'It's definitely an issue of self-love': Edmonton Natural Hair Show celebrates Afro-textured hair
Edmonton Natural Hair Show started in 2016 and has doubled in size since then
Fitsani Nsaliwa had a quick answer when the workshop facilitator asked the room of young black people to describe themselves and their natural hair.
"Powerful," she said.
Nsaliwa, 12, took part in the workshop at the Edmonton Natural Hair Show on Sunday. The show features panel discussions on embracing and caring for textured hair, alongside dozens of booths featuring black artists and entrepreneurs from Alberta.
"I feel beautiful, I feel great and I love it," Nsaliwa said about her naturally twisted hair.
"It's really worth it to look in the mirror and say, 'Hey, I look beautiful.'"
Nsaliwa has a particular love of '90s hip-hop and remembers admiring pictures of Lauryn Hill from her time with the group, Fugees.
"Her hair wasn't even in a weave. It was just twist, locs — it was up — and it looked amazing," she said.
Then again, she also loves when a black woman has a closely shaved head. It makes a statement, she said — and accents jewelry.
The Edmonton Natural Hair Show started in 2016 to create a space for people to learn how to care for textured hair, while unpacking the harmful stereotypes about black hair, said founder and organizer Osas Eweka-Smith.
Black people continue to face harassment and discrimination, at work and otherwise, for their natural hair, Eweka-Smith noted.
"How can we change that mindset? How I look and what I have on my head doesn't change my skills or the qualities I can bring to a job," she said.
One booth at the show — Val's Little Secret — sold natural hair products made with heavy oils to condition curly hair. Another the Get Fanci booth, hair extensions were on offer. Owner Amanda McEachnie said some of her clients prefer extensions in the winter to protect their hair from Edmonton's dry cold.
The show has doubled the number of vendors since it started in 2016, up to roughly 26 this year, with hundreds of patrons checking out the booths at Boyle Street Plaza.
Rosette Amegah was styling her niece's hair into two cornrows that meet at the back while working at the booth for Legacy Barbershop, which recently opened in Edmonton.
"There's a great sense of community here," she said of the show.
As a young girl, Amegah longed for flowing straight hair, like the kind she saw in fashion magazines. She used relaxer, a lotion to straighten curly hair, but it never came out the way she envisioned.
"It's definitely an issue of self-love," she said. "Growing up and coming into my own, I realized that my hair doesn't have to be like that, and it's still beautiful in so many different ways. Just like the long, flowing hair is beautiful as well."
Amegah has been wearing her natural hair for several years now, most recently styling it in locs after an inspiring trip to Ghana. She said it was "absolutely beautiful" to see a young generation of black girls, like her niece, embracing their natural hair.
"I would like to be, for her especially, that influence that says you can accept yourself for who you are."