that styling hair isn’t an honorable profession, but it had to have seemed like an awfully big step down from lecturing on the politics and history of black hair at Eastern Washington University. Dolezal, however, will return to the limelight this weekend when she appears at the Naturally Isis BraidOn Economic Liberty March and Rally in Dallas.
Rachel Dolezal is back in the news. Can't she just go away? https://t.co/9O7sZujlsm pic.twitter.com/PAN0OJTFuT
— The Daily Beast (@thedailybeast) September 1, 2016
has she successfully transitioned to a black woman? The world must know.
— bambina ??? (@VictoriusValore) September 1, 2016
Fake Black Lady Rachel Dolezal Invited to Feature at a Rally for Natural Black Hair https://t.co/eboNNz8a86
— Kat Timpf (@KatTimpf) September 1, 2016
https://twitter.com/DaJSch/status/771451319408168960
Dolezal was invited to participate in the event when organizer Isis Brantley, owner of the Institute of Ancestral Braiding, saw some of her braiding work on TV. She was unaware of the media frenzy surrounding Dolezal, reports the Daily Beast.
Brantley was very quickly made aware of the controversy surrounding Dolezal when people on social media began calling her a sellout and threatened to boycott her business.
.@Naturallyisis the only thing "natural" about Rachel D is her appropriation
— Neal Carter (@nealcarter) September 1, 2016
https://twitter.com/NaturallyTiss/status/771365485602545664
WTF?!?! This bish will not go away! WHY @Naturallyisis ??? pic.twitter.com/Hqh4oDZ0Hy
— Umoja Sasa ☥ ?♥️? ✊? (@umojasasa) September 1, 2016
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Brantley didn’t rescind her invitation, nor did Dolezal let the uproar online change her plans to attend the event. “It’s a justice issue and I’ve been a social justice activist for years,” she explained in a telephone interview with the Daily Beast. “It’s really that simple.”
I'm going to Dallas for the Natural Hair Parade at the request of its founder, NaturallyIsis, to support her and the BraidOn movement.
— Rachel Anne Doležal (@RachelADolezal) September 2, 2016
Um, isn't that cultural appropriation?
— Diana Morrison (@GrandmaD62) September 1, 2016
https://twitter.com/FaithBased92/status/771427950646456320
Yes, it is cultural appropriation, and very much so; but in this case, it might be acceptable. Or not. Honestly, we have no idea and it makes our heads hurt just thinking about it.
She should be on the cover of "Cultural Appropriation" magazine.
— David Hammond (@ReggieMoto) September 1, 2016
Even better: Dolezal says she is just a few chapters away from completing her memoir, in which she will tell the full side of her story, with the emphasis on “story.” Oh, what a tangled weave.
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