BWHC hosts Black Beauty Expo, largest turnout yet

The Black Womyn’s Health Collaborative hosted the quarterly Black Beauty Expo on Nov. 7, with the largest turnout they’ve had yet, according to Administrative Director of the Black Womyn’s Health Collaborative Isa Green, a third-year history of policy, law and governance major.

As access to affordable hair care continues to be a struggle, with a lack of hair salons and overpriced products in Santa Barbara, students find hair health difficult to maintain. The Black Beauty Expo is an event that aims to provide these products for the UC Santa Barbara community, addressing this issue through free product giveaways and educating the public about proper hair care for diverse hair types. 

The small business Absolutely Beautiful Hair Beauty Supply, located in Oxnard, supplied products for the Black Womyn’s Health Collaborative (BWHC). Retention Co-Chair of BWHC, Hailo Salavera, a third-year sociology and feminist studies double major, said the organization began this event out of a lack of resources available to the Black student community.

“The reason we decided to do this is because there are no Black hair products that support hair types in Santa Barbara, and you usually have to order off Amazon, so we thought, let’s bring it here because there are no resources for us,” Salavera said. 

Beginning at 5:30 p.m., students lined up outside the door to enter the event. Each person was given three tickets to select three items out of a variety of products ranging from combs and accessories to gels and conditioners, as well as one pack of braiding hair. The number was lowered from the original five tickets to accommodate the unexpected turnout. 

Hot tools were provided and won through a game of Jeopardy focused on topics in Black hair history, such as the Crown Act, which prohibits discrimination based on natural hairstyles associated with race.

The aim of this event was not only to make quality products available to students but also to educate the public on the history behind Black hair culture and how to properly maintain curls through custom pamphlets designed by BWHC Retention Co-Chair and third-year biology major Essence Tibbs.

The topic of hair care was chosen because of the inaccessibility of quality resources and the importance of hair in curating community and culture in the Black community.

“I feel like hair care has been a prevalent and important topic in the Black community and taking care of our hair and managing our hair, especially in a white institution,” Green said. 

Assistant Director of Mental Health Initiatives Meredith Merchant emphasized that providing a space for students to maintain and curate cultural connections and allowing room for expression is crucial to supporting student success.

“Hair has been politicized in our community and on campus and in industry, and really supporting students with being able to wear their hair in whatever way they want to, and know that that doesn’t change their brilliance or their scholarship or their validity to be on this campus,” Merchant said. 

As the Black Beauty Expo continues to grow each quarter, so does the increased need for resources and representation in acknowledgement of student needs. Salavera explained the major problems that still need to be addressed at UCSB.

“[The issue is] just getting more resources for Black students on campus. I think that it’s a huge lack, and it’s constantly having to be bought more. So just more representation and more resources,” Salavera said.

BWHC hosted this event with a goal of creating an inclusive space while ensuring Black students are recognized — allowing room for cultural expression and community.

“I want students to know that they have a place they can come and be supported. Their mental, physical and human being is being supported,” Green said. 

A version of this article appeared on p. 4 of the Nov. 12 print edition of the Daily Nexus.