‘Don’t Touch My Hair’ was an event held this past Saturday on May 6th by, Honey at the Hive resident assistant, Kori Carter (pictured above) in collaboration with the Black Student Association. The event was a celebration of hair and a learning opportunity for those of the SCAD community. Containing a live hair demo, a runway show, a celebratory hair video and information tables, the event was awesome.
‘Don’t Touch My Hair’ started out with SCAD students going around to tables that hosted different races and cultures explaining their hair practices. The tables were African American, Latino, Asian/Indian, Caucasian, chemically treated hair and protective styling. The different hair tables gave out tips and information that were invaluable. In regard to the tables, Kori stated,“ I wanted people to come to this event and learn something new, whether that be one fun fact or a ton of new things about different types of hair. I wanted it to be an engaging experience, which is why I chose to do tables/stations so that people had the opportunity to walk around and interact with others and see the pictures and props that were there.”
The night continued on with people socializing and partaking in refreshments. A stylist, by the name of Wesley, did a few live hair demos as well. This transitioned into Kori gathering everyone to watch the celebratory hair video. The video highlighted the hair experiences of different genders and races of people. Some spoke on their natural hair while some spoke on chemically treated hair. Some explained what their hair meant to them. It was all around an ode to hair in general.
The video was followed by a runway show of diverse models, some from the video. The inspiration behind the runway portion according to Kori was, “From the runway portion I wanted people to see how others style their hair. I chose a variety of different models so that everyone could showcase their unique look.” The models came in all sizes, shapes, genders, races, and hair types.
The entire program promoted diversity, which is necessary at SCAD. Kori states, “I am a resident assistant at SCAD and we have to do a certain amount of events per quarter. This quarter I had to do a diversity program, which really made me think about what I wanted to do because this is the program category that I often struggle with the most. I wanted to do something that would be different and interesting. I immediately thought about hair because my mom is a hair stylist, so I have been in the hair salon since I was a small child and I am always doing something new to my hair. Also, at SCAD every day I see a variety of different styles and different colors of hair which always fascinates me.”
When asked why she felt like this event was necessary Kori stated, “A lot of people do not know about hair other than their own, including me. I was able to learn so much just from coordinating this event because I had to actually sit down and research hair in these different cultures. Hair is something that everyone typically has, but it is so different and unique to each and every individual, even of the same race or ethnicity. I wanted to shine a light on all of the different types and textures of hair.”
Hair is something that is important to Kori. She states, “Hair is something that allows me express myself. I always love changing up my hair to give myself a new look. It is something that represents growth because I have been through many unique hair journeys. As a fashion marketing major and also someone that is a member of the YouTube beauty community, hair is something that always has to look flawless for me. Having a YouTube channel definitely pushes me a lot more to switch up my hair, because I want to give my viewers a variety of looks over time. Essentially, hair is a huge part of the business that I am currently starting to work in and want to go into in the future.”
All in all, ‘Don’t Touch My Hair was a very successful and informative event. Kudos Kori! Check out her YouTube channel: IAmKNicole!! More pics below!