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

IT'S BEEN A MINUTE

Greetings,

I apologize... It has been a minute since I've posted anything. I have been busy at work and really tired. There really isn't anything going on over here (that I can actually post) so I will share with you one of the highlights of the last couple of months...

My fiance's good childhood friend, George L. Lopez (no, not the comedian) is an author and just published his first book titled, "A Distant Battlefield" and, I must say, it is GREAT!!!!



Of course, I am biased because of the connections but, if you are interesting in Sci-Fi style fiction, then you would LOVE this book. I am halfway through it (because I have been busy at work) and am definitely looking forward to reading some more of it.



I took a picture of myself holding the book so that he can see it ("Your book made it all the way to Iraq!") You can see how much my Sisterlocks have grown in the picture, too. I am also going to post some pictures of my hair after I had washed them straight instead of braiding them like I normally do (iPhone pics, so bear with me...)





Hope that everyone is doing good.


Regards,





Militant Sisterlocks

DEPLOYMENT MONOTONY...

Greetings,

Yes, it's been a minute (again). Such is life. So, I'm in Iraq and I'm doing okay. Not much going on where I'm at, which is good. I'm enrolled in college and working on staying productive during my shift. My job is to make sure that we have internet and secure and unsecure communications running at all times so when everything is working, my job is just monitoring it. A lot of down time. COLLEGE COLLEGE COLLEGE!!!

I am majoring in Business Administration with a concentration in Computer Information Systems. I am taking 2 classes right now. I am also working on my business plans for my clothing lines and a Request For Proposal for a photo shoot that I need to do later on this year for my ad campaigns. I don't have any pictures of my clothes that are worth putting on my business websites (which are still in the works) so I definitely need some professional photos taken.

As for my Sisterlocks, I pretty much just braid and band them and wash them every week and leave them in the crinkly hairstyle. They are growing well and I still have my Nappylocks tool but I have only attempted to retighten some in the front (due to laziness and impatience). I really appreciate the patience that all of you who retighten both your own and other people's Sisterlocks (and all types of hair, really) have. I cannot do that for a living!!! My roots are definitely screaming at me so I need to take some of that down time that I have and dedicate it to my hair.

Here are some pictures of what I am working with right now:



Don't laugh!!!! The kissy face was for my fiance!!!! (Yes, I'm lazy and am recycling pictures!!)



Yes, I was also tired!!!! I just came off shift!!! ;)

These pics are just to show you the length of the locs thus far. I will post better pictures later when I can get someone to take them for me. ;)

What do you guys think????


Regards,





Militant Sisterlocks

IT'S BEEN A LONG TIME...

Greetings,

Hi. I have been out of the loop for a while. I have been moving around a lot over the past few months.

Just a brief update...

I went to Airborne School in September and graduated in October.

I reported to Fort Bragg (Fayetteville), NC in October and am now staying with a friend on post since I will only be there for a short period of time.

I went to New York in late October and visited my son and my family and got to spend my birthday up there with them!!!!

I will be deploying to Afghanistan in February until October 2010!!!!!

My fiance reenlisted to come to Fort Bragg and will be arriving in July of 2010 so when I return from deployment he will already be there to greet me!!!!

We have been conducting pre-deployment/cold weather training in the field for the past 2 1/2 months and have only been given a break for the holidays.

I'm in Fort Sill, OK right now visiting my fiance and his son on vacation until the 2nd when I have to go back to the field for another long week!!!!

I found a great Sisterlocks trainee in Fayetteville and she re-tightened my hair right before I left for Fort Sill for vacation. I have another re-tightening scheduled for January 9th and will definitely try to post pictures!!!!

I will be getting married in April 24, 2011 and have a website on TheKnot.com and a link from my Facebook page that I recently created for my deployment.



Here are some pictures from my recent activities...

This is the U-Haul truck and trailer with my car "Mr. Lawrence I" attached. I drove over 1300 Miles from El Paso, TX all the way to Fort Benning, GA and then from there to Fort Bragg, NC in this thing by myself!!!! It took me 4 days to get from TX to GA and half a day from GA to NC. Whew!!!! Never again!!!!



This is a picture of my German Airborne Wings, which I earned at Fort Bragg on my first Airborne jump out of Airborne School. It is rare to have a foreign jump as your first "cherry jump". A "cherry jump" is the first jump you do at your unit out of Airborne School.



This is my son's reaction when I first walked in the door at my mom's house in NY!!!! I had the camera phone ready...




This is my beautiful grandmother posing for the camera when I first arrived...



This is my son and my brother. My brother and I took him to Chuck E Cheese!!!! Everyone says my son looks like he can be my brother's child!!!! Straight-up spitting image!!!! Look at that Future Trooper Airborne T-Shirt!!!!



Here is a picture of me at church in New York...



Here is a picture of my son and I relaxing in my mom's living room. He's so cute!!!! I miss him so much and can't wait to bring him down to Bragg with me, my fiance and his son when I come back from deployment!!!!



This is my son, Shai and his father in NY. We took him to McDonald's and played on the big toy for a while. He has this thing for chicken nuggets and fries... Hmmm....



This is my friend Tessa, who I am staying with at Fort Bragg. Her and I went to AIT together and have been close friends ever since. She's a SGT in the National Guard and her husband is a SGT and is deployed right now. You can see her beautiful son and daughter below!!!!





Here is Eric and I... snowed in on Christmas Eve in Fort Sill, OK!!!



We had some of our friends come over and play video games, eat and drink with us because their electricity went out due to the snow and weather so they had no heat!!!! My fiance's son, Traivon, is below playing video games. He is such a character!!!!








My Facebook page is:

http://www.facebook.com/tanaya.marcia.davis

and our wedding website is:

http://www.theknot.com/ourwedding/TanayaDavis&EricWilliams

What do you guys think????


Regards,





Militant Sisterlocks

MOHAWK

GREETINGS!!!!

Okay... So I didn't post any pictures of my roots after I got my Sisterlocks retightened for some unknown reason, so here are some pictures of that. I was experimenting with my fresh new locks and wanted to see if I can pull off the Mohawk look.

Now, keep in mind that I am not the best at doing hair, ESPECIALLY MY OWN!!!! So, here is my attempt at cornrows and and braid out in the form of a Mohawk. You can get a good look at my beautiful roots, thanks to Shacole at Kamaria Creations!!!!








What do you guys think????



Regards,





Militant Sisterlocks

KAMARIA CREATIONS

GREETINGS!!!!

I am so happy with my hair! I finally got my Sisterlocks retightened as scheduled and they look SOOOOO much better! The consultant that did my hair was Shacole. She has a blog also and when I saw her I immediately recognized her from her blog. It really is a small world in the blogging community! She is great! She has good conversation and is really fast. It took her about 5 hours to fix 6 months worth of new growth and she did it all by herself without even needing a second set of hands.

My roots feel so much better now that they are back to normal. It feels good to be able to run my fingers through my hair without getting them stuck! The owner of the salon, Neema Kamaria Hanifa, is really nice, as well as all of the other stylists there. They have a neat website; Erykah Badu got her hair done there, too!

So, if you are ever in the Albuquerque, New Mexico area, definitely hit them up at their salon. It was definitely worth the trip!





www.KamariaCreations.com


Thank you, Shacole and Kamaria Creations!





Regards,





Militant Sisterlocks

THE HORRID ROOTS!!!!!!!

GREETINGS!!!!

Hello everyone! I will be getting my Sisterlocks retightened this weekend at Kamaria Creations in Albuquerque, New Mexico, which is like 4 hours away from where I am in El Paso, TX. My significant one and I will drive there Friday after work. My appointment is at 10am on Saturday. I am so excited because my roots look HORRID! Yes, HORRID is the right word.

Definition of HORRID: hideous: grossly offensive to decency or morality; causing horror; "subjected to outrageous cruelty"; "a hideous pattern of injustice"; "horrific conditions in the mining industry"

wordnet.princeton.edu/perl/webwn

That is EXACTLY how I feel about my roots, LOL! Here are some closeups of what these poor consultants will have to deal with on Saturday. When I sent them some pictures of my hair in an email they were like "Oh my God, that will take maybe 8 hours and we might need TWO consultants on your hair!" LOL






Let's hope they can save these horrid roots!



Will keep you all posted!





Regards,





Militant Sisterlocks