Topic “Natural hair”

By Cassandra Spratling (McClatchy Newspapers)

DETROIT — At 31, Espy Thomas continues to be a trendsetter. In 1999, after graduating from high school, she decided she would no longer use chemicals to straighten her hair.

“I was just done with relaxers,” says Thomas, who had been using either chemicals or a hot comb to make her curly hair straight since she was a child. “I was just...