“When I talk to students, I get asked a lot: ‘Is that your real hair?’ and I laugh and say yes, but I just think it’s really important that they see someone who practices what they preach,” Perry says. So, Perry cut off her hair and began growing it out without the use of chemicals or straighteners. “I would straighten my hair for so long, just straighten, straighten, straighten and I began thinking after I wrote the book, ‘How can I teach my daughter about self-love, when I’m not practicing self-love myself?’” And, she remembers fighting her own natural hair. She remembers being teased for being “too thin” and she remembers holding hands with her best friend, a white girl whose skin color Perry always thought was so pretty compared to her own. Perry also recalls her own struggles with body image and self-acceptance. “Each book was written with purpose and tells a very personal story that I have experienced,” Perry says. “Baby Like Mine” came out on on Thanksgiving day. Her writings now have expanded into a six-book series that also includes “Skin Like Mine,” “Imagination Like Mine,” “Dreams Like Mine,” Hair Like Mine coloring book and a new release. “I’ve gotten great feedback not just from black parents, but parents from every ethnicity, saying the book helped their children talk about and work through body image issues - and it wasn’t just girls but boys, too.” Perry says she continues to be surprised by how many people have found her stories to be helpful. “Now I’m invited to come in talk to students about writing, but also about love and self-esteem.” “I wrote the books for my daughters, I wrote the books for other little black girls who have natural hair,” says Perry, who graduated from Flint Southwestern Academy. Perry now finds herself giving seminars and presenting to schools. The book is being used in multiple area after-school programs and also has been featured for readings at Applewood by the Ruth Mott Foundation.
and even Germany.” Åbout five months after its initial publication, a woman from Paris contacted Perry and asked if she could translate “Hair Like Mine.” It now is for sale at a store in Paris.
“I had orders from all over the world - Texas, New York, etc. “The book took off way quicker than I had expected,” Perry says. She finished writing by 5 a.m.Īnd her ongoing journey as an author who helps children celebrate being black and understand each others’ differences began. “I woke up at 2 in the morning and just felt inspired and wrote out the whole book on an old notebook pad,” Perry says. They told Perry’s daughter that her naturally curly hair looked “funny.” Perry penned her first book - “Hair Like Mine” - after her daughter was teased by a child in å predominantly white ballet class. Perry is spreading a message of inclusion, acceptance, and self-respect for black children. FLINT, Michigan - A Flintstone born and raised, local author LaTashia M.
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