Community event delivers free cuts and styles to 257 kids and youth
Excel in Style saw 66 textured hair professionals donate their Saturday to boost confidence and self-expression for Black and racialized young people.
Lohifa Pogoson Acker gets teary when she recaps a recent event to deliver haircuts and styling to more than 250 Black and racialized kids and youth.
Sixty-six barbers, braiders, textured hair stylists and curly hair stylists showed up, all but three from Hamilton. Each gave up a Saturday in their salons and studios to provide free cuts and styles.
Acker, a Hamilton hair entrepreneur, was inspired by a Toronto event called Fades and Braids and called her event Excel in Style. It happened on the March 15, the Saturday before school resumed after the March Break.
“It was a really good day. When I think about the sacrifice of everybody who participated, who gave up a very high earning Saturday and come and serve and get nothing in return except fulfillment and vibes, it makes me emotional,” said Acker, who is a frequent community speaker, host and an engaged community volunteer.
“Hamiltonians are showing up for each other and really supporting each other in ways unimaginable.”
The Hamilton Wentworth District School Board provided space at Bernie Custers Secondary School and the plan was to use the gym to provide cuts and styles to 225 young people ages five to 19. Close to 480 registered for the event.
But some families were so desperate, they showed up on the day of the event and waited on standby to see if they could get their kids in a chair.
So the total number of people who walked out with a spiffy new do was 257. Braids, twists and locks were limited to a maximum of three hours and cuts to 40 minutes.
Kids were met with cheers as they came into the gym and parents left with a weight lifted.
Ninety volunteers took part, including a bunch of people from community organizations such as the Afro Canadian Caribbean Association, YMCA, YWCA, Refuge Newcomer Health, Hamilton Urban Core Community Health, Hamilton Anti-Racism Resource Centre, Hamilton Child and Family Support, Hamilton Police Service, and the Catholic Children's Aid Society.
The Hamilton Tiger-Cat and Hamilton Forge FC mascots were there, along with DJs. A photographer took each kids’ photo after their time in the chair, and LT the Monk performed. There were games and prizes and the gym’s scoreboard kept track of completed cuts and styles. There were STEM activities, dance lessons, and a range of health providers on hand to talk about self-care. St. Matthew’s House even provided a daycare.
Stoney Creek entrepreneur Anita Grant brought her Hello Hair Styling Dolls that give children and adults the chance to practise styling natural textured hair. She earned a $250,000 investment from two Dragon’s Den judges last fall.
Cloré, a local beauty store, supported the event so that each child left with bag of hair care products.
Acker, who is the owner of a hair business called LoDidThat, says there is a distinct lack of training about cutting and styling texture hair in traditional hair school – only about two per cent of the curriculum.
“If you have straight hair, or Euro-centric hair, you can walk into a salon and rest assured, someone can take care of your hair. But that's not the case for textured hair. Textured hair styling is very much a skilled trade, but also very sparse. And even when it is accessible, it's not affordable, because it costs a lot of money.”
A set of braids or twists takes hours and will run about $250.
Some families said that without Excel in Style, they would be forced to cut off their child’s hair because the expense is too great in the face of the high cost of housing and food.
Even a basic style to protect the health of textured hair takes several hours. Something longer and more intricate can take twice as long. Then there is the cost of extensions and styling products.
And styles only last six weeks to three months. Acker once worked on a teen who left braids in for 10 months.
“She did that because her mom said if she took it out, she wouldn't be able to afford to do it again. And so what happens when you do that is your hair turns to dreadlocks. So it took me almost two days to take her hair out, because it was either that or cut it.”
A native of Nigeria, who immigrated to British Columbia before working abroad, Acker arrived in Hamilton in 2012. She says it’s important to get the message out that people don’t have to travel out of the city for hairstyling. Recipients of hair services learned that through the event, says Acker.
“We do have a very strong and skilled textured hair styling community here in Hamilton, people are just not aware … You don't need to take your dollars to Brampton or Toronto.”
Acker was touched by the community connections that resulted from the gathering.
“One mom wrote to me. She's a white mom and she adopted a daughter from South Africa. She connected with five other moms, white moms who've adopted Black kids, and they're going to be meeting for lunch and forming a support group for each other.”
Hair is a big part of identity, self-expression and confidence, says Acker. She’s been pondering a way to help families in need for 10 years. Completing this event, has been deeply satisfying.
“I've been going through rounds and rounds of emotions just knowing how many families were impacted, how many children were touched and it's not even just getting your hair styled. It's getting your hair styled in a collective, in a community while being entertained and celebrated.”
Acker is already thinking about the next Excel in Style.
“This is very much a gap that's been identified. I always knew it was there. I just didn't know it was there to this degree,” she says.
“And I'm blessed to be in a group of very like-minded and community-minded people who understand it’s not always about making money on a high-earning Saturday. Sometimes you can sacrifice too, right? You give back and your reward is not measured in dollars. It's measured in the smiles. It's measured in the confidence. Everyone talked about how the kids just transformed after they got their hair done.”
