Black hairdresser Donna Small on embracing race and history
Hair, whether it’s the natural wooly-textured African type or the looser curl of someone of mixed race, is a key part of black culture and identity.
Donna Small, who runs Yapp’s Hair Design out of her Ancaster home, knows this as well as anyone.
"As a hairdresser, and a black hairdresser, I’ve come to realize that I look at texture rather than the colour of someone’s skin," she told CBC Hamilton.
"I have some clients that are maybe raised in a white home but they’re mixed with black and so I’m able to educate them on how to take care of their hair and how to love their hair — how to embrace who they are."
Black women from all walks of life come to Yapp’s to get their hair styled but also to connect — often sharing personal stories or discussing spiritual matters with Small.
During Black History Month, Small said she’ll be thinking a lot about those who were enslaved and those who fought for freedom.
"It’s very important to me that we remember," Small said.
In her own life, Small said drawing on that experience helps her overcome adversity. And, as a mother, it means she has big expectations for her children — "I expect more," Small says.
Black History Month, she said, is a "reminder to the children that the expectation is for them to succeed."
Throughout Black History Month, CBC Hamilton is producing a series of portraits of people in the city’s black community and asking them what black history month means to them. An audio clip you can listen to using the player above will accompany each photograph.