Naturally ME Connects to Belles Roots
Naturally ME gives students the tools to connect to their roots – literally. The campus organization helps its’ members build family trees. The executive board is hosting workshops to teach members how to search for ancestors through birth and death records.
Naturally ME is the first Bennett College organization to focus its efforts on natural hair and cultural roots. President Imani Wilburg-Folds, a junior, created the organization in the spring of 2011. She came up with the title Naturally ME because it assists students with understanding their “natural essence.” Wilburg-Folds says Naturally ME was originally about hair, but it has become much more.
“I have dreadlocks and most of my friends are natural, so we thought it was important to give other natural students a club that was created strictly for their hair issues,” she says. “Naturally ME does that and more. This is just the beginning!”
Naturally ME was a small club, but it is now expanding to include Bennett College faculty and staff members with natural hair and students from other schools in Greensboro.
The mission of Naturally ME is broadening as well. The club promotes students connecting with their hair and now, with their cultural roots. Those in the club say there is a sudden need for students to know where they come from, so the club’s executive board is encouraging students to create ancestral trees.
“My Great-Grandfather raped my Great-Grandmother,” says Ife Madzimoyo, the club’s historian and photographer. “Other students don’t realize what their family history entails. Most students are not connected because they don’t know how to begin searching.”
Naturally ME aims to change this disconnect for all Bennett students by hosting workshops. Members who have built their own family trees will facilitate the workshops and help participants find their relatives through birth and death records. Building the family tree is free for members of the organization.
“We’re not charging members to connect with their ancestors,” Wilburg-Fold says. “It should be free to trace where you’ve come from.”
Naturally ME plans to conduct several family tree building workshops throughout the fall and spring semesters. The club wants to help at least five members find the African village their families originated from.
“I would love to figure it out,” says senior Jasmine Lewis. “I have to know where I’m coming from to get where I’m going.”
Naturally ME also has other events on its agenda. There will be “Mommy & Me” sessions, which teach new mothers different hairstyles that don’t require hair relaxers. The club will also offer family tree building workshops to the Greensboro community as community service. There are also plans to have a hair show featuring both relaxed and natural styles.
For more information on Naturally ME, connect with the club on Facebook by clicking on this link.
By: Evette Brown
The Essence of Naturally ME
Whether natural or relaxed, curly or straight, hair in the African-American community is as diverse as our complexions, socio-economic backgrounds, and religion. Here, we showcase several Belles who are connected to their roots.
Imani Wilburg-Folds, Junior, Psychology Major
Naturally ME President
Natural Hair Choice: Teeny Weeny Afro (TWA)
Ife Madzimoyo, Sophomore, Africana Women’s Studies major
Naturally ME Historian/Photographer
Natural Hair Choice: Dreadlocks
Raven Williams, Junior, Psychology Major
Naturally ME Secretary
Natural Hair Choice: Twist Outs
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