Freshly returned from a trip to his home state of Oklahoma, Guy Tang (@guy_tang) has ripped off the bandage and found healing. A decade has passed since he set foot within the state’s borders. Growing up in Oklahoma, Tang relates how he constantly questioned his sexuality, his race and his identity. “For me, Oklahoma was a place of bad memories. I felt like I escaped it for the longest time; I didn’t want to go back there,” Tang says. But, like many others, the pandemic’s imposed downtime and stark daily reality led to self-reflection. “I realized that’s not fair [to think like that],” he asserts. “I’ve met so many people online—my #hairbesties—who give me so much love and respect, and many are from Oklahoma. I had to go there, maybe for closure, maybe to understand myself further.” The experience left Tang renewed. He visited his old beauty school, Jenks Beauty College, and met with its fresh-eyed students; he stopped by Armstrong McCall, a distributor of Tang’s wildly popular brand, #mydentity. He came to a cathartic understanding: “I realized that you can’t blame your roots. Instead, I can celebrate my roots. This is why I am who I am. It’s actually your past and your pain that give you power; they can become what give you purpose,” he says.
