I was ordered to cut my locs, and I refused that order. So I ended up being tried under UCMJ, Uniform Code of Military Justice, was found guilty of refusing that order. And the punishment was to be reduced in rank and to be separated from the military for refusing to cut my hair. Now, that didn't happen. ... My hair like this was wrong, but doing this, twisting two of them together, this was determined to be within regulation. So, this is what I did all over my hair.

That [was] the worst experience ..[of ] my 20-year career. I was in the Iraq invasion in 2003, deployment, Afghanistan. We're trained to prepare for war. Nothing could prepare me for this. ...My fight is one of thousands. I feel that we feel seen and heard now. It's taken way too long, but we're here.

—Retired Staff Sergeant Chaunsey Logan, U.S. Army, in an interview with Yamiche Alcindor, about long-standing workplace discrimination against the natural texture and appearance of Black hair. The military’s grooming policy used to be particularly difficult for Black personnel.