This is Sage Steele of ESPN. I’ve always admired the fact that she rocks her natural curls. I’ve always been displeased with the views she espoused regarding race in America.

One day I came across this photo. It pissed me off. How dare she reject Solange and let this man touch her crown of glory! How dare she make a mockery of her blackness on National TV! How dare she make it OK for White people to ask Black women if they can touch their hair…especially at work!

After a few more, “How dare shes”, I had to check myself. That’s HER hair. If she chooses to wear it naturally curly, in a bun, cornrowed, chemically straightened, fried, dyed, and laid to the side, with the Chinese cut or a weave hanging down to her butt; that’s her business. If she wants to have her coworkers or random fans cop a feel; that’s her business.

I don’t want anyone, an employer, my family, my friends, and especially not strangers trying to control what I do with my hair. I should have afforded her the same respect.

Black woman are judged by and many consider their hair an outward expression of their racial identity. Perhaps, Sage is not one who makes that connection. Perhaps, she views her hair as just that, hair. Regardless, it’s hers and whatever she chooses to do with it is her business.