 Hey curlfriends, I'm Bianca Renee and you're watching Bianca Renee Today and today I have a special guest, MJ Acosta. I feel like you have to say your last name like that, Acosta. A little flair, I like it. A little flair has to go with their Afro Latina shirt, spoiler alert. We are talking about the Afro Latina community, curls in the Afro Latina community and she also is a news anchor, correct? A sportscaster. Sportscaster for the NFL Network. So she's rocking her curls on television, which is not something we see often. And she was also one of the judges for Miss Teen USA, who is also curly. So we have a lot of fun things to talk about. But let's start off with your background and growing up Afro Latina. What is your ethnicity? So my parents are both from the Dominican Republic. Okay. And in the Dominican Republic, it could be 105 degrees and it often is. And every Sunday, the ritual was roller set your hair flat and on out. Wow. So it was equated. Especially in the culture. Just in the culture, always press your hair, relax your hair, keep it straight. You know, the more European, the more white you look, that was equated more with like status and even beauty. And that was kind of like the beauty standard growing up. If your hair was nice and straight, the flatter the better, then they considered you ready to go. Otherwise, if you're rocking your curls, I mean, my grandma, you know, the day she died was like, you didn't brush your hair. Did I? It wasn't out of malice. It was just what the culture was, is what they were used to. So how long were you straightening your hair and going through that process for you with natural? Up until about a year and a half ago. Oh, really? Yes. Recent. Very recent. Look how bomber curls look for only being a year-ish natural. It was like an accelerated process. Yeah, it is. This is amazing. It was nuts. Before I started just wearing it completely curly, I did stop chemically straightening so I grew out all of that relaxer, all of that fried hair. I mean, year? No, that took several years. Okay. That took like two and a half, three years and like trimming. My hair was already short because it was far right, completely done. So it was probably right under my ears and just destroyed. And then big chop or transition? Transition a little bit. But I chopped it pretty short, kind of like in a bob once I did decide to wear it curly. But it took a long time. Well, I get a lot of messages from multiple different cultures, honestly, for whether it's Indian, Egyptian, black, Latino, about girls dealing with this fight with their parents. Because like you said, like the parents wanted to be straight because of how they were raised or maybe the culture. Yeah. How did you deal with that? Like with your parents or what advice would you give to someone that's like really wants to go natural but like their parents just won't let them? Yeah. I mean, I know I was super grown by the time. Yeah. I didn't even fight it as a kid. I didn't fight. As a kid it just was what it was, right? Like you sat there and your mom either hot combed your hair or was flattering your hair or all of the above. Yeah. And it just was what it was. I didn't even think like, oh, it's okay to wear my hair curly. Unless I was at the beach or, you know, it was a very like off sort of moment. And it was tough. It was really tough because I didn't know like, hey, it's okay to wear your hair like this. I have to, you know, put my roller set on today and sit under the strier for two hours and then blow dry it some more. That just, it was ritual every single week. My mom was a little more understanding about it because she's a woman so she gets it. She's like, you're free my child. I remember it. My dad on the other hand was like, oh, how long are we? Really? How long are we doing this? Yeah. He's like, you look beautiful. Don't go around. I mean the dad like wouldn't care because of the dads, but that's interesting. Not at all. Well, he was concerned more so for my professional career. I was this kind of trans. I was already, you know, I've been working in broadcasting for 10 years now. So he's like, how is this going to work? Like, are your bosses going to be okay? Like, is this acceptable? And I was like, quite frankly, I'm not sure. Yeah. I have never really tried. And how crazy is that? Like, is the hair you were born with acceptable for television? What that's going to be watched by regular normal people? Yeah. How was that transition? Like, did you start off with straight hair on air? Yeah. And then you end up going, okay. So how was that transition? So it's so funny because I would straighten my hair just to curl it again. Right? That's the crazy part. You know, curling irons all over the place. And it's like, why? My hair is already curled. Comment below if you could relate for rails. I bet you everybody can. Especially in local news, like if you look at most newscasters on a regular, you know, five o'clock news you turned on and everyone kind of fits the same mold. And the theology behind that is that, you know, it's not about you. You don't want to just track from the stories. And I get that, but I don't think that should be at the consequence of who you are. And the way you were born. And moreover, like who says that curly hair can't be professional. I'm so done with that narrative. And that was one of the biggest pushes to why I decided, all right, I'm just going to wear it like this all the time. So tell us about your first day when you walked in like, okay, I'm just going to go with my curly hair. It wasn't curly like this. It was like a, because it was so damaged at that point. And I was still like, you know, up here in my bangs, I was like curling it with a curling iron because it was just so damaged. It wouldn't even take a shape. But it was coming off of a weekend where I let my hair breathe. I tried to do that every so often. And it was kind of a crazy schedule that day. I was running. I had to go to a practice in the morning for a time in San Diego. And then haul back to the station and like put my show together, produce it, write it, edit the highlights. And I was like, I'm not going to have time to do my hair before this. Things we have to think about. I mean, you got to calculate like a full day before. And I said, you know what, whatever, I'm here. Let me just like, judge it up in the front and like, see what happens. And the response was overwhelmingly positive. My co-workers are like some people that are watching. Both. So my co-workers immediate response, right? Because they're right in front of me like, girl, my God, your hair looks amazing. I don't even know you had curly hair. And I was like, I just thought it was straight. Okay. But what else would they know? Right? If you're going in there every day with a flat iron. Surprise. Yeah. I was like, oh, and then they were like, you should wear them more often. And I was like, maybe I'll do it tomorrow. Oh. And so I went the next day. And the next day. And the next day. And eventually my boss was like, okay, so are we doing this? Or, and it wasn't, you know, to their credit at that, I was in San Diego at the time. They were very open to it. They're like, if you want to keep it this way, like, we'll take new head shots for you. Like the whole thing. And I was not expecting that whatsoever. That's great. I'm so relieved. Yeah. But the jobs aren't like that. Just even normal corporate jobs. I've had people write me saying that their boss is literally like threatened. Like you have to fix your hair or you can't come into work tomorrow. Like, but luckily we have that new law. Is that just New York? Yeah. The Crown Act. Well, the Crown Act is now here in California. And it's been passed by the Senate. So now it goes to the governor where they're really trying to push to make it a law where they cannot discriminate against anyone based on their hair or their style. And that's also for schools too, right? Yes. And in schools, students. So, I mean, the fact that we even need a law that allows us to wear our hair the way it's grown, like it's just crazy. But I'm happy to have it, I guess. But, you know, one step forward. Yes. Little baby steps, but we'll take them. And we'll also take that step and that crown. If you guys watch Miss Teen USA, she was one of the judges and she actually wrote me like before the show, like, just want to let you know there's some current girls in the competition. I'm really excited. And then the fact that she won with her natural hair like, you know that all of the girls in the pageant, I mean, majority probably had straight hair or they at least had that thought or conversation of should I straighten it for this to look like the rest of the girls? Is it too big or the judge is going to like it? Like, there probably had to be a thought process. You interviewed her, though, right? Yes. So what did she say when you asked her? I'm sure you asked her about her. That was the first question. She walked in and out. First of all, she's stunning and so poised and so confident. So she catch Kaley. She catches your attention the second she walks in the room. But the very first round of the competition is the interview. This is the part nobody sees. It's not televised. It's just a panel interview in front of the judges, which is intimidating. If you can imagine being 17 standing in front of judges, all the girls were incredible. But she walked in and having competed in pageants myself, I knew how difficult that decision must have been for her to say, I'm going to own this. I'm going to go in there. These girls couldn't even decide that for prom. I mean, yes. So she just walked in beaming. And I was like, yes, curls. And that was the first question I said to her. I was a curly girl, a curly girl. Why did you choose to compete in all your curly glory? And you just explained to all of us to the panel at that point that she's mixed. Her mother is white. Her father is black. And so her whole life, she was trying to emulate her mom, you know? And her mom didn't know about curly hair, but like, tried to help her as much as she could. And actually that relationship with her mother, her mom was like, you know, you just, you don't need to do anything. You're so beautiful just as you are. And she started to embrace it more and more. She got older and she walked in there and it was like, and they were so healthy and moisturized. I think on her Instagram, I saw like her earlier pictures. She didn't have straight hair. It's like the type of transition they have between these photos. And it wasn't even like when it was curly, but also wasn't like long curls or like wavy curls. Like the more quote unquote, acceptable curls. It looked like she could have just came off of a big chop and she wore them short. I assume that she did. And she told me, I wasn't that long ago that, you know, I cut it off and really started embracing them. So like for me, of course, I'm empathizing with this as a curly girl and having been there, but there's a panel of judges and we're not allowed to talk to each other. We're not allowed to influence one another. Like you have your opinion, you write on your sheet, they collect them, they audit it. It's very, I can't be like Bianca, like, Connecticut, right? Like she's like, you cannot do that. So I had no idea if the judges would see what I saw in her, which was not just about her curls, but about who she was as a person, how brave she was and how confident she was in who she was. Yeah. She wrote me saying that she actually watches my channel. So I was like, ah! We talked about you. I was like, yes. I was like, okay. So are you following Curly Blockers? I'll tag you. She's like, well, I follow Bianca. And I was like, girl, really? Me too. Oh. So I wrote her and I was like, hey, you should totally come on my channel. I know she's doing her whole like circuit right now, but spoiler alert guys, I'm really trying to get her on my channel. Comment below if you want her here. Tag her on her Instagram. But I know you want her on Bianca Renee today. That happened. And then a little bit later, Miss USA, also Curly. Well, it's her nationality, you know? Chesley, she's mixed as well, I believe. White and black. Black and white? Yeah. So we have two Curly wins. And then Miss America is a black woman. Yeah. So it was all unprecedented. Black girl magic all the way around. We had two naturals. Like it was just shook it. Yeah. A moment. We're out here winning. Okay. Taking over. I don't even know. Well, and that was the big thing with Teen USA and Miss USA where, and it sucks that this is how even we think. I was like, there's no way that Chesley are now Miss USA. I was like, there's no way she's been a win. We already have one for the girl. Like they're not going to pick two. Like why can't there be more than one? Yeah. We're the ones that think that. Yes. Well, because we've been, you know, kind of programmed even subconsciously, not so subtly, you know, by what we live out every single day. You're the token black girl, the token Curly girl. And that's it. And that's enough. And that's enough. Thank you. You guys have had your moment. So I like broke down in tears watching it. I was like, yeah, we're out of here. So not only is MJ the Curly girl on TV. She's also in the sports world. So being a woman, talking about sports is another bear that she is crossing. How is it in the sports world? And do you ever talk about curls with like the athletes or anything? One of the interesting parts of my job is how many are going to NFL locker rooms and talk to these guys during media availability. Where you go in the locker room? Yes. In the locker room. That's when, you know, that's when the guys are kind of available to speak to the media. We can just go and chat either on camera or off. But it's about like building the relationships with these guys that I'm covering on a week to week basis. So so many times you'll see so many of these athletes and they'll have like a diva curl, um, bottle in there or can to or shame. In the locker. In the locker. That's amazing. And not just as well like a tub, right? So I'll walk in and like, I'll mention it. Yes. Icebreaker. Totally. So I was like, okay, I see you rocking the floor over there. And they're like, y'all was about to ask you like, what products are you using? And then it's a full on product conversation in the middle of an NFL locker room. And it's fantastic. We've traded products before on occasion. Philip Lindsey. I gave him a little tiny bottle of product once. I was like, I'm going to help you out, bro. Like, I got to help you out in the aisles at Walmart locker room during the game. And this was at, uh, right before NFL honors was like big award show at the end of the season. Um, and he had the red carpet the next day. So as he's passing by the red carpet, he's like, did I do good? Did I do okay? You do that. Amazing. He's so great. I was like, make sure your hair is soaking wet when you apply the product. He's like, all right, all right. I mean, you know, guys with grooming, it's a little different, but he did such a great job. I was like, I see the moisture. I was so proud. I bet. I mean, surprisingly, my male videos, which is like six or seven videos, way outnumber the views in my girl videos. I really should do more for men because there's one, there's not as many guy curly vloggers. Right. I guess it's not as saturated. Right. But like guys don't really know what to do, but I don't know what else you guys want to do. If you're a guy watching, please comment and let me know what you videos you guys want. But like my curl sponge video got like four million views. Wow. I can't believe it, man. So I'm like, yeah, I'm going to get back on videos for the guys and, you know, how to apply it, soaking my hair. Yeah. They want to know too. Even my boyfriend who has curly hair, most of the time wears it like in a fade. When he does that, I grow out. I'm like, I'm running a little low on product. It's running out quicker than you. I'm just going to want sulfates in my hair either, babe. I mean, I don't respect that. That's the thing. I can't even be mad about it. So like dudes out there are holding it down. They want to know they're part of this curly community too, even professional athletes. So, you know, it just reminds us that they're people too. They're athletes. They're just like... Yeah. If you guys have any more comments or any questions or if you also can relate to the story of maybe being the token curly girl at your school, being Afro Latina growing up with a mom or dad that might not want it or think it's better to straighten your hair, let's start the conversation below. And make sure you also follow MJ on Instagram, which is... MJ Acosta TV. When can they watch you on TV? When can they tune in? Man, we're on all the time. On NFL Network, the season doesn't stop just because games aren't going on. So, I mean, follow my Instagram and I'll let you know when I'm about to be on. If you guys enjoyed this video, make sure you give it a thumbs up and subscribe. I post two new videos every week. Once on Friday and once on Sunday. And you can follow me on Instagram at MsBjongrené. I'll see you guys next time. Thanks for watching Bjongrené today.