1. Of course, we must start with Beyoncé and Jay-Z’s daughter, Blue Ivy. The Twitterverse exploded when little Blue Ivy was seen with her natural hair in its full glory. Many people called the adorable toddler’s hair ratty and unkempt and the photos even sparked a ridiculous petition on change.org, begging Blue Ivy’s parents to do something about their daughter’s hair, namely putting a perm in it. Thankfully, her parents seemed to have ignored all of the foolishness. Blue Ivy’s hair has remained natural and adorable.2. In other celebrity gossip, Halle Berry again took her former partner Gabriel Aubry to court over co-parenting issues, this time over their six-year old daughter’s hair. Aubry, without first consulting with Berry, straightened and added highlights to their daughters hair, and Berry reportedly felt that he was attempting to stifle the young girl’s biracial identity. The judge ultimately ruled that neither parent was to alter the girl’s hair. Imagine! Your natural hair is to stay that way, via court order. Especially after the brouhaha with Blue Ivy, the natural hair world seemed to embrace this verdict.

3. A new U.S. Army regulation, Regulation 670-1, bans a multitude of natural hairstyles, including twists, braids and cornrows. This has sparked backlash from the natural community since many African American women in the army claim that their hair has not interfered with their duties or uniforms and many believe that this new regulation is discrimatory.

4. Nicki Minaj often shows off her body but rarely shows her real hair, often covering it with weaves or wigs. She is well known for her colorful wigs of all different hues. She even caused an uproar with lyrics, “These nappy headed hoes need a perminator,” in her 2011 single “Did it Om Em.” So it was a surprise to many and made news when she posted pictures of her long, healthy, natural hair on Instagram.

5. In the saddest natural hair news of 2014, Titi Branch, one of the co-founders of the popular natural hair care line Miss Jessie’s, died on December 4 in an apparent suicide at the age of 45. She was a true entrepreneur and an inspiration to many.

These have been the top five controversies and stories involving natural hair in 2014. Let’s look forward to better news this year!