By Kiara Doyal, The Seattle Medium
To honor the legacy of Black hair and support homeless youth, six organizations, including YouthCare, The Sophia Way, Treehouse, Friends of Youth, Porchlight, and Mary’s Place, have launched a Black Haircare Drive for the month of June. This initiative addresses the scarcity of hair care products specifically made for Black and textured hair, which are often limited in stock and more expensive than products for people of other ethnicities.
The Black Haircare Drive seeks donations and aims to raise awareness about the unique hair care needs of Black and brown youth who disproportionately experience homelessness. By diversifying the brands and types of items that donors give, donors directly impact the well-being and self-esteem of the youth entering programs like The Sophia Way and YouthCare.
“Our mission is to really empower our youth not only to survive, but to thrive and create healthy environments for them to sustain independence, and we do that through a continuum of care,” says Brad Blackburn III, YouthCare Corporate Partnerships Manager, and Co-Host of the Identity Unboxed Podcast.
“The goal of the Black haircare drive really is to get donors in our organizations to respectively think of how we can collaborate and be actionable when it comes to our diversity, equity, inclusion, and belonging efforts,” added Blackburn. “We know that Black and Brown youth are disproportionately impacted in the youth homelessness space. And you know, every time I work in the In-kind department, and I’ve had meetings with other people in In-kind, and had talked to program staff at YouthCare, and that’s one thing they always say is that we need Black haircare products.”
The drive aims to promote cultural sensitivity and inclusivity within the community by actively seeking donations of products that reflect the cultural and ethnic backgrounds of those served. The coalition has made intentional advances when looking to promote and spread awareness about the need for Black and textured haircare products since White haircare products are seemingly donated more often to shelters because they are lower in cost and more easily accessible.
“Black and textured haircare items are not donated as frequently as other hair products. To address this rapidly growing need, we’re proud to come together with our nonprofit friends to raise awareness in the community and help our youth in need,” says Degale Cooper, CEO of YouthCare.
The coalition hopes to change not only the critical need for Black haircare products, but also to change the perception that people need to follow historic Eurocentric Beauty Standards in order to fit in.
“The world is shifting from a Eurocentric to an African American beauty standard, and so with that Euro beauty standard set there is another reason that we’re in the situation that we’re in, and it is a huge portion of why it is important to reconvene,” says Dietra Clayton, Managing Executive Director of The Sophia Way.
Throughout the month of June, the coalition, with the support of community partners, will accept donations to distribute to those who need them.
“We are going to continue to amplify our outreach through marketing on social media channels throughout the month of June,” says Blackburn. “One thing that we tried to do to be intentional was to partner with Boon Boona coffee, which is a Black-owned local coffee shop, and the reason why we did that is because they have locations that are far-reaching in Renton, Capitol Hill, and University District where all locations will be accepting donations for the entire month.”
According to Clayton, we live in a society that is aware of systemic racism but is uncomfortable adjusting and believes that there are many factors that play into exactly why Black and textured haircare products are more expensive compared to others. In addition, living in this society, it may be uncomfortable for people to participate in actively dismantling the expensive cost of Black and textured haircare products.
“Actively dismantling would mean making sure there are resources specifically for Black and brown people in all places,” says Clayton. “So, I think that causes people to be uncomfortable, and as well as the cost itself because there are not travel-sized Black hair care products, only full-sized products.”
Despite efforts to address those pricing disparities, Black haircare products are up to 70% more expensive than other haircare products. This cost factor may contribute to fewer donations of these essential items at the Haircare drive.
“Black and textured haircare products are more expensive because there is an afro tax where products for textured hair are actually taxed more,” says Clayton. “When we’re thinking about systemic racism, think about the products that are predominantly for Black and brown people. So, like some of the national products, think about how they’re taxed higher, right? Also knowing that most of the people in our shelters are Black and brown people but a small percentage of the population so I think that that’s part of why they are more expensive due to our smaller population.”
The coalition is constantly looking for Black and textured haircare products year-round but felt that Juneteenth and the month of June was the perfect opportunity to highlight and give the community the reminder that we are still lacking access to Black and textured haircare products. In addition, the six organizations believe that by honoring the legacy of Black hair and supporting the diverse needs of our community’s youth together, a difference can be made.
“There are so many of us nonprofits all working together, and I am hoping that we can get a little bit more product throughout the year versus during this one drive,” says Clayton.
“Hopefully this [Haircare Drive] is the catalyst for raising more awareness because this is a need that’s been there for us already and will consistently be a need,” says Clayton. “So, we’re hoping that this is the eye-opener for people, that this is a basic necessity that we could easily have at the shelters if we have our community wrapped around us.”
To donate, you can drop off items at the Boon Boona Coffee locations in Renton and Capitol Hill, the UW Book Store, and Mary’s Place’s 6th Street and Blanchard locations until the end of June.
