*Black people living in Maine apparently have little access to Black hair care products and stylists, according to NewsCenter Maine.
One hairdresser, Angela Okafur, owns the only braid shop in town and noted that the Black population in Maine is on the decline amid the desperate need for diversity, Black Enterprise reports.
“If you’re not able to get what you need to feel good about yourself or for your children to feel good about themselves, chances are they’re gonna start looking at alternatives,” Okafur said.
“So this is very crucial and important. Not just for community building but also to, you know, retaining people here, which is what we really need in this area,” she continued.
Jack Stanley and Jordan Guy, both non-Black barbers, have worked hard to build trust with Black clients, BE reports.
“I’m not going to say that areas of Maine are stuck in kind of old habits or old school habits, but I do think there needs to be a willingness to adapt and kind of draw more people to those areas, and I don’t think it’s necessarily a priority,” said Guy.
“A lady reached out to me, and she was like her son was going for a very serious procedure, and she was like all he asked of was to get his hair done,” Okafur revealed, who has to give up her off days to service clients. “I had to do the hair on a day I don’t work.”
There is only one barber school in the state that offers verbal instruction on how to cut Black hair, according to Stanley, per Black Enterprise.
Chris Markwood, the men’s basketball coach at the University of Maine, mentions the issue to potential recruits.
“I think it’s something that we touch on pretty early in the process because it tends to come up,” Marwood said. “People are wondering, ‘Am I going to be able to find a barber in this area.’”
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