Faith Fennidy—a 14-year old who went viral after being sent home from school for wearing braids—found out she’s the inspiration behind Mickey Guyton’s song, “Love My Hair.” And even cooler, she got to introduce Guyton before she performed the song at the 2021 Country Music Association (CMA) Awards.
Faith was 11-years-old when she was asked to leave her private Louisiana school because she was wearing braided hair extensions. During that time, the school’s policy didn’t allow students to wear hair that wasn’t natural, Good Morning America (GMA)
reported.“When I went to school that day, and they told me that I couldn’t wear my braids there, it was a heartbreaking experience,” Faith told GMA. “Especially something that I had never expected from a school that I had been going to for at least a couple of years…to tell me that it was an issue, it was a problem.”
The viral video of Faith from 2018, filmed by her brother Steven Fennidy, recorded Faith in the middle school’s office crying after the incident. The video caught the attention of people nationwide who were outraged about the school’s policy.
After backlash, the school retracted the rule.
Faith opted for a fresh start by not returning to the school. Instead, she enrolled in a new school that she’s grown to love.
The painful experience turned Faith into an advocate for natural hair rights. She uses her platform to push her home state of Louisiana to pass the CROWN (Create A Respectful and Open World for Natural Hair) Act. With the passing of the legislation, it’s illegal to discriminate based on hairstyle and hair texture, extending protection for both categories under the Fair Employment and Housing Act and the Education Code.
So far, the CROWN Act has been passed in 14 states: California, New York, New Jersey, Virginia, Colorado, Washington, Maryland, Connecticut, Delaware, New Mexico, Nebraska, Nevado, Oregon and Illinois.
Country music singer Guyton was inspired by Faith’s story and wrote a song based on it, “Love My Hair.” The single encourages self-love and acceptance.
Faith got a call with an invitation to attend the 2021 CMA Awards a few weeks before the event. She was invited as Guyton’s guest and given the opportunity to introduce the artist for her on-stage performance of “Love My Hair.”
“I started crying when I found out,” Faith recalled. “I got to meet her [Mickey Guyton], and it was honestly an amazing experience. I’m so grateful that I got to be a part of that opportunity.”