"Flacko cut his hair?!"

“OMG! you cut your SUPERPOWERS?!”, “What happened Yann? Were you going through a personality crisis?”, “What the f*** bro?! Who is this little boy?” Are all reactions I received when I cut my hair.

Either way, the decision to go under the razor was made in a split second right after I received a call back from a company I applied to this summer. I was fortunate to land this opportunity. It was something I spent countless hours tailoring my resume for. And just like that, November has begun. Where did the summer go? Who knows? By the time you finish reading this, we might be in 2022. I guess time flies when you have fun.

So why did I cut my hair?

Remember in 2020 when the social atmosphere in America reached a boiling point, and everyone took to the streets to stand in solidarity with Black people and their continuous struggle on the American soil?

This same solidarity serves as evidence that some progress has been made with regards to the rights and opportunities which are now available for us. However, I believe we still have a long way to go before we live in the world once fantasized by Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. And this, ladies, and gentlemen, is the reason why I cut my hair.

In life, I find it important to be cognizant of your environment and the laws of human nature that are in frequent occurrence around us. What do I look like showing up to an interview as a black man with braids? Let me ask you a question - When you think of a scientist, when you think of an engineer, what image comes to mind? Is it a black person? If it is, then congratulations! You’ve reached a level of mental decolonization I am yet to achieve. To me, there was never a seat for me at this table, and I will be damned if I failed to prepare to create a seat for myself. Like the great UK based rapper J Hus says in his song Deeper than rap, “…I had to play dumb just to blend in…” or as my alter ego Harvey Spectre from the popular show Suits said “First impressions last. If you start behind the 8 ball, you will never get in front”.

I have discussed this idea of physical appearance with a few of wise women & men I know, continuously laying my case of being able to create a seat at any table I want if I have the characteristics as the others sitting at that same table. For example, if it’s a table of engineers, and I perform well in my mathematics and physics courses, then I should be able to sit at that table. Pretty straight forward isn’t it? However, every time I had these conversations there was always a recurring theme: Looks matter! and as much as it will be convenient to physically represent yourself however and be accepted as you are, biases are an innate characteristic of our human sense of perception.

To be human is to be imperfect, to be human is to be biased. I think if you are aware of this, not only can you unlearn the ways in which we are taught to be biased, but you can also strategically maneuver life at your convenience. Everything in life to me is strategy, like a game of chess. Russian chess grandmaster Gary Kasparov states that “tactic is knowing what to do when there is something to do, but strategy is knowing what to do when there is nothing to do”. Of course that is a hyperbole because there is always something to do, but from my understanding, tactical solutions are a reaction, almost instantaneous and you can see an immediate outcome, whereas strategy is performing slow maneuvers over a long period of time and even anticipating future pitfalls to be prepared for them.

I knew I was going to cut my hair eventually, but the moment happened earlier than I anticipated. I came to terms with the laws of human nature and I decided to use them to my advantage rather than fight an uphill battle. I may have landed this opportunity with my braided hair, but I will never know. What I know is that that failing to prepare is preparing to fail. Just like President Obama says in his new memoir A promised Land “…The best we can do is try to align ourselves with what we feel is right and construct some meaning out of our confusion, and with grace and nerve, play at each moment the hand that we are dealt. But you don’t choose the time. The time chooses you. Either you seize what may turn out to be the only chance you have, or you decide you’re willing to live with the knowledge that the chance has passed you by.”

Fun fact: In 9th grade, our science teacher Mr. McBride taught us that the baldness gene comes from your mother, so if your maternal grandfather was bald, there is a high chance you will be bald. My maternal grandfather is not bald, so the chance of me becoming bald is about 0.0001%. The plan is to grow back my hair when I become self employed as a full time Creative director, Photographer and Videographer for Juju Studio. If somehow, I am an exception to this genetic baldness rule, I will make money from scientific research on baldness by FIRE BY FORCE!

For those of you chasing a dream, whether it be in school, at work, self-employed, or whatever it may be, if there is one thing I want you to get from this, I encourage you to learn the patterns of human nature which shape our everyday lives. Study them and seize the moment to use them to your advantage.

Shot by Sergio Rangel