Locs have been celebrated among locs wearers within the loc community for years. Some people have personal celebrations along their loc journey. One popular personal celebration is called a lockaversary or lock anniversary.
A person’s lockaversary is the day their locs were established. Any day within the year could be a cause for anyone to celebrate their locs. Did you know there’s a specific day to recognize and appreciate locs?
What is the origin of Loc Appreciation Day and what is the purpose?
In 2011, the first Loc Appreciation Day (LAD) was celebrated. The idea to designate a specific day for everyone to celebrate locs was established by Youtuber, Qochemist. Qochemist shared that the idea came when she noticed that not only were various curl patterns starting to be accepted but also celebrated through events like Afro Day. However, it felt like many of those natural hair celebrations didn’t represent people with locs. She decided it was time for locs to be celebrated with a day just for loc wearers. She had been thrilled to hear of the other celebrations, but she didn’t feel it was inclusive of those who wore locs. She made a video sharing her ideas for a loc day celebration and posted it on Youtube and on her Qochemist page in order to connect with other people who were in agreement about starting a day. After the video circulated, the idea caught on and several other loc’d youtubers participated in making Loc Appreciation Day into an event.
How would you describe Loc Appreciation Day to someone who has never celebrated or heard of the day before?
LAD was (and still is) celebrated on the 4th Saturday in June. It is a day to celebrate the beauty and uniqueness of locs. It’s also a time to celebrate the beauty of the people who choose to take the journey of wearing locs.
What impact do you believe Loc Appreciation Day has had on the Loc Community and Loc Culture over the years?
The idea-sharing, planning, and coordination of the day were conducted through youtube and other online platforms. Through those efforts, the establishment of a loc day spread virtually through the online loc’d community and by word of mouth. As a result, it has connected and brought people together from all over the world. There were several different events that were organized to help people celebrate the day. People in multiple cities throughout the U.S. and other countries joined in to create and post videos about their loc journey, hosted meet-ups with other loc wearers, planned celebrations, wore a shirt designed for the event, hosted contests, and hosted giveaways to name a few. All of these efforts were set up for the celebration. Qochemist stated that prior to LAD being established, locs had been “invisible” in the natural hair space. Loc Appreciation Day allowed loc wearers space to proudly display their beautiful crowns and dispel myths about who loc wearers were to the world.
What was the reach of Loc Appreciation Day? And did it live up to your vision or exceed it?
Qochemist stated that in the beginning she was just one person on her journey looking for others who might feel the same way and through this event, she found so many people. At its height, LAD exceeded anything that she could have imagined. Over a 5 year period, LAD grew to a global celebration with events being held all over the US (Boston, NYC, Brooklyn, NY, Atlanta, GA, Hartford, CT, Tampa, FL, Wilmington, DE, San Diego, CA, San Bernardino, CA, Chandler, AZ, London and Lagos, Nigeria.) Numerous businesses showed their generosity by partnering to support this day by donating items for giveaways and contests. The idea for a loc day ignited fellowship and support of one another in the loc community. The day was not just about providing support along a person’s loc journey but it also tapped into supporting the gifts and talents of those in the loc community. Each year as part of the celebration there was a contest for creating a new logo and shirts were printed with the logo. The artist with the winning logo was able to receive some of the proceeds.
How can people participate or support those who participate?
The goal of the day has always been to bring people together to show appreciation. A key part of participating and celebrating is uniting with others in the loc community. If you know other loc wearers in your city, meet up and do something together to show appreciation for your loc journey. Wear your favorite loc t-shirt. Make some loc-inspired art or jewelry. One of the easiest ways to acknowledge, support, and celebrate Loc Appreciation Day is through social media platforms like Instagram, Youtube, Tik Tok, and Twitter. Post a graphic, post a selfie, or make a video to talk about your appreciation for your locs and the journey. Reshare LAD posts that inspire you. For more ideas and to connect virtually with others who are celebrating this day, look for the celebration hashtags. Some of the common hashtags for the day are #LAD, #LocAppreciationDay, LAD2023, and #LocAppreciationDay2023. These hashtags can also be used to find the virtual archives of events, videos, pictures, and other posts from previous years that have been a part of the celebration. Another way to support those celebrating is to simply wish them a Happy Loc Appreciation Day. Whether you have locs, thinking about starting locs, or formerly had locs there are countless ways that you can take part in this day or support those celebrating.
Over the years LAD has continued to be a great time to connect with others in the loc community, share loc journey experiences, inspire, encourage, and find value in the shared experiences of having locs. What started as a need to be represented turned into an idea that brought together virtual strangers who contributed to making this day a reality across the globe. This year consider celebrating with other loc wearers in person or virtually. Happy Loc Appreciation Day!
