Head on Fire

A Black Hair Memoir on Loss and Healing

By: Maya L. Johnson

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Paperback | 29 December 2025

At a Glance

Paperback
126 Pages

Dimensions(cm)
20.32 x 12.7 x 0.86

Paperback

RRP $38.49

$37.75

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Honest, heart-breaking, and hope-giving, Head on Fire delivers a powerful message about healing and reclaiming self-love in a world that hasn't made it easy.

Through her personal story and struggles with her hair, Maya L. Johnson reveals the impact of pervasive systemic racism and anti-Blackness, and the way it personally manifests itself - in this case, as a painful form of alopecia that completely uprooted her life.

If you are a Black woman who:

grew up experiencing the harmful effects of hot combs, blow dryers, flat irons, and relaxers
was negatively impacted by wearing your hair natural
made the shocking discovery that you were losing your hair
or later received a diagnosis of central centrifugal cicatricial alopecia (CCCA)

...Maya's history may be familiar to you.

Whether or not her story mirrors your own, this book is a must-read to fully understand just how much weight and trauma so many Black women hold around their hair.

It's a wakeup call to see just how far we have to go to liberate Black women from beauty standards that harm us.

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