When I heard the news about my style icon Solange Knowles getting her 'fro frisked by Transportation Security Administration officials in Miami last week , I was immediately enraged. Here was yet another black woman , who after going through the usual invasive full-body scanning process, forced to have her hair searched like a shady duffle bag.

Yet, the singer-turned-DJ had a surprisingly lighthearted reaction to her "Discrim-FRO-nation ," engaging in a Twitter game with her followers called "What did TSA find in Solange's Fro "? While I commend her for not allowing the TSA 's peculiar hair pat down to damper her mood, I felt my blood start to boil just remembering my own airport security search experiences.

I returned home to South Carolina during Fourth of July weekend back in 2010 for my older brother's wedding. With my future sister-in-law's direct orders to have my natural hair styled in a half-up, half-down 'do , I miraculously made it through the sweltering heat and high-stressed nuptials with my mane intact. But I'd find myself in a hair-raising moment during my return trip when a TSA agent asked if I could "remove my bobby pins ." My initial thoughts was "Who the hell does this old, white man think I am? Does he not know how many pins are securely attached to my curls?"

After giving him this look like "You should really be afraid of testing my authority," I firmly let him know that I would not be taking out the 50-something bobby pins from my hair. I could sense that he was a bit nervous as he kindly asked if I could just put them back in afterward, however, his pathetic attempt to undo my hairdo failed. After a 10-minute standoff, he ceded and I rolled my luggage towards my gate.

But I'd soon join Isis Brantley , Laura Adiele and other lesser-known African-American women whose big hair would warrant a TSA search last year while returning from my annual Christmas trip to Charleston, SC.

Stuffed from devouring full plates of baked salmon, macaroni and cheese, vegetarian dressing and blackberry cobbler , I checked in to the airport an hour early to mentally prepare for the holiday rush. And while I've become quite the pro when it comes to arranging my carry-on items (laptop, makeup bags and multiple cell phones), I wasn't prepared when a petite black woman informed me that she'd have to search my curly 'fro before even walking through the scanner.

My usual defenses went up as I asked her exactly why she needed to poke and prod my mane, but of course, she danced around the issue sounding like a TSA infomercial (while giving me this glance like "Girl, don't get me fired"). She came up empty-handed in her hair search and thanked me for cooperating as I returned her gratitude with a side-eye stare. I've never felt so violated in my entire life -- standing shoe-less among tens of fliers with my two-strand twist out turning into a tousled mess.

While I respect the TSA's regulations that ultimately are in place for my very own safety, there has to be an enlightened approach when it comes to searching a woman's hair. Let's face it, my locks are the last place they can expect to find any weapons because I'd hate to ruin hours and money spent at the hair salon .

Do you believe the TSA's hair screening procedure is racially or sexually biased?

Check out our sister site BlackVoices' tribute to Solange Knowles ' amazing Afro in the slideshow below, then tell us in the comments section if you've ever experienced a hair pat down by the TSA.

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