QUESTION THAT I RECEIVED ABOUT ME WEARING MY SISTERLOCKS IN THE ARMY

Greetings,

I just got a really nice message from someone on Facebook who happened to come across my blog and asked me what I do when people ask me about my hair (I have been asked this a lot and have touched on it a bit) but, being that I gave her a more thorough answer than I normally do, I decided to share it here since this is where most people find me when they are curious about the same thing...

My answer:

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Greetings,

Thank you for checking out my blog (I need to get on there and update it!!!!)

I have only been in three Army units thus far since transferring over from the Marine Corps in November 2006 and I got my Sisterlocks installed in November 2008 and no one has really questioned me about my locks. When the few that have did, however, I simply quoted the reg, AR 670-1 chapter 1-8a(3)(a) [page 4 of the reg, which is page 27 of the PDF] of the February 3, 2005 update, which states the Army's definition of so-called "Dreadlocks" as:

"...unkempt, twisted, matted individual parts of hair..."

I then explain to the person, who is inquiring, that Sisterlocks are a trademarked system which takes your natural hair and interlocks it into a permanent pattern, similar to braids ( <-- key word) with a metal tool (then show them my hair up close so they can see my roots and the new interlocked "pattern", therefore, they are not matted or twisted, they are interlocked like braids, and they are not unkempt individual parts of hair because they share the same manicured, uniform look as braids, which are allowed to be worn, according to that same paragraph and section, which states:

"Females may wear braids and cornrows as long as the braided style is conservative, the braids and cornrows lie snugly on the head, and any hair- holding devices comply with the standards in 1–8a(3)(d) below."

I then refer them to the Sisterlocks.com website and explain to them that I can arrange for them to speak with a certified consultant in the area if they would like more clarification (they never do).

Thus far, that descriptive answer has satisfied everyone that I have come across.

One thing that you do have to understand though, is that the regulation can be interpreted differently by different commands so you would still be taking a risk by installing them and Sisterlocks are not cheap to install so, if you choose to get them, just have a plan in place if you are ever confronted and end up having to decide between the Army and your hair (are you going to fight and risk getting kicked out or are you going to cut them off again?).

If you have any more questions, please let me know. I might use this as a new blog post!!!! ;)

Regards,

Tanaya M. Davis


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I hope that this answers a lot of people's questions but if not, send me a message and I will do my best based on my own experiences with my commands (but all commands are different).



Regards,





Militant Sisterlocks

MY TOUR IN KOREA

GREETINGS!!!!

I am finally back from Korea after a year and can't wait to get my Sisterlocks retightened!!!! I haven't had a retightening ever since my installation because there were no certified consultants or trainees in Korea!!!! It is long overdue.

Here are some random pictures of me and my Sisterlocks in Korea since the installation.



This is me and my gorgeous significant other at Outback in Korea. I had to force him to take this picture because he hates pictures!! I don't know why... He's so GORGEOUS!!!!!!!!


This is me at a local clothing shop in the downstairs of a hotel we were staying at on post in Yongsan Korea.

My cute significant one and I getting ready to go out in Korea.


He was getting irritated with me and my camera here, LOL.


Me playing around with the camera.


This is a fashion show that my Battalion did while in Korea with my clothing companies' designs as the featured designs. This is one of my originals. I had that mean model look LOL!

More pics of the show will be on my websites on the right!!!!



This was a dinner that my section did to recognize everyone in the shop for a job well done over the year in Korea. I got this trophy from my bosses. It was a nice surprise! I wasn't expecting anything because they told me it was a birthday party for my boss and one of the civilians that worked for us! My best friend came with me to the party and was trying to duck out of the picture!

We caught him in this picture though!! I love how I can wear a hat with my Sisterlocks and it still look really feminine. It also covered up those horrible roots!!!!


What do you guys think?




Regards,





Militant Sisterlocks

SISTERLOCKS AT WORK

GREETINGS!!!!


I just got back from Korea!!!! Here are some pictures of me and my Sisterlocks at work. This is how I wear them normally while in uniform (not like I have that many choices while in uniform).


There's me conducting business on the phone!!!!


This is a picture of my NCOIC (my boss) and I.



This is me and one of the Warrant Officers in my unit that was helping me out with an email.





And this is me just posing and acting silly. My roots were really bad since I haven't retightened my Sisterlocks since I got them (6 months)!!!! I bought a Nappylocks tool and had intented to try and maintain them myself until I could get back to the States and get them done by a consultant but I couldn't get the hang of it so I just braided and banded them when I washed them and then made sure to seperate them to keep the thick roots from meshing together.

It was rough!!!

What do you all think?




Regards,





Militant Sisterlocks

LATE 2005: LOCKS DURING PREGNANCY

Greetings!!!!

Here are some pictures of me when I was pregnant. I actually got pregnant the same day that I did my lingerie photo shoot in June 2005. These pictures were taken in late 2005. My traditional locks are a lot longer and my face a lot FATTER!! LOL

If you look behind my head in the first picture of me and my stomach, you can see my Marine Corps boot camp picture. I love the Marine Corps! (Why didn't I stay in?? That's another post.)

I had gotten my locks dyed back to their dark color. It took forever. Don't ask me what they used. I have no idea! LOL The locks started to look a little rugged to me and needed to be groomed. Nevertheless...

















What do you think????




Regards,




Militant Sisterlocks

SUMMER 2005: PHOTO SHOOT

Greetings!!!!

Here are some pics of my photo shoot that I did in the summer of 2005. I was still in the Marine Corps at that time and had just came back from being stationed in New Orleans for a year. Good thing I got back right before Hurricane Katrina. My old colleagues there said that the whole post had to get evacuated to Kansas City. The navy base that Marine Forces Reserves was on was located right in the middle of the French Quarter.

We had some good physical fitness training (like the Marines always do! It's definitely different than the Army and I miss that a lot!)






















































I was in top shape and had a good diet. I wanted to show that off and celebrate what it means to be natural so I did this photo shoot with one of my modeling buddies. He has gorgeous locks. They were between 5 and 7 years old at the time. We were both trying to build our portfolios throughout the summer and hooked up with a great photographer to do this shoot. His name is Hubert.























































I also did a lingerie shoot with Hubert and two other photographers (one of them being my son's father) at this photo shoot event where they brought a lot of up-and-coming models together with a lot of up-and-coming photographers and we all did shoots in this nice club for free.
















































It was a great opportunity to get free photos for both of our portfolios since we were all just starting out professionally.

Even though all of the pics that I take are tasteful, I will not post the lingerie pics because this is not the place for that. However, I will post a few that I have cropped so that you all can see how nice my hair looked. ;) I am also working on my website which is currently under construction so if you would like to see more of my modeling pics then you can go there. The link is on the right side under "Commercial Enterprises". My modeling website is Strong Black Modeling Group, LLC. You can also check out my other websites as well!



What do you think????






Regards,

Militant Sisterlocks

GREETINGS!!!!

Greetings Everyone!!!!

I would first like to start off by thanking everyone that inspired me to start blogging (pretty much everyone that is on my Blog List). I am one of the many who decided to lock my hair based on what I read and researched on the internet, most of that being blogs from other locked women.

I got my Sisterlocks a couple of days ago on 14 November of 2008 and told myself that I wasn't going to blog for various reasons but the more that I read everyone else's journeys and the more that I come across other military personnel who are thinking about going natural, the more I feel like this is what I should do for other women who might want to go back to their natural hair, especially women in the military who have limited options.

Over the next couple of days, I will post a lot of "catch-up" information so that I can clearly explain where I have been with my hair all the way up to the present.

But for now, since it is about 3 am, I will leave it at that. Just wanted to set this up and say "hi"! More to follow.

Regards,

Militant Sisterlocks