She is representing so many people whose stories often go unheard!
Armani Latimer was diagnosed with alopecia areata, a condition that causes the immune system to attack hair follicles when she was just 12 years old, Women’s Health Mag reports. While she was able to hide her condition throughout high school, stress in college caused her natural hair to fall out more rapidly, leading to her wearing extensions to hide her condition. After college, she auditioned to be a Dallas Cowboys Cheerleader, a tremendous accomplishment that came with its own innate stress. Once her hair fell out completely, she took to wearing wigs.
“Overall, my team and my family helped me maintain a positive mindset. I wouldn’t be anywhere without my support system, and I always want to provide support for those who don’t have any. On those days when you can’t be 100 percent, you need people who lift you up and help you be your best. I don’t believe we’re supposed to do life alone, and without my people, I wouldn’t have been able to break boundaries and be the woman I am today,” said Latimer.
While she has struggled over the years with her hair loss and navigating the demands of her job as an NFL cheerleader, Latimer says the most significant challenge she’s had to face was just accepting herself.
“People see cheerleaders and assume they’re flawless. While that’s obviously not true, I still found myself having to unlearn [the] idea that I needed to be perfect to be on the team,” Latimer explained.
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That’s why this year, she began to use her platform to open up about her alopecia diagnosis, sharing a black & white photo of herself this past September in honor of Alopecia Awareness Month. At the beginning of the NFL season, she began wrestling with the idea of cheering without a wig, eventually deciding to move forward during the team’s “My Cause My Boots” initiative. During “Monday Night Football” this past December 9th, Latimer finally took the field to perform without a wig, raising awareness for a cause that’s so near and dear to her heart.
“At first, I was a bit scared to commit to it because doing a photoshoot or taking a video of yourself and posting it on social media is not in real time. Knowing that the game would be live in front of over 80 thousand people and I may end up on TV is a bit intimidating. But I’m reminding myself that I’ll be out there dancing with my best friends, and my family will be there as well. I know that it’ll be an impactful moment for whoever it touches,” Latimer told reporters before the big day.
The heartwarming moment was caught on video in a post shared to the Cowboys community page. Latimer was emotional before taking the field but received so much support from her teammates and family before and after the performance. She completely crushed her performance, showing little girls everywhere that hair doesn’t have to define who you are.
“So proud of that you’re doing this and you’re just representing a lot of little girls out there and they’re going to be looking at you in awe at your strength, knowing that they are going to feel so beautiful after this because of what you’re doing today,” one of her teammates can be hard saying in the video.
The clip has now gone viral, being liked more than 300,000 times on Instagram alone. Latimer previously told reporters that her goal was to empower the next young girl struggling with alopecia and bring awareness to a condition that affects hundreds of thousands of Americans every year.
“I figure that if I can overcome my negative self-talk and self-defeating mindset, I can help change the experience for the next 12-year-old who gets diagnosed. She can start healing early instead of waiting until she’s 23, like me. There’s so much societal pressure that comes with being a woman – we don’t need more. We can be empowered by so many things, and you don’t need your hair to feel that,” said Latimer.
Check out the heartwarming moment below!
Cover photo: Dallas Cowboys Cheerleader Armani Latimer Performed Without Wig to Raise Awareness for Alopecia/Photo credit: Armani Latimer/DC Cheerleaders/Women’s Health Mag/Instagram