Blake Bowden, 21, of Stone Mountain, Ga., has just recently started the locking process on the top of his head and getting the sides cut and faded. He’s been growing his hair for almost a year. “When I first started doing it, people were like ‘Blake what are you doing? What’s going on?’ A lot of people weren’t for it, especially because I had it on the top; it’s something different that people aren’t use to,” Bowden said. Even other African Americans tried to comment and say something about it. “I just told myself I’m not going to allow anyones opinions stop me from allowing my hair to grow,” he said. So far the more he has let it grow out, the more people say they like it; even the ones who were against it at first. On the job field aspect of experiencing discrimination, Bowden hasn’t experienced it because he is still a student employee. “Hopefully it doesn’t cause an obstacle,” he said “I think it depends on how they approach me about it. I would try and see if I could work something out if there was an issue, because I really don’t want to cut it if I don’t have to. White people have their hair in all types of ways that they want, so I don’t understand why it would be a problem for me as long as I keep it looking neat.”