For many Black women, managing the coils and kinks of their natural hair is incomprehensible; one head of hair could possess several different textures and coil patterns. This may be why 70 percent of black women chemically relax their hair, a treatment that takes all or most of the curl out of the hair strand. The numbers of women who wear their hair naturally are few and even those who are tackling the trials of their hair encounter discouragements from their peers and society.

In a small classroom on a part of campus frequented mostly by physics majors, there were about 15 students at a Gator NAACP meeting attentively waiting for the next person to speak.

There she was.

Hands clasped together in a pleading position, she donned a hopeful gaze and expressed compelling words, speaking as if addressing a crowd of hundreds.

It was yet another passionate speech from Fariza Alendy, a 21-year-old health education and behavior major from Miami, Fla., speaking about a disease long-ignored.

I first met Marcee Lee Winthrop in March at an open mic night.  She and her daughter, Tammy, were sitting in the shadows of The Orange and Brew, anxiously awaiting Marcee’s turn at the mic.