In November 2006, my band was in the midst of a European tour. Though we loved exploring unfamiliar cities, we ached for the comforts of home as the holidays approached. None of us were from the same place—we were born in cities spreading from New York to Anchorage, but we shared an understanding of what the holidays meant to us: a jovial Santa Claus; a fragrant, decorated tree and lots of food.

Tony and I had fantastic afros as children. They weren’t the perfect, tight globes, like the ones that sat atop the confident students who populated Umass’s African Studies building, near where we grew up. Ours were lighter in color and looser in curl.