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Sports broadcaster Samaria Terry had her very own “coming out” day at work. For the first time in her career, she showed up on set with a head full of box braids.

In a caption she wrote, “Mustered up the courage to rock braids on air!”

A well-intentioned Caucasian twitter user responded, “No need to muster courage for that, your braids look beautiful. You can wear your hair anyway you want and look awesome, you’re a beautiful young woman.”

Unfortunately, Amanda will never understand why Samaria needed courage to wear braids on air. In a day and age where we are actively fighting to have locs, braids, and afros viewed as professional for the school and work environment, there can be a lot of fear and hesitancy when it comes to wearing natural styles on air.

Samaria was met with lots of support after she showed off her long, box braids. For a lot of women in her position, opting for natural hair styles on camera is a big move. In the last couple of years, there’s been stories of other news anchors making the bold transition from weaves and wigs, to braids and twist outs. As more women become comfortable sporting their crown on camera, we make space for other people to do the same. It also presents us with the opportunity to challenge companies, corporations, and organizations that have opposing views on how employees should wear their hair.

Many women battle with whether or not they should straighten their hair to work in a professional environment. Samaria’s coming out moment is important for the world to witness. It is vital that we experience the internal dialog that occurs when a woman wants to embrace her crown and her culture in the workplace. Kudos to you, Samaria for having the courage to show another side of who you are on camera.

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Sports Broadcaster Samaria Terry Boldly Rocks Braids On Air For The First Time In Her Career  was originally published on hellobeautiful.com