A Look Inside Prose’s BHM Event: Unwrapping Our Crowns

woman with coily hair
Feb 28 2022,
By: Prose
-
2 Min read

This year during Black History Month, Prose held a four-part conversation series at the lovely NeueHouse centered around Black hair and wellness called Unwrapping Our Crowns. The event aimed to spark conversation and open up dialogue around the psychology, history, and future of Black hair and wellness, and above all else, was a celebration of the Black women entrepreneurs, creators, artists, and educators who have long been advocating for and engaging in this dialogue.

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    Week 1: Celebrating Black Hair – A Retrospective

    Helen Nwosu and Stephanie Louis

    To kick things off, panelists Stephanie Louis, founder of Stylebox Salon, Mecca Khadijah, founder of Embracing My Natural Inc., and our very own VP of Social Impact, Helen Nwosu, took a look back and celebrated the beautiful and diverse history of Black hair and hairstyles, while discussing meaningful milestones and celebrating the past and present of Black hair.

    Week 2: Sustainability, Natural Ingredients, and Holistic Health in the Black Wellness Space

    Aba Gyepi-Garbrah, Helen Nwosu, Nkonye Mwalilu, and Faith Armstrong

    During week two, panelists Aba Gyepi-Garbrah, founder of Aba Love Apothecary, and Nkonye Mwalilu, founder of New Village Braid sat down with Prose Director of Education Faith Armstrong to discuss how Black-owned companies are bringing natural ingredients and holistic wellness into the Black beauty sphere.

    Week 3: The Black Hair Community and Economy

    Faith Armstrong, Diane Bailey, and Weena Jerome

    Week three’s discussion involved Weena Jerome, founder of Renaissance Curls, and Diane Bailey, CEO of Natural Beauty Industry Alliance, Master Natural Hair Stylist, Author, Advocate, Educator along with Prose’s Faith Armstrong to discuss how the lack of education around Black hair in professional salons causes women to turn to their friends, families, or even themselves to do their own hair. In turn, the relationships that bloom are at a unique intersection of community and economy, and as social media has allowed women to take agency over their hair through YouTube tutorials and online hair communities, stylists have also been able to grow their own businesses.

    Week 4: Raising Black Children to Love their Hair

    Helen Nwosu, Medina Jackson, and Dana Drucker

    To wrap up our discussion series, Helen Nwosu sat down with Medina Jackson, Director of Engagement at the P.R.I.D.E. (Positive Racial Identity Development in Early Education) Program, and Dana Drucker, author and creator of Apricot Brown to ask questions like how do we uplift and nurture Black children’s relationship with their hair and how do we cultivate a culture of celebration, self-love and empowerment within Black children?

    We were so pleased to see a number of our community members during the span of this panel series. What events would you look forward to seeing from Prose? Let us know in the comments down below!

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