EPISODE 27:
WE ARE THE KEEPERS OF THE CULTURE
In this episode you will hear from the King of Locs, Thando Kafele. In this powerful conversation, explore the cultural perspective of ownership (or lack thereof) in the natural hair industry.
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Biography of Thando Kafele:
My formal education in natural hair care was well developed at Locks ‘N Chops in New York City. There I learned about client services, technique, and the culture of natural hair. Having apprenticed there for three years, I was given a strong foundation upon which I could advance. I am so grateful to the tutelage that I experienced under its founders, Adémola Mandela and Orin Saunders. Each of them provided me with unique opportunities to grow and develop as a master stylist and natural hair culturalist. As the owner of my own private practice, I have drawn upon those early lessons to advance our movement a step further. My unique contribution to our movement is the ability to challenge myself and my colleagues; and encourage my clients to be “unmanageable” in the living of their lives.
We must be unmanageable in the way that we respond to the remnants and modern day manifestations of slavery, colonialism, and imperialism. We can’t afford to be managed. We must be unmanageable, unrealistic, and unreasonable because to be otherwise means to be complicit in our spiritual and cultural demise. Therefore our hair must reflect our unwillingness to compromise. As I work with clients we explore each other’s ability to be unreasonable with the social order. We experiment with the destruction of the falsehoods parading as truths about what black hair is and what it is not. We confirm for ourselves that our hair is in the process of creating and co-creating beautiful natural hair styles we are healed and we are liberated.
Connect with Thando:
Instagram: @TheKingofLoc
Website / Merch: ThandoKafele.com
This episode is brought to you by:
- Quickbooks Self-Employed— you can get 50% off by using my affiliate link: http://fbuy.me/oBoRT