Hair is never just hair.

Across novels, poetry, essays, and children's literature, writers have used hair to explore identity, family, race, beauty, belonging, memory, resistance, and cultural inheritance.

Reading Our Roots is a six-module literary and cultural journey that invites you to discover what hair can reveal when we learn to read beyond the surface.

You don't need a literature degree or previous literary-analysis experience. You simply need curiosity and a willingness to read, reflect, and make connections.

Choose your learning experience:
Self-Paced | Live Cohort | Private Group

 

What Will You Discover?

By the end of Reading Our Roots, you'll have explored questions such as:

What can hair reveal about who we are?

How do family hair rituals carry memory from one generation to another?

How have colonialism and beauty standards shaped the ways hair is represented?

Why do writers return to washing, braiding, straightening, cutting, covering, and styling hair when writing about identity?

And how can literature help us understand our own relationships with hair, culture, and belonging?

Reading Our Roots gives you a guided way into these conversations.

The Six-Module Journey

Module 1

Hair as History, Identity & Social Meaning

Begin by examining hair as more than appearance and discover how it functions as a cultural and literary language.

Module 2

Hair, Family & the Making of Self

Explore family, intergenerational relationships, memory, beauty expectations, and the ways our earliest experiences with hair help shape identity.

Module 3

Hair in Poetry, Ritual & Embodied Memory

Discover how poets transform washing, braiding, grooming, touch, and other ordinary hair rituals into expressions of memory, intimacy, culture, and selfhood.

Module 4

Hair, Colonialism & Representation

Examine race, colonialism, beauty, representation, and power through literary descriptions of hair and the body.

Module 5

Hair, Modern Identity & Reclamation

Explore contemporary conversations surrounding natural hair, migration, identity, representation, and cultural reclamation.

Module 6

Hair, Childhood, Joy & Affirmation

Finish the journey by examining children's literature and the ways writers use hair to affirm identity, confidence, family, culture, and joy.

Some of the Voices You'll Encounter

The course brings literature and cultural scholarship into conversation through selected works by writers including:

bell hooks • Olive Senior • Safiya Sinclair • Charlotte Brontë • Jean Rhys • Noliwe M. Rooks • Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie • Natasha Anastasia Tarpley • Matthew A. Cherry • Crystal Swain-Bates • Rochelle Ward

Selections include fiction, poetry, essays, scholarship, and children's literature.

No Literary Background? You're Welcome Here.

Reading Our Roots isn't designed only for English majors.

The course guides you through the literature using an approachable process:

Notice → Ponder → Connect → Reflect

Rather than worrying about finding the "right answer," you'll learn to notice meaningful details, ask questions, make connections, and develop your own thoughtful interpretations.

The Literary Terms Glossary and guided Course Companion provide additional support along the way.

What's Included

Every Reading Our Roots participant receives:

• Six structured learning modules
• Six prerecorded video lessons
• Required and recommended readings
• Reading Our Roots Course Companion
• Guided notes and activities
• Things to Notice and Things to Ponder
• Make Connections prompts
• Personal reflection activities
• Literary Terms Glossary
• Bonus resources and recommended reading
• Final Reflection
• Certificate of Completion
• 12 weeks of course access

Then choose how deeply you'd like to experience the course.

OPTION 1 — SELF-PACED

Read. Watch. Reflect. At Your Own Pace.

Prefer to learn independently?

The self-paced experience gives you the complete Reading Our Roots curriculum without scheduled meetings.

Work through the six modules on your own schedule during your 12-week access period.

Your weekly rhythm

Read → Review your Course Companion → Watch → Reflect

Self-Paced Includes

Everything in the core course, including:

• Prerecorded lessons
• Course Companion
• Guided reflections
• Bonus resources
• Final Reflection
• Certificate of Completion
• 12 weeks of access

Investment

$195 USD

Founding Launch Offer: $149 USD

Limited-time introductory pricing.

[START THE SELF-PACED COURSE]

OPTION 2 — LIVE COHORT

Don't Just Read the Texts. Discuss Them.

The Live Cohort combines the flexibility of prerecorded learning with the richness of a small-group literary seminar.

Before each meeting, you'll complete the week's reading, watch the prerecorded lesson, and work through your Course Companion.

Then we meet.

Live time isn't spent repeating the lecture.

Instead, we:

Analyze → Interpret → Debate → Synthesize

You'll examine passages closely, hear different interpretations, ask questions, connect texts, and explore ideas that can be difficult to discover when reading alone.

Live Cohort Includes

Everything in Self-Paced, PLUS:

• 6 live online seminars
• 2-hour weekly sessions
• Guided close reading
• Deeper literary analysis
• Facilitated discussion and debate
• Cross-text comparisons
• Peer perspectives
• Instructor guidance and feedback
• Live Q&A
• Cohort learning community

Cohort Size

Limited to approximately 15 participants.

Small cohorts allow everyone the opportunity to participate meaningfully.

Weekly Schedule

Saturday: New week's learning materials open.

Saturday–Monday: Read • Watch • Reflect.

Monday: Live seminar.

Tuesday–Friday: Continue reflecting, revisit resources, and prepare for the next module.

Investment

$350 USD — Pay in Full

or

2 monthly payments of $185 USD

Total payment-plan investment: $370.

[JOIN THE NEXT LIVE COHORT]

Four Opportunities to Join Live Each Year

Reading Our Roots Live is offered only four times annually:

January–February

March–April

August–September

October–November

Each cohort runs for six weeks.

Enrollment may open in advance, allowing you to reserve a place in a future cohort.

[VIEW UPCOMING COHORTS]

OPTION 3 — PRIVATE GROUP EXPERIENCE

Bring Your Own Reading Circle

Want to experience Reading Our Roots with people you already know?

Book a private six-week experience for your group.

Ideal for:

• Book clubs
• Libraries
• Schools
• Universities
• Churches
• Cultural organizations
• Community groups
• Professional learning communities

Your group receives

• Private six-week cohort
• Six 2-hour live seminars
• Prerecorded lessons
• Individual Course Companions
• Private Google Classroom
• Facilitated literary discussions
• Guided close-reading activities
• Group conversation and reflection
• Certificates of Completion
• 12 weeks of course access

Private Group Investment

$2,400 USD

For up to 10 participants

That's:

$300 each for a group of 8

or as little as

$240 each for a group of 10.

The $2,400 rate reserves the private cohort for your group regardless of final group size, up to 10 participants.

[BOOK A PRIVATE GROUP]

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Which Experience Is Right for You?

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Who Is Reading Our Roots For?

This course may be especially meaningful for:

Natural hair enthusiasts who want to explore the stories and histories surrounding hair.

Readers and book lovers interested in discovering literature through a different lens.

Teachers and educators looking to deepen their understanding of literature, identity, and cultural representation.

Writers and poets interested in how authors transform the body, memory, family, and everyday rituals into literature.

Book clubs and reading groups seeking guided conversations that go beyond plot.

Parents and community educators interested in the ways literature can affirm children's identity and cultural pride.

Lifelong learners who simply love discovering new ideas.

Meet Your Instructor

Rochelle Ward

Rochelle Ward is a Caribbean poet, educator, and cultural storyteller whose work explores literature, identity, history, and lived experience.

With approximately 15 years of experience teaching English and Literature, she brings both literary expertise and an accessible teaching style to Reading Our Roots.

Her creative and educational work allows her to approach hair not simply as a beauty topic, but as an entry point into literature, family, history, memory, culture, and identity.

Reading Our Roots brings these worlds together.

Frequently Asked Questions

Do I need a background in literature?

No. The course is intentionally designed to welcome learners with and without formal literary training.

How long is the course?

There are six modules. Live participants complete them over six weeks. Self-paced participants determine their own schedule within their access period.

How long will I have access?

Participants receive 12 weeks of course access.

Do I need to buy all of the books?

No. Required excerpts and reading instructions will be identified within the course. Recommended books and additional resources are provided separately.

Is the live course just the prerecorded course taught again?

No. Live participants watch the prerecorded lesson before meeting. Live seminars are dedicated to close reading, discussion, interpretation, debate, questions, and deeper exploration.

What happens if I miss a live session?

Include your final recording/make-up policy here once established.

Can I share my course access?

Individual enrollment is for one learner. Course videos, the Course Companion, and other protected resources may not be distributed or shared.

Can my organization enroll a group?

Yes. The Private Group Experience accommodates up to 10 participants for $2,400. Larger schools, universities, libraries, or organizations can contact Don't Break the Comb to discuss institutional options.

Your Hair Has a Story.

Literature Can Help You Read It.

Hair carries memories.

It carries family.

It carries histories of beauty, migration, colonialism, resistance, belonging, creativity, and joy.

Reading Our Roots invites you to discover what happens when we stop treating hair as a background detail and begin asking what writers are telling us through it.

Choose the learning experience that's right for you.

Self-Paced

$195 USD
Founding Offer: $149

[START LEARNING]

Live Cohort

$350 USD
or 2 × $185

[JOIN A LIVE COHORT]

Private Group

$2,400 USD
Up to 10 participants

[BOOK YOUR GROUP]