Carleton University students lined up, sign-up forms in hand, to sit with a local stylist for an affordable Black hair care experience at the university’s second annual pop-up salon on Monday.
The event was organized by Kiara Gibbs-Cawker, the coordinator of the Racialized and International Student Experience centre at Carleton, who said people often underestimate the financial barrier to Black people accessing adequate hair care.
“Hair for Black individuals has an effect on every instance of their lives,” she said. “But some of these services cost $500 off campus.”
Gibbs-Cawker, who is also the president of the African, Caribbean and Black Experience at Carleton, said the pop-up was a chance to give Black Carleton students worry-free care at a fair rate.
She connected with various local stylists using Links to Locs, a website that allows members of the Black community in Ottawa to find culturally-affirming hair experts close to home.
Gibbs-Cawker said they offered students discounted prices on a variety of styles, including braids and wig installations.
Shaniah Kerr, a stylist at the pop-up and the owner of Nii Stylez, learned how to work with Black hair on her own head after her mom passed the job onto her during the pandemic.
She said she spent hours watching YouTube videos to master different styles and eventually started her own business with her best friend once lockdown measures were lifted.
Now, taking care of hair gives her the chance to make young Black students feel beautiful, Kerr said, even in the most stressful moments of university.
“School is grueling, and everyone has a busy schedule, so it is important to make time for yourself,” she said. “If you don’t look good, you won’t do good.”
That experience rings true for Bedriya Aman, a fourth-year linguistics student, who said she took a mental health break at the salon since stress for her exam the next day started to overwhelm her.
“After reading about what they have to offer and their prices, I was like, ‘Wait, I would feel so much better if I got my hair done and felt confident about myself first,’” she said.
Aman said she has searched all across Ottawa for a quality of treatment comparable to the care she received at the pop-up Monday.
“To find the right hair and a reliable person, you end up having to travel way too much. It’s just a mental hassle that shouldn’t be this hard.”
To Gibbs-Cawker, that shared experience is what makes supporting underrepresented communities so critical.
“It is important to make sure that meaningful events like this stay alive and don’t just die out after the first run,” she said.
“I did my thesis on how Black hair care is a cultural practice — and learning more about that and the impact that it has will ensure Black students continue to be supported at Carleton.”
Featured image by Jaidyn Gonsalves/the Charlatan
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