Source: Djuana “DFitz” Lewis / Djuana “DFitz” Lewis
By Rashad Phillips
Photography By Djuana “DFitz” Lewis
For the past thirty years, Isis Brantley, a natural hair stylist, educator, and founder of Sisters of Isis natural hair product line, has been a pioneer for The Natural Hair Movement. In 1997, Brantley was arrested for braiding hair without a license. On the day of her arrest, she was in her salon braiding a local news reporter’s hair. Two undercover officers came into the salon and asked Brantley if she could braid their hair. After Brantley showed the undercover officers pictures of my work, one officer said “Isis you are under arrest for braiding hair. Brantley thought the officers were joking with her. The officer said, “No, I’m not kidding. You do my sister’s hair and my cousin’s hair, but you cannot braid hair in this salon anymore. Now, I have to take you to jail.” At the time of her arrest, no Texas law required hair braiders to hold a license.
Isis Brantley was targeted by the state of Texas because of her reputation for teaching homeless and low-income women the ancient art of Ancestral Braiding. Brantley fought back against the state of Texas for her right to earn a living, to have the ability to teach other women how to earn a living, and to protect her civil rights. During Brantley’s legal battle with the state of Texas, Brantley was forced to shut down her natural hair salon, she and her five children were homeless, and she was force to braid hair outside of a hair salon. Earlier this year, after a 20-year battle with Texas, Governor Greg Abbott signed into law House Bill 2717, which exempts hair braiders from having to acquire a cosmetology license to operate within the state. Isis Brantley was ‘grandfathered’ in as a natural hair care licensee by the state of Texas and she received the prestigious honor of being the first natural hair care expert in Texas.
Brantley has become an international natural hair celebrity because of her victory against the state of Texas. Brantley’s unusual encounters with The United States Transportation Security Administration (TSA) created media buzz and resulted in policy changes to the way TSA agents search women with natural hair. Her story has been covered by major news outlets such as Forbes Magazine, The Wall Street Journal, Black Enterprise, Cosmopolitan Magazine, Dallas Morning News, and The Huffington Post.
Check out Isis Brantley’s interview with New Growth Hair Magazine about her struggles to share her love of natural hair.
