Hair workshop teaches young Black girls style and self-love

I am beautiful. I am fierce. My natural hair does not define who I am.

These are some of the affirmations London, Ont. hairdresser Nancy Komi asks her young students to repeat at a weekly workshop dedicated to teaching Black girls how to style their natural hair. 

The classes are as much an opportunity for participants to learn hairstyling skills as they are to build confidence, Komi said. 

"The lesson is to have confidence in your hair, whether your hair is kinky, straight, wavy or curly," she said. "Be confident to wear your hair in its natural state." 

The Textured Treasures workshop has run out of St. Francis Catholic School in London every Saturday in February, coinciding with Black History Month. Participants as young as five have learned to style their natural hair without their parents' help.

Komi teaches them twisting, braiding and beading techniques, and sends them home with a free bag of hair tools, including a detangling brush, butter cream and silk scrunchies.  

"I have braided my own hair before, but I've never learned how to do a twist," Malia Gebredingle, 9, said after the workshop. With her new skills, she wants to start doing her own hair before school 

"It'll be easier for my mom in the morning for school because she always has to do both my sister's hair and my hair in the morning, and it's hard," she said.

That's great news for mom, Rebeca Mengesha, who said she looks forward to the help.

"On top of that, there's that sense of independence for them to be like, 'I did this and it looks beautiful,'" Mengesha said.

Komi, who is also a kindergarten teacher, said she regularly meets young children who need extra help styling their hair. 

"There are a lot of parents who have biracial children who don't know how to do their child's hair," she said, adding that many parents don't have enough time to complete full hair-care routines.

Komi first learned how to braid by watching her mom style her sister's hair. She said she never saw classes like the one she's teaching when she grew up in Ottawa, but hopes that by running Textured Treasures, there will be more hair classes for young Black girls in the future

"It's so important, especially within London where there are a lot of newcomers that are coming in, and a lot of people from different cultures and ethnic backgrounds," she said.

Mengesha said she would bring her daughters back to an event like this because they gain more than just hair styling lessons.

"It's just having that sense of community and having the chance to meet new people and create those relationships," Mengesha said. "It's having that sense of sisterhood and 'girls who are like me.'"