ALLENTOWN, Pa. — Christian Orr, senior events manager at Bradbury-Sullivan LGBT Community Center, had a difficult time taking care of their hair growing up.
Orr is biracial, with a Black father and a white mother, and their mother did not know how to take care of their hair, Orr said. Orr said the center's Executive Director Ashley Coleman had the same issue.
- A new workshop to provide tools and resources for people of color to learn how to do protective hairstyles is coming to Allentown
- It will be held by Bradbury-Sullivan LGBT Community Center from 6:30 to 8:30 p.m. Wednesday, May 24
- The event also will feature a breakout session for only white caregivers of children of color to learn how to take care of their child’s hair
“We didn't have anybody to take care of our hair," Orr said. "We had to figure it out on our own, and oftentimes, for me, I never figured it out."
That is why Bradbury-Sullivan Center will hold a workshop to provide tools and resources for people of color to learn how to do protective hairstyles on themselves and others.
The event will be 6:30-8:30 p.m. Wednesday, May 24, at Bradbury-Sullivan Center, 522 W. Maple St., Allentown. The center will serve dinner and provide child care. RSVPs are strongly suggested but not required.
The event will have a loctician to answer attendees' questions and teach people hairstyles.
'Protect Your Power'
Center Community Programs Manager Deirdre Van Walters said the workshop is called “Protect Your Power” because people's hair can be their power.
“Your hair is like your crown," Van Walters said. "So you want to wear that with pride, and there's nothing better than having it styled."
Your hair is like your crown. So you want to wear that with pride, and there's nothing better than having it styled.Bradbury-Sullivan Center Community Programs Manager Deirdre Van Walters
“It doesn't have to be super extravagant, but being neat and well-cared for will do wonders for one's self-esteem, and we want to promote that.”
Van Walters said the event will specifically cater to Black and Latino people with curlier hair, but all people of color are welcome.
The event also will feature a breakout session only for white caregivers of children of color to learn how to take care of their child’s hair.
Van Walters will lead the breakout session. She said she hopes having a separate session will help the white caregivers feel more comfortable.
“We want to create a real comfortable, safe space for them to be amongst each other and share some of the questions that they may have and not feel embarrassed by being in front of everybody,” Van Walters said.
'Out of necessity'
Van Walters said many community members have expressed interest in the event, especially because there are not a lot of affordable hair salons that know how to take care of a Black person's hair.
"We want folks to know that they can do something for themselves and take good care of their hair and not have to depend on having to find the very few salons that are around," Van Walters said.
"The idea of bloomed from a lack of resources and out of necessity," Orr said.
We're here to serve anybody and everybody who needs the resource, as long as they're good with queer people.Christian Orr, senior events manager for the Bradbury-Sullivan Center
Orr said Bradbury-Sullivan Center is holding the event even though it is not specifically about LGBTQ people because the center wants to support the community as a whole.
“We're always focused on queer members of the community," Orr said. "But we have a huge Black population in Allentown and the Lehigh Valley, we have a huge Hispanic population."
“We're here to serve anybody and everybody who needs the resource, as long as they're good with queer people.”
Center Communications Coordinator Braden Hudak also said he has heard some Black community members feel they have to choose between their Blackness and their queerness, so the center wants to provide more intersectional programming.
“We want our Black community members to know that there is programming for them here and that they can come here and be Black and queer at the same time and have this affirming environment,” Hudak said.
Orr said they hope this will be a quarterly event in the future.
