My Best Friend Didn’t Make Partner At Her Law Firm Because Of Her Natural Hair

My best friend, Melissa, is the epitome of the phrase, ‘black girl magic.’ Not only did she graduate first in her class from Harvard Law School, but she is one of the nicest people you will ever meet.

Also, she has been embracing her natural hair even when her own mother has told her that she should probably consider getting a relaxer, if she wanted to be successful in corporate America.

Melissa went into her interview for a prestigious law firm in NYC, with a gorgeous twist out, and her mother was the first one she called a week later, after she got the call and accepted the job offer. That was 8 years ago.

Melissa has been putting in work at her firm and turning heads. She was the youngest attorney there, and was breaking records left and right. Melissa just knew that she was a shoein for the new partner position, and everybody at the firm did too. However, when she found out that she didn’t get it, and another girl did, who hadn’t even been working at the firm as long as her, she was livid.

She immediately went to her boss’s office, and asked him what happened. For a lack of so many words, her boss said that as a partner at this firm, it’s not all about what you can do, but how you look. He told her that a partner at the firm was essentially the face of the company, and Melissa’s look wasn’t a face for the firm.

He then told her that he was going to tell her later that day, but that she was getting a raise and a new office, for all of the hard work she’s been putting in. Melissa, couldn’t believe it, nor could she stop the tears from rolling down her face.

She knew that the “look” he was referring to was the same look and reason her mom told her to get a relaxer. Even though Melissa is still working at the firm, I think that incident dimmed her light a little bit. Soon after, she also go a relaxer. She told me that she loved her natural hair, but she simply loved her career more.