“I prepared myself to call a nearby salon. I felt hesitant and began to brace myself for potential rejection or the comment, 'No, we don’t do Black hair.' All I needed was a small trim to cut down my split, colour-damaged ends. Although I had bought all the equipment—mirrors, salon-grade shears, and even thinning scissors—I wanted a professional trim for my coils. I didn’t feel confident enough to do it myself, and of course, I wouldn’t; I’m not a hairstylist. I started imagining scenarios in my head about how I’d respond when they inevitably let me down easy and say they’ve never learned or had their hands on kinky and coily heads. I told myself I would say, 'I understand, but it’s just a trim/ it’s like any other hair/ it’s not that different,' and, 'I can show you how to cut it/ I can’t do it myself/ the nearest curly salon is hours away/ it won’t take long.' I figured I would essentially have to beg for this service, a service that many individuals have access to, but not individuals with my phenotypic profile, not individuals with coily, kinky, coarse hair.”
There is a big issue of Black hair discrimination in Canada. It is especially seen in the lack of textured hair education in beauty schools. In fact, many Black and biracial stylists have come forward and urged their respective ministries to include kinky and coily hair in their curriculum; however, these schools have shown little to no interest in incorporating it, maintaining their current focus on teaching stylists how to chemically straighten coily hair.
Where does this leave Black customers and Black stylists? Black clients are often made to feel like second-class customers, unwelcome and unwanted. We are frequently rejected by local salons, and when we are accepted, the stylists are often clueless about caring for and styling our hair, leaving us unhappy with the results.
Meanwhile, Black stylists are forced to navigate a system that is inherently discriminatory towards them and must seek out external education and resources. As a result, many Black stylists open their own shops, specifically catering to curly and coily hair, to ensure that Black customers and those with textured hair are included. Even so, these curly salons are located in densely populated, big city areas in Canada, and access to them heavily relies on the customer’s location. For Black clients living in rural areas or small towns, these salons can be hours away, putting those without the money, access to transportation, or time at a great disadvantage.
To share the end of my story, I was unwilling to call the salon that day. After ruminating over those scenarios, I gave up. I didn’t feel like putting myself in a position where I would probably, and most likely, have to plead for a basic haircut from hair care professionals. I would feel undignified—no—it would be undignified. I looked at my options of driving an 8-hour round trip to the nearest big city with curly hair salons or flying back to Toronto to see my trusted coily hair stylist; either option would cost hundreds of dollars.
Deciding to live in a rural part of Northwest Ontario for the summer, I knew that I would have to face this issue, but it didn’t make it any less bitter-sweet. So, I got myself up from the bed, sighed, and began trimming my hair, replicating what I had learned from Black women on YouTube. And that was it.
- By Symphorosa Gabriel
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