What Everyone Must Know About Coronavirus And Hair

Coronavirus. A deadly virus that is being compared to the Spanish flu. With the worldwide death toll surging past 11,000, many are heeding government commands. Social distancing is being practiced. Schools are closing down for weeks. Millions are without work. Within the service industry hairstylists are having to deal with their businesses slowing down. What exactly is coronavirus? How can we protect our hair and still support our hairstylists?

Coronavirus – A New Deadly Disease

Photo by cottonbro on Pexels.com

The World Health Organization has declared that the coronavirus disease is a new strain that has never existed in humans before 2019. It is classified as a zoonotic, meaning that the transmission began between animals and people. Researchers have concluded that it started in Asia, and got transmitted from civet cats/ dromedary camels to humans.

Signs of infection include:

• respiratory symptoms
• fever
• cough
• shortness of breath
• breathing difficulties

Getting an infection can cause:

• pneumonia
• severe acute respiratory syndrome
• kidney failure
• death

Worldwide it is being advised that extra precautions be taken to prevent this infection from spreading. These are the safety measures that we must take:

• Regularly washing hands
• Social distancing
• Covering your mouth and nose when you cough and sneeze
• Thoroughly cooking your meat/eggs
• Staying indoors as much as possible
• Avoiding contact with anyone that is coughing or sneezing.

If you are coughing and sneezing, you should contact your doctor immediately. It can be a sign of respiratory illness which is associated with coronavirus.

Can Coronavirus Live On My Hair?

Experts have found out that the virus can last for hours, even days, on certain surfaces. For example, the coronavirus can live on steel and plastic for days. These are considered smooth surfaces. Hair is a porous surface, which means liquid can easily wash through it. So its more likely that the virus will not live on hair as long as other surfaces. But there is still a possibility. If someone sneezed on your hair and tested positive for Corona, you could catch it through involuntary contact. That is why many hairstylist salons are temporarily shutting down.

How Can I Still Keep My Hair Styled?

Photo by cottonbro on Pexels.com

It is advised that we avoid contact from others for the time being, and that includes hair salons. Salons and barbershops attract large groups of people. But that does not mean that we should let our hair become wild. Many hairstylists are doing house calls. So we can invite our beautician over. Double-check to make sure their equipment is properly sanitized. Also, make sure that you wash your hair daily.

Practice washing your hands as much as possible. Learn how to do simple hairstyles while staying at home. Spread the word and encourage others to carry a hand sanitizer.

Another way you can still support your hairstylist is by pre-booking in advance. Do you really need to dye your hair right away? Can you wear a protective hairstyle in the meantime? If we do not help small businesses out, service industries could take a big hit. Keeping businesses from slowing down, while being careful when it comes to our health, will do wonders for the community.

Sources:

Featured Image Credit- Getty

https://www.today.com/style/can-coronavirus-live-hair-here-s-what-experts-want-you-t176524

https://www.huffpost.com/entry/coronavirus-skin-hair-nails_l_5e73ce08c5b6eab77944be05

http://www.usatoday.com/story/life/2020/03/20/coronavirus-hairstylists-making-house-calls-what-you-need-know/2870480001/

 

How Cornrows Saved Slaves Lives

Image Credit: Face2Face Africa

Cornrows have a long history. They hold a lot of significance in African culture. It is worn by children, men, and women all around the world regardless of their ethnicity. Originally from the Sahara region, paintings show that this hairstyle has been worn even in 3000 B.C.

The most known way to wear it is straight down, which each cornrow paralleling each other. But it also can be worn uniquely in zig-zags or by mimicking the form of a snake.

In the Carribean region, it is called “canerows”. They do this to respect all of the slaves that planted sugar cane. What many World History classes won’t teach you, is that cornrows are lifesavers.

Cornrows Were Used As A Map To Escape

In many African communities, cornrows convey a person’s social status, age, marital status, and even their amount of wealth. Blackdoctor.org has written this about cornrows: “Depictions of women with cornrows have been found in Stone Age paintings in the Tassili Plateau of the Sahara, and have been dated as far back as 3000 B.C. There are also Native American paintings as far back as 1,000 years showing cornrows as a hairstyle. This tradition of female styling in cornrows has remained popular throughout Africa, particularly in the Horn of Africa and West Africa. Historically, male styling with cornrows can be traced as far back as the early nineteenth century to Ethiopia, where warriors and kings such as Tewodros II and Yohannes IV were depicted wearing cornrows.”

When the Atlantic Slave Trade occurred, millions of innocent civilians were stripped from the Motherland against their will. Some rebelled by jumping off the slave ship before they even arrived on the land. They viewed death as a better option than a life of being treated as property. Others who fought back where terminated immediately. And some cleverly used another approach.

Upon arriving on North/South American soil, slaves were forced to shave their heads. Slave owners claimed that the shaving of their heads was just for sanitary purposes, but it was more behind it. Thick African hair has a lot of weight to it. Some slave owners would say that our hair was “unruly” and a distraction. This was a tactic used by Whites to strip Africans of their identity and culture. But not every slave would keep their hair cut. Some would grow their hair out because they had a masterplan in mind.

Cornrows are styled in a neat and tidy way. The creative geniuses amongst us used this beautiful hairstyle as a map with directions to escape plantations. All across North and South America paintings have been seen of zig-zag cornrows. A story that proves this is the story of Benkos Bioho.

The Brave Benkos Bioho

Image Credit: Alchetron

Benkos Bioho was a King that was captured from Africa in the 17th century. He managed to find a port city on the Colombia Carribean coast. It took several attempts to escape from his masters. One day he finally managed to escape. He then proceeded to build San Basilio de Palenque.

This King strategically built a walled city within a foreign land that he was forced to be in. It was with the intent of saving slaves and giving them a place of refuge. A place that they can experience freedom while getting their lives together.

After building a village, he invented a new language. Then he got an army to assist others to freedom. He came up with the idea to create maps in cornrows.

Most slaves did not know how to read or write. And even if they did know how to read or write, if they were caught writing messages of escape, they would have to bear extreme punishment.

Cornrows were a way to communicate without getting caught.

Braids And Gold

Another informative fact that many do not know is that gold and seeds were hidden in slave braids. After escaping, to survive you needed food and money. So the seeds were used to plant their own crops. The gold was preserved so they could make transactions on their own land. Today San Basilio De Palenque still stands. It has a population of about 3500 people.

In this modern age, from West Africa to North Korea you can see humans showing off their own version of cornrows. We no longer have to hide gold in our hair. We can proudly intertwine them over our braids. The tradition of wearing this hairstyle will be popular for years to come.

Image Credit: Youtube

Sources: https://face2faceafrica.com/article/how-cornrows-were-used-as-an-escape-map-from-slavery-across-south-america

https://www.edtimes.in/africans-used-to-hide-escape-maps-from-slavery-in-their-hairstyles/

#Destiny Harrison: Baltimore Salon Owner Slain

Image Credit: News Break

We lost an astounding, ambitious, go-getter in the fashion/beauty world. Destiny Harrison was a visionary ahead of her time. By the age of 21, Destiny was a licensed cosmetologist and owned a beauty salon that she built from the ground up. With so many triumphs at such a young age, no one expected a tragedy to occur.

The Madam D Beauty Bar Inventor

Destiny Harrison was born in Maryland on April 16, 1998. As a child, she always had a love for hair. She would spend her time attempting to do cosmetology for family and friends. As a teenager, she attended a vocational high school in Baltimore and got her certification as a hairstylist. She was a hustler. She worked at Popeyes, Walmart, and did her peers’ hair on the side. She was well known as the girl who could hook you up with fresh bundles, weave, and some nice edges. Right out of high school she attended University. Her major was business administration with a minor in fashion. She consistently marketed herself, once posting on Instagram “I wanna be so well known in this hair industry that I will no longer have to introduce myself.”

With years and years of practice under her belt, Destiny became a successful licensed business owner. Even with her juggling a business, she still managed to maintain good grades in school. Many of her clients adored her. Her social media accounts are filled with positive feedback for her work.

By 2017, she launched the Madam D Collection website, which displayed units, bundles, weave, and many hair care products that sold well. Having a successful online store takes a lot of patience, perseverance, and hard work. By 2018 her prosperity increased because she was seen mingling with celebrity hairstylists like Shekinah. One of the Clermont Twins had her ponytail done by her. By the end of 2018, she gave birth to a beautiful baby daughter and named her Dream. Her salon was opened, and her brand expanded.

Salon Owner Feared “For Her Life And Business”

Image credit: Earkandy Radio

Baltimore is notorious for its high crime rate. Many news reports state that it is on track to reach the highest per capita murder record in the nation. What is most unfortunate to know though, is that a lot of local business owners are being targeted for heinous crimes.

On Dec. 9th, Baltimore salon owner Destiny filed a police report. While working in her salon, Destiny saw intruders inside of her business stealing weave. When she approached them, they attacked her. She sought a protection order. “I fear for my life and my business”, she stated in her police report. The people involved with the attack were her neighbors. The female that assaulted her while she was pinned down is a hair and makeup stylist herself.

After charges were pressed, Destiny was enraged and filled with fear every time she went to work. An environment she once loved became an unsafe ground. On Dec. 21st in the evening, another intrusion happened at her business. The intruder was equipped with a gun and fatally shot Destiny in front of her clients. Her baby daughter Dream also witnessed this horrendous crime. Two men fled the shop with $3000 worth of bundles. No arrest for the murderer has been done yet. Dream is currently with her grandmother, but will forever have to live with the emotional scars of losing her mother.

“It’s unbelievable that some evil soul would do something like this,” said her uncle Dewine McQueen.

Her mother created a GoFund Me page which states: “We lost an angel due to tragedy that broke hearts all over Baltimore. We are asking that if anyone has any monetary donations we would greatly appreciate the help to lay my beautiful daughter in peace.”

If you have any information about Destiny’s death please contact homicide detectives at 410-396-2100 or Metro Crime Stoppers at 1-866-7Lockup.

Sources : https://thegrio.com/2019/12/25/destiny-harrison-baltimore-slain-business-owner/

GoFund Me Page: https://www.gofundme.com/f/destiny-harrison-funeral

Femicide In South Africa

Shuga is a TV show that I always get excited to watch everytime a new season comes on. It’s first season was videotaped in Kenya, and it was how Lupita Nyong’o  got her first main acting role. Ever since then, it has changed countries, jumping from Nigeria to South Africa. Pretty soon a new season will be filmed in Coite D’voire. It touches on the issues a lot of people of color face, such as discrimination, finding oneself, relationship problems, and the HIV/AIDS epidemic. But what really caught my eye was The Down South Season 1 , which depicted life for youth in South Africa. And what really broke my heart ( although the story was fictional) was how a young 15 year old character Tsholo (pictured in first image, image credit: MTV Shuga) dies after being in a abusive relationship with 24 year old neighborhood taxi driver Sol. It moved me to research a trending topic called Femicide. Global Americans states South Africa  as the 3rd country in the world to have a “very high” rate of femicide, with El Salvador taking the lead. What exactly is femicide? Why is it such a huge problem in South Africa? And what can be done to prevent it?

The Meaning of Femicide

The spectrum of violence is a long one. It can start off as just a verbal insult, grow into physical assault , and explode into murder. Femicide is the actual killing of women.

The World Health Organization has this to say about femicide: “Femicide is usually perpetrated by men, but sometimes female family members may
be involved. Femicide differs from male homicide in specific ways. For example, most
cases of femicide are committed by partners or ex-partners, and involve ongoing abuse
in the home, threats or intimidation, sexual violence or situations where women have
less power or fewer resources than their partner.”

There are different types of femicide:

• Intimate femicide– A murder of a woman by their own current or former husband or boyfriend. An ongoing study by WHO found out that over 35% of femicides are committed by the persons own current or former intimate partner.
• Murders in the name of honour-  ” ‘Honour’-related murders involve a girl or woman being killed by a male or female family member for an actual or assumed sexual or behavioural  transgression, including adultery, sexual intercourse or pregnancy outside marriage – or even for being raped . Often the perpetrators see this femicide as a way to protect family reputation, to follow tradition or to adhere to wrongly interpreted religious demands. Murders in the name of ‘honour’ may also be used to cover up cases of incest .”  -WHO Organization. Wow. So to cover up a crime like rape or incest that was not even the females fault, some families decide its just best to kill off the woman , so the family’s reputation can be “protected”. Very barbaric and sickening.
• Dowry-related femicide- This is when a conflict involving the bride price enrages the in-laws so much, to the extent that one of them decides to just kill off the newly married woman.
• Non-intimate femicide- When a female is killed that has had no relationship with the man. It usually happens after sexual aggression. It is random and is sometimes done by a creepy stalker or a secret admiring psychopath.

Photo by CHRISTOPHER MARQUEZ on Pexels.com

Why Is Femicide Such A Huge Problem In South Africa ?

The South Africa Police collected data that shows that a woman is murdered every 3 hours in South Africa. Nationally this is 4.8 times the global average rate.

Image Credit: MatieMedia

The Institute For Security Studies explanation is understandable. It points to apartheid as one of the main reasons why violence in South Africa is at an all-time high. With so many years of inequality and abuse of power on their plate, many South Africans have no reasons to respect the law. And to this day, the European race still holds most of the power and wealth in South Africa. Much of the poorer class, which is comprised mostly of blacks , in this day and age still do not have access to psychologists or lawyers who will fairly fight for them. Although wrong, what usually happens when a man who has carried the weight of stress and trauma has nowhere to turn? They unleash their pain on a woman. And just one blow can become fatal.

What Can Be Done To Prevent Femicide?

 

Increase Education, Intervention and Research

The more men that become informed of these horrifying statistics,  the more awareness it will bring to the situation. It can move many SA men to be on the lookout for potential violent situations. If you see a female neighbor that is bruised, try to figure out what is going on. A lot of protests are going on with women marching the streets, but more men need to be involved.

Restrict Gun Ownership And Increase Gun Laws

Guns should only be used for hunting animals only. (That is my opinion, and I am sticking to it.) The government needs to enforce stricter gun laws so that a lot of deaths can be prevented. If guns have to be seized, then so be it.

Train And Sensitize Health Staff/Police

Health care workers and police who are on the scene during violent situations need to be trained thoroughly. Proper documentation needs to be made, and improving detections needs to be done.

The community as a whole can do much to prevent femicides from happening. Walk away from abusive relationships. Say no to domestic violence. Need help? Always remember that you are not alone. Call one of these numbers if you are being abused or if you know someone who is being abused:

• POWA (People Opposing Women Abuse): 011 6424 345
• Gender-based Violence Command Centre: 0800 428 428 (emergency line) or *120*7867# (please call me facility)
• Tears Foundation helpline: *134*7355#

Do you have a story to tell concerning the topic of femicide? Any input or advice to give? Comment below.

Photo by Monnivhoir Aymar Kouamé on Pexels.com