My Mom Took My Daughter’s Braids Out Without Permission & I Was Furious So I Cut Her Off

Anton Prokopenko/iStock

Sometimes, a hairstyle is more than a hairstyle. For Black women, it’s a connection to centuries of culture. Hairstyles for Black women have been used to not only display beauty but also to send messages about escape plans during enslavement, hide sustenance for long journeys, and most commonly in today’s landscape, assert cultural pride.

For Black women, hair has been resistance. It’s not to be taken lightly. So when one grandmother unbraided her granddaughter’s hair, the consequences were severe.

Nichole was searching for someone to braid her daughter's hair.

Nichole, a mother of a biracial daughter, shared the reason why she hasn’t spoken to her own mother in several months. “My mom took my daughter’s braids out and that’s one of the reasons I cut her off,” Nichole stated matter-of-factly in a TikTok video that’s since gone viral.

Nichole told her followers that she was just trying to understand why her mother would do this in the first place. Nichole shared that six months ago, her daughter had never had her hair braided and she was searching Facebook for someone who could do it.

Nichole's babysitter learned how to braid and did a beautiful job on her daughter's hair.

@______nichole Theres plenty of reason you havent seen my kids in months *my daughters hair was put in sectioned beaded braids, not cornrows. Thats what the babysit had in her own hair. Also my kids are both mixed *#fyp#narcissistmom ♬ original sound - ______nichole

During her search, her babysitter volunteered, saying that while she didn’t know how to braid just yet, she would learn. And she did. She came back the next week with her own hair in cornrows. She had taught herself so she could do Nichole’s daughter’s hair.

The babysitter did the daughter's hair, and the final product was excellent. “She did it so beautifully, it looked so good,” Nichole said of the style that took hours to complete.

Nichole's mother said her granddaughter's hair was not meant to be in braids.

Two days later, Nichole took her daughter over to see her grandmother and spend the night. When she picked her daughter up the next day, the braids were gone.

Nichole’s mother said she tried to make the style “look better” by adding some braids of her own. But they don’t compare to the style she had before. “They were loose as f— and they fell out,” Nichole said. In defense of her actions, Nichole’s mother said, “Her hair’s not meant to be in braids.”

Other biracial people shared similar experiences.

Nichole posted the video looking for answers. She wondered why her mother felt entitled to do something like that. The people of TikTok had all types of responses for her. Some thought Nichole was overreacting.

“I consider you mom LUCKY,” one user wrote. “Do her a favor and go fully no contact. YOU are TOXIC.”

But other people had similar experiences and could sense the grandmother’s ill intentions. “I’m biracial and I would pay my own allowance to get my hair braided. And my mom would force me to take it out because it made me ‘look too Black.’ Needless to say, I’m no contact now,” someone commented.

Black women echoed the sentiment.

“She is denying her expression of ethnicity,” one Instagram user wrote.

While there were plenty of people who didn’t understand the gravity of the situation, there were more who celebrated this mom.

“Great job protecting YOUR child!!!” another TikToker wrote. “She doesn’t need someone in her life that disrespects her and you as her mother.”