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(CNN) - The Massachusetts representative, Ayanna Pressley, publicly revealed this Thursday for the first time that she has an autoimmune disease that causes hair loss.
Pressley, whose Senegalese braids have been his characteristic hairstyle, revealed that he has alopecia in a video interview with The Root. She has defended young black women who are dedicated to their hairstyles and last month, along with representatives Cedric Richmond, Marcia Fudge and others, presented the Law to Create a respectful and open world for natural hair (CROWN Law), and New Jersey Senator Cory Booker introduced a similar bill in the Senate. New Jersey, California and other states have passed similar bills.
“This is my official public disclosure. I've only been bald in the privacy of my home and in the company of close friends, ”Pressley says at the beginning of the video.
Dressed in black and white and with a long curly wig, Pressley talked about the condition that not only can cause total hair loss, but also emotionally affects those who suffer from it. Later in the interview, Pressley is seen without the wig and dressed in yellow.
“Now I am ready. Because I want to free myself from the secret and shame that this entails, ”he said. “And because I'm not here just to take up space, I'm here to create it. And I want to be free. I'm making peace with alopecia, I haven't gotten there. It is still very early on my trip to alopecia. But I am making progress every day. ”
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File photo Pressley speaks at a press conference at the Capitol in Washington on December 5, 2019. The representative said she wants to be transparent about the new normality of her alopecia. (Credit: Alex Wong / Getty Images)
'Washbasin full of hair'
Pressley talked about his experience and how his braids became more than a hairstyle.
"My braids have become synonymous not only with my personal identity and how I present myself in the world, but also with my political brand," he said. "That's why I think it's important to be transparent about this new normal and live with alopecia."
Pressley said he first noticed bald patches in his hair last fall while combing and said the patches quickly accelerated.
"I had woken up every morning seeing tufts of hair down," he said, adding that he tried to stop it. “Every night I used all the tools they had taught me and had practiced throughout my life as a black woman because I thought I could stop this. I wrapped my hair. He was wearing a hat. I slept with a silk pillowcase. And yet, every morning, which I faced with fear, I didn't want to sleep because I didn't want the morning to come when I removed my hat and wrap and would find myself with more hair in the sink. ”
Today, I am sharing my #hairloss journey to create space and to create community for those of us who have had complicated relationships with our hair. This was not easy, but vulnerability rarely is.
Here's my story #alopecia ➡️ https://t.co/5iPgm8VWOG https://t.co/zGKkvLRIrq
- Congresswoman Ayanna Pressley (@RepPressley) January 16, 2020
“I feel more different when I wear a wig”
Pressley said it was on the eve of President Donald Trump's political trial that he lost his last hair.
“I was completely bald and in a matter of hours I was going to have to walk to the facilities - of the House of Representatives - and cast a vote in support of the charges of political trial. So I didn't have the luxury of crying what felt like the loss of a limb, it was a moment of transformation that I didn't choose. ”
He continued: “And I left the Chamber as soon as I could and hid in the bathroom. I felt naked, exposed, vulnerable. I felt sorry. I felt embarrassed. I felt betrayed and then I also felt that I was participating in a cultural betrayal. Because of all the girls who write letters to me, they come to me, and take selfies with me, they use the hashtag #twistnation (nation of braids). And I thought about those shirts and kept thinking about that. And immediately I knew that I was going to want, when I felt ready, to make it public. Because I felt I owed an explanation to all those girls. ”
Pressley said he has been experimenting with several wigs, one in which he called "The Ol 'G" because it is his first wig and another that he called "FLOTUS" because "I think it's very Michelle Michelle."
“Right now on this trip, when I feel more different from me is when I am wearing a wig. So I think that means I'm on my way. ”
What is alopecia?
Alopecia areata develops when the body attacks its own hair follicles, resulting in hair loss, according to the Academy of Dermatology. The National Alopecia Areta Foundation says it affects almost 6.8 million people in the United States and has a lifetime risk of 2.1%. There are several forms of alopecia areata, according to the foundation. Total alopecia leads to total hair loss of the entire scalp.
alopecia