Connecting with West African Hair Braiders in Harlem
By: Houreidja Tall
Tags: West Africa, Hair, Community, Braids, Journalism

My community throughout my time at Newmark has comprised West African hair braiders in Harlem. They come primarily from Francophone countries and find their way to braiding because it is work that does not require extensive formal education. The women work in salons. Because they spend so much time together, often 12+ hours per day, and they share the common experiences of trying to navigate a country in which they face many disadvantages, they form a close community. In one woman I spoke to for an article I wrote, a braider told me that being in the salon with the other women “is the closest I get here to being in Africa.” Through my project, I would like to ease the effort it takes for braiders to navigate social services, such as applying for welfare, and keep up with news that affects their livelihoods.

Most of the women in this community migrated to the United States in the early ‘90’s-early ’00s. Through conversations with the braiders, I’ve learned that most of them did not have a detailed plan as to what exactly would happen once they arrived in the US. Hair braiding is a job that requires skill but is not difficult to acquire. These women send remittances home to their families, where the dollar is more powerful than the local currencies, namely the CFA. This is a community with which I am intimately connected; my mother is a hair braider from Mali and I spent much of my childhood and adolescence accompanying her to the salon, where I would watch her attend to her customers and take part in the various conversations that occurred in the room, primarily in Bambara, which is main language spoken in Mali, but is also spoken in various dialects by people in surrounding countries. In these conversations, women would speak about issues ranging from politics to their home lives, to pop culture.

These women have different needs, but they include keeping in the loop with what is available in terms of social services such as housing, transportation or health insurance, which can be overwhelming to navigate when it’s all in English. The forms and the technical vocabulary can be complicated to figure out for native English speakers, let alone the braiders. I know this because often my mom comes home with paperwork that her colleagues have asked her to fill out because they do not understand what it says.

There are constantly news and policy developments that are occurring that may affect them. For example, this law that will come into effect next year regarding payment apps and transactions may affect them when it comes to filing taxes, which is particularly important because that is a process that is already complicated enough. One braider I spoke to from Mali about the law told me that she was not aware of it, so one concrete way to use my proposed WhatsApp group chat would be to notify braiders of news like this. This topic has been discussed at length among hair braiders, but has there been any progress made towards making it an actual law? This is the sort of thing my project would help clarify, to help put braiders’ minds at ease or connect them to resources that would allow them to be certified if necessary.

For my practicum, which is identical to the product I created for Startup Sprint, I decided to create a WhatsApp group that connects NYC-based braiders with social services and keeps them abreast of news concerning their livelihood. I sent out weekly posts detailing resources that are available for residents of New York City and notifying the braiders of news that is related to their line of work.