<\/p>\n
Houston native Regan Hutsell at the 10th annual Year of Joy Holiday Ice Skating Party at Discovery Green in Dec. 2025. Hutsell was crowned Miss America 2027 on Sunday.<\/p>\n
Annie Mulligan\/Houston Chronicle<\/p>\n
My 10-year-old daughter<\/a> begged to get her hair straightened for back-to-school. I finally caved and sent her to a salon. She came home beaming, tossing her shiny brown hair back and forth.\u00a0<\/p>\n But she was in tears when it was time to wash her hair,\u00a0 afraid it would bring back her natural curls and she wouldn\u2019t be as pretty.\u00a0<\/p>\n As much as I talk to my children about their natural beauty, the images around them don\u2019t always enforce that message. Even the wildly popular KPop Demon Hunters, which have my children enthralled, offer a vision of beauty that doesn\u2019t look like them.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n Article continues below this ad<\/p>\n So I showed my little girl a photo of Regan Hutsell<\/a>.\u00a0<\/p>\n TO HOUSTON, WITH JOY:\u00a0A newsletter for a city that’s never simple<\/a><\/p>\n The 25-year-old Houstonian was crowned Miss America 2027 on Sunday, making history as the first Miss Texas to win in 52 years. She\u2019s also the 10th Black woman to win \u2013 and the first to win with natural hair that had not been chemically processed or straightened.<\/p>\n Hutsell knows exactly how my daughter feels.<\/p>\n Article continues below this ad<\/p>\n \u201cI was that 10-year-old girl who wanted my ponytail to bounce from side to side,\u201d she said. \u201cI felt most beautiful when my hair was straight. I didn’t equate my curls as beauty.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n Her relationship with her natural hair began to change in her early 20s when she lived in England, dancing with the Birmingham Royal Ballet.\u00a0<\/p>\n Regan Hutsell, of Houston, was crowned as the 99th Miss America on Sunday.<\/p>\n Houston M Photography, Miss America Organization<\/p>\n After a dance injury, she no longer had to wear her hair pulled into the tight bun traditionally required of classic dancers. At the same time, she was surrounded by women in England who embraced their natural hair.\u00a0<\/p>\n She began what she calls her \u201ccurly hair journey,\u201d working with a specialist and learning how to care for and style her curls.<\/p>\n Article continues below this ad<\/p>\n \u201cI got my hair cut properly for one of the very first times in my entire life,\u201d she said. \u201cI started working with it and trying to figure out how I could make my curls really pop and shine. And, slowly but surely, I started to accept and love them. It took time.\u201d<\/p>\n When she went back to straight hair, the heat caused substantial damage. She never did it again.<\/p>\n Hutsell also had examples of natural beauty in the pageant world.\u00a0<\/p>\n REMEMBERING GLORIA STEINEM: One quiet moment with her that never left me<\/a><\/p>\n Before her Miss America win, Miss Texas 2023 Ellie Breaux and Miss Texas 2024 Annette Addo-Yobo also wore their natural hair. Addo-Yobo, who was born in Ghana, was the first immigrant-born woman to win the Miss Texas title.<\/p>\n Article continues below this ad<\/p>\n \u201cI felt like I knew I was going to be my most authentic self on that stage, and my curls had a lot to do with that,\u201d she said.\u00a0<\/p>\n<\/p>\n