Gabrielle Union talks wearing natural hair for the first time in a photoshoot

Gabrielle Union has been a hair acceptance advocate for quite some time. She recently did a PSA for the Crown Act, spoke about having black hair care and makeup professionals on sets and about teaching her daughters black hair love. She has even rebooted her hair care line for coily, kinky, and curly hair textures.

Union covers the Women’s Health October issue and she recently took to her Instagram sharing a video clip of herself behind the scenes at the photo shoot sans makeup or a wig. She says that it was a freeing experience to shoot a cover for the first time with her *gasp* natural hair. Here are a few quotes via People:

“These are #bts pics from my @womenshealthmag shoot. It was the 1st time feeling truly like myself in front of the camera. The me that my loved ones see everyday,” Union captioned the photos.

“The me that fights daily for my peace and the peace of others. The imperfect warrior thats lost more battles than I’ve won, but still keeps on fighting. At this grown ass age, I feel like I’m finally ME,” she continued. “And I can breathe. And as long as I have breath, my ass can keep fighting. @flawlessbygu got me rocking my own curls and feeling like a #flawlessbeauties 🖤🖤🖤🖤🖤🖤🖤🖤🖤🖤🖤🖤🖤🖤🖤.”

Fans couldn’t be happier to see Union proudly showing off her natural, textured coils. “Being your true authentic self is where true beauty lies! #Truebeauty 🔥💯,” one person commented.

[From People]

I am here for how Gabrielle has been embracing herself fully. This can be such an inspiration for those on the fence about their natural hair. There are women who want to embrace their hair, but have years of ‘bad hair’ messaging to deprogram. Let’s face it BIPOC have been told for centuries that our hair is bad and unacceptable.

Granted, Gabrielle is stunning no matter what she does, but being labeled the beautiful one means it would take just as much courage to take the mask completely off. I have been following her on social media and enjoy how candid she has been not only about racism in Hollywood but anti-blackness in all its forms. I truly enjoy how real she is about her struggles with radical self acceptance and self-love. For someone who seemingly has it all, she is not afraid to be vulnerable and authentic and I’ll always celebrate that.

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