Hair-braiding pioneer reflects on arrest, victory and the legacy she’s still building
By Marissa Armas
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DALLAS (KTVT) — When you walk into the Naturally Isis salon off Preston Road in North Dallas, you can feel the joy.
Owner and hairstylist Isis Brantley radiates that same energy.
“I feel the waves of the energy flowing right now. I feel the energy of creativity and magic happening right now,” Brantley said.
But when you ask Brantley about her legacy, it hits her at the heart. She spends much of her time teaching students in Dallas and across the country the art of natural hair braiding and the rich traditions behind it.
“I get to see it, I get to feel it, I get to see the babies smile,” she said. “We’ve compromised so much trying to look like someone else. We’ve lost our hair, we’ve lost our love, we’ve lost the understanding of what to do. That’s why I train and teach the arts, so you can know how to work with your child’s hair without using a comb.”
Getting here wasn’t easy. Brantley has spent decades fighting for the right to braid hair and for the deregulation of hair braiding. In 1997, she was arrested for braiding without a cosmetology license.
“I said, ‘OK, if that’s what you want me to do, is for me to go to jail for braiding… y’all want to embarrass me in front of my community? Seven cops coming in to arrest me? You want my kids to know that I’m a criminal because I braid hair? OK, let’s do that,'” Brantley told CBS News Texas.
While she was eventually grandfathered in, she was barred from teaching braiding to others. That moment sparked a yearslong battle with the state.
In 2013, Brantley took her fight to federal court, suing Texas over laws that restricted local businesses from teaching braiding unless they converted their locations into barber colleges. In 2015, she won. A federal judge ruled the laws unreasonable and unconstitutional – a decision that reshaped the industry and opened doors for hair braiders across the state.
“It does make me so proud,” Brantley said. “I’m so happy to see we finally are creating a respectful and open world for natural hair.”
Over the years, Brantley has worked with big names like Erykah Badu and Stevie Wonder, but she says her work with the community – and with her five children – matters most.
“I want kids to be able to take a mirror and look at the mirror and literally say, ‘I love myself,'” she said. “My next step is to teach economic freedom and to teach the love of oneself, and to have people understand that this is something that not only I should be doing, but the parents must do as well.”
As Brantley reflects on her arrest nearly 30 years ago, she says it taught her patience and the power of healing. She hopes to continue teaching the next generation, passing on the traditions that helped heal her.
“I hope they know that they’re beautiful. I hope they know that anything they desire to do, they can do it,” she said. “I hope they know that if they rebel against any aspect of natural hair, it’s OK, and I want those who embrace the beauty of natural hair to know that too is OK.”
In September, Brantley and the city of Dallas will host the 11th annual Braid Freedom Crown Fair Festival. More information on classes and upcoming events is available at naturallyisis.com.
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