Rep. Ayanna Pressley Reveals Her Hair Loss as She Shares Her ‘Very Personal’ Alopecia Diagnosis

In a moving interview with The Root, Massachusetts Rep. Ayanna Pressley opened up about living with alopecia and revealed that she has gone completely bald. Pressley, 45, said she decided to go public about her hair loss because she felt she owed an explanation to all the women of color who have reached out to her about what had become known as her signature hairstyle: Senegalese twists. She added that she decided to open up about going bald “to be freed from the secret, and the shame that that secret carries with it.” “I’m not here just to occupy space,” she also said. “I’m here to create it.” As a Black woman, the personal is political. My hair story is no exception. Sharing a very personal story today to create space for others: https://t.co/1sh11Q1Qp2 — Ayanna Pressley (@AyannaPressley) January 16, 2020 Pressley rocketed to the national stage in 2018 after she defeated ten-term incumbent Representative Mike Capuano in the Democratic primary for Massachusetts’ 7th district. Despite being relatively new to Congress, Pressley quickly gained nationwide attention as one-fourth of “The Squad,” the high-profile group of progressive freshmen Congresswomen that also includes Minnesota Rep. Ilhan Omar, New York Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez and Michigan Rep. Rashida Tlaib. In an exclusive interview, Pressley told The Root that she used to love playing around with different hairstyles, but once she discovere...
Source: TIME: Health - Category: Consumer Health News Authors: Tags: Uncategorized democrats onetime Source Type: news