When I got old enough, I learned to straighten my hair myself, and I did so without question for a decade. But recently, I've begun to embrace my naturally curly hair . I cut off over eight inches of heat-damaged hair and vowed to stop using the straighteners in order to let my ringlets flourish. As I began this journey, I found more and more Latinas who wore their hair curly, and some of them were tapping into protective styles, like braids, as a means to grow their strands out or protect their hair from sweat and swimming pools. However, I never considered wearing the style myself until I embarked on a recent vacation to visit my family in Miami, and needed a solution that prevented my curly hair from getting damaged. I knew that washing my hair after the pool and beach every day would leave my curls fried by the end of the week. I thought back to those days on Sosúa beach, but I put off making a braiding appointment because of one concern: Can I, as a light-skinned Latina with looser curls, wear a hairstyle that's so meaningful to black women?