I'm really excited about this challenge taking place this year and motivated by everyone who has chosen to join!  Thank you all for signing up on Facebook, tweeting your interest on Twitter, RSVP'ing on the website and emailing me your starting photos.  Change happens with numbers so thank you!

First thing's first.  If you're just now hearing about the challenge, read about it here to get started.  Every month I will be posting progress photos of our challengers to show our overall progress and to motivate others to join.  This month I wanted to give everyone time to submit them to me before posting... so here are our CoilyHair.com Challengers:

Check out our Facebook Challengers!

Check out our Twitter Challengers!

This month is Black History Month, or, African American Heritage Month.  It's a time when we remember not only where we came from but also what we as a people have been able to achieve over the course of many centuries. We've come a long way to just decide to give up on the very fabric of who we are--this includes our hair. The times where you've ever thought anything negative about yourself and/or your hair, think back to the hundreds, thousands, and millions that came before you who not only lived their lives just as they were but were proud of who they were, despite what any other person may have thought of them.

In a time where technology reigns (and there ain't nothing wrong with that), advancements in beauty now mean changing what you are to fit someone else's ideal of what beauty is. As far as our hair goes, relaxers were introduced to "relax" the curl pattern in our hair. Now there is a scientist developing a pill to permanently remove the curl pattern from our hair. It's refreshing to take time out in a month such as this to "remember" what my beauty is. Whether it's attending the Pan African Film Festival, admiring Fantasia in the play "The Color Purple," or simply watching a home movie which speaks positively about where I come from... I give myself positive reminders that MY beauty exists and thrives.

In regards to our challenge this year, let's be proud of our hair no matter what texture, density, or thickness. You should be able to think highly of and speak proudly about your hair even if it's not where you want it to be right now. Be thankful that you have hair in the first place. If there is anything that I've learned throughout my years keeping my hair in it's natural state is that hair will always grow, so be patient and positive. Be kind to your hair and it will be kind to you :-)

HAPPY GROWING!