Theresa Braxton, Community School Coordinator for Pimlico Elementary / Middle School, is an author, community advocate, and passionate champion of the Park Heights community. Raised in the neighborhood near Pimlico and a former Baltimore Public City Schools teacher, she wrote Momma I Don’t Like My Hair in 2017 and is working on her second book for young adults.
We talked with Ms. Braxton about her creative inspiration and her enduring commitment to creating community at Pimlico, across Baltimore, and the world.
Q: What inspired you to write Momma I Don’t Like My Hair?
A: I was teaching at Margaret Brent Elementary Middle School, which is a very diverse school. I saw that a lot of African-American female students had low self-esteem from looking at other cultures and seeing that their hair and its texture was different. I wanted to help them understand that they needed to love themselves. The book teaches young women how to love who you are and the culture you were born into.
Q: What impact did your book have when it was published, and what impact does it continue to have?
A: I feel like this book is actually going to impact forever. We live in a world where, especially for young people, everything is instant, everything is about beauty. Working at Pimlico, I see that every day with our students. The internet and social media create an unrealistic version of who young women and all children should be and what they should look like.
I wrote my book for a younger audience because they’re at the point where they are sponges for knowledge. Knowing they are great just how they are keeps them grounded. It’s very hard to be yourself in a world where you can compare yourself to someone who has unrealistic beauty standards.
But beauty is in everyone. There is no such thing as ugly or nappy. No one looks better because their hair is longer or shorter. I believe that whoever you believe in made you exactly how you’re supposed to be. The book’s message will inspire forever.
Q: Why is your book’s message more relevant than ever?
A: Because of social media and its impact on middle school girls. We live in a time where value is placed more on our physical being than our inner beauty. There are many kids across the country attempting to hurt themselves, girls wanting surgery before they’re 18, or thinking that they need to have blue, not brown, eyes. If you learn early to love yourself, I believe that many of the self-esteem issues girls and boys face could stop. I am not against surgeries, but we need to find ways to help our students celebrate their beauty at an early age.
Q: Do you have plans for another book?
A: Absolutely! I have been working on a book about Baltimore through a teen’s eyes. Focused on the adult problems that many of our teens are facing. No one really talks to this age group. More teens go through adult issues than we know or that’s talked about. My book is very raw and focuses on living in a low-poverty area with a 4.0 GPA. It talks about PTSD that kids experience. But it also celebrates the great neighborhoods in Baltimore that aren’t talked about. It is going to be a chapter book and a small film. I want to slowly pull off the Band-Aid. These are topics that need to be talked about now. There is a whole population of kids that need to be talked to and helped.
In the last two years, violence has increased in the ages between 14 and 18, and not just in Baltimore. My goal with this book is to have teenagers feel an emotion when they read it, to have parents feel an emotion and ask how they can help. It really does take a village.
Q: How does your writing career intersect with your role as Community School Coordinator through Pimlico’s partner, Park Heights Renaissance?
A: At Pimlico, one of the teachers, Ms. Carter and I decided to create an afterschool and summer program called HER for middle school girls at the school. We do many activities based on developing self-esteem and leadership, but one of the things we are doing right now is helping them write a book. The girls are deciding on a theme and are writing pieces for their book. We’re helping with the edits.
I never thought I would be an author. That was never my goal. I always liked to write, but it was for myself. Writing helped me communicate better when I was younger. Later, a student I mentored told me that I was a good writer. That gave me confidence to write my book.
I am from this area, and that’s part of my journey. My goal is to touch as many human beings as possible. As Community School Coordinator, when a student comes to me with any kind of problem, I more than likely experienced it. If I am working with parents in the neighborhoods, I more than likely have been through what their family is experiencing. I have super insight for our kids because I was one of them. Everything that I’m doing right now at Pimlico, I have done on my own. Now I’m in a space where I can help more people because I have more partnerships, people who want to help, more ideas and funding to help on a grander scale.
Q: How do you continue to embrace that idea that you had back in 2016 to help young people embrace the beauty of their cultural diversity and have confidence about their authenticity?
A: Number one, always lead with confidence. Our school is in a community that experiences high poverty. Many kids come to school with their hair not done. I am always pushing them to love themselves. I say to that student, ‘Hey, I love that you are at school. Is there anything you need? I have friends that give free haircuts. Would you like one?’
This February, I am providing free haircuts and reduced-priced hairstyles for students.I also ask students if they want me to wash or iron their clothes. (Pimlico has laundry facilities for student use.) I do whatever they need to make them feel good. I know when I get my hair done, I feel good. It’s the same approach as I did with the younger ones when I taught. I had real conversations and asked them to tell me something about themselves that they didn’t like. Then we focus on fixing it. I also want it to be something that they like that is unique to them.
Thanks, Ms. Braxton, for the work and love you give to the students and families at Pimlico!
