The Dominican Republic's Gov't effort to Suppress Black Pride Fails as Black Dominican Women Unite

"I'm not Black, I'm Dominican." How many times have your heard this from a Dominican you mistakenly called African American? Most times Dominicans are dubbed self hating blacks by the rest of the African diaspora..especially African Americans. 

But this story gives us a peek into what life is like for a Black Dominican who affirms their blackness and where this sentiment comes from.

Delmis Hichiez and her daughter Omara after her big chop

On Saturday, March 16th Delmis Hichiez allowed her daughter Omara to do a big chop and cut all her damaged relaxed hair so she could embrace her natural tresses. However,  she began to be bullied at her school by the boys, they told Omara she looked like a boy. The next day the orientation coordinator by the name of Reyna would not allow her to enter her classroom. 

Just imagine getting a different hairstyle over the weekend and that Monday you aren’t allowed to work or go to school because you dared to accept your natural beauty as a black person. 

When Omara’s mother Delmis Hichiez asked how her schooling could be interrupted over a hairstyle, the vice principal claimed her hair was “distracting” and in conflict with the schools “moral standards” because of course you can judge someone’s morality by their chosen hairstyle. -_- Omara was not allowed to take any of her classes that day. 

Like any black mother Hichiez was not going down with out a fight, so she contacted Ms. Edith Febles, an accredited Afro Dominican news anchor with a history of defending Afro descendants, and many other sections of marginalized groups in the Dominican Republic. Febles gave Hichiez a national platform to where they discussed what happened at her daughters school and exposed their discriminatory practices. This caught the attention of Marianela Pinales, who at the time was still the Director for Gender and Education within the Dominican Republic’s Board of Education. After Pinales facilitated a THE EXECUTIVES OF THE BOARD OF EDUCATION and Hichiez, Omara was allowed to go back to school. On March 20th. Run that back. 

Little girl gets a new hairstyle and her mom needs to go on NATIONAL TELEVISION and speak to government officials just so her child can resume her education. I'm not done. 

Remember that really cute video encouraging Dominican kids to embrace their natural hair in whatever form it was in that went viral a few days ago? Pinales was behind the production of that in response to this situation. The day after the video went viral, Pinales was fired and they are now withholding her checks. STILL NOT DONE! 

On Thursday the school officials who refused to allow the Omara to continue her schooling denied that the reason was due to hair. But Hichiez had recipets! She recorded 45 minute long conversation which forced the school to backtrack from their statements.

On Thursday the school officials who refused to allow the Omara to continue her schooling denied that the reason was due to hair. But Hichiez had receipts! She recorded 45 minute long conversation which forced the school to backtrack from their statements.

Delmis Hichiez is not happy she had to go through this and is demanding a public apology from the Board of Education and a statement acknowledging that her daughters rights to her autonomy and her personal integrity were violated. She is also demanding that the Board of Education make tangible changes to their school policies, to no longer allow the discrimination of any child based on color, creed, and or hair texture.

Board of Education authorities have demanded that Hichiez stop publicly challenging Dominican education policies. They have scheduled a meeting for this upcoming Friday March 29th.  We’ll keep you posted as we get more information.

Blackness is political. And affirming your blackness could lead you to a lack of education or work in the Dominican Republic, but the people are fighting against it and now we have social media to support the citizens fighting anti blackness. 

Have you ever been discriminated against based on you hair? Share in the comments and if you post about this story share the hashtag #FreeMyAfro #ElAfroEsMio and #Afrolibre

Nydia Simone

Nydia Simone is the Founder of Blactina Media. Im an OG Charmed Stan and I can eat carimañolas all day. Follow me on social @nydiasimone