Black Student Union held its annual Don’t Touch My Hair occasion Monday, Nov. 22 at 7 p.m. within the A&B room of the Memorial Union. The occasion gave students at Washburn and members of the general public the chance to study about textured hair and the best way to take care of it. This was the fifth 12 months for the occasion at Washburn.The night time started with an in depth presentation from Neyssa Nunez-Redmond, a hairstylist from the corporate Little Girl’s Hair. She described the several types of hair starting from 1A to 4C and about porosity of hair, or how nicely hair strands settle for and retain moisture.She had the viewers do a check on themselves utilizing a single strand of hair with water that was supplied. Depending on the kind of hair, you both want to make use of the method of liquid, cream and oil, or liquid, oil and cream. The product order makes all of the distinction.Redmond additionally touched on cultural competence and the historical past of African American hair. Besides the truth that you shouldn’t contact folks with out their permission, there’s a darkish historical past behind hair petting within the Black neighborhood. Enslaved folks had been put in human zoos the place the general public was allowed to pet and disgrace them.She concluded her presentation saying that by studying about the historical past of textured hair and the best way to take care of it no matter your hair sort, we are able to get rid of misinformation and turn into extra inclusive.Redmond began Little Girl’s Hair as a result of from a younger age she needed to learn to take care of her personal hair. Since she got here from a multi-cultural household, there wasn’t anybody to information her on what routine was greatest for her.“My niece was taken in 2010 into foster care, and when she was taken, she had hair down her again. She had probably the most stunning hair I’d ever seen. When I noticed her once more, somebody had taken a quantity two guard and buzzed her hair off as a result of that they had no thought what to do with it,” Redmond mentioned.Redmond went on to explain how traumatizing this was for her niece, and how a number of different Black kids within the foster care system undergo the identical factor. The lack of variety in media means there isn’t sufficient data and assets for folks with textured hair.“I like serving to out foster households and serving to them construct connections,” Redmond mentioned. “It’s actually exhausting for youths from exhausting locations to let their partitions down, and the best technique to make a connection is to make them really feel stunning.”The occasion additionally welcomed a number of native Black-owned companies corresponding to Dees Keys, Heaven Scents, Biva Beauty Boutique and extra. The most important merchandise being offered had been hair care merchandise corresponding to oils, moisturizers and silk bonnets for in a single day use. There had been even free haircuts for anybody on the occasion, supplied by Lil Bit, a neighborhood barber.“Hair competence is necessary amongst cultures,” mentioned Philip Canady, a junior enterprise and finance main. “Even if it’s not your personal, studying about different folks’s hair and the best way to care for yours is necessary.”Dyma Valdivia, president of BSU and a senior majoring in communication research and sociology, confirmed her pleasure for the variety of people who attended the occasion.“We don’t have issues like this in the neighborhood to study about our hair, and even personally rising up I didn’t have anybody instructing me what you need to do, what you shouldn’t,” Valdivia mentioned. “The proven fact that we now have so many youthful youngsters right here that may study early and get educated, it’s actually empowering. It’s our crown, and we wish to care for it.”
Edited by: Kyle Manthe, Simran Shrestha
https://washburnreview.org/35701/information/dont-touch-my-hair-educates-and-empowers-students-about-haircare/
