The teine behind Curls Culture Chat - Tes

 

So, CurlsCultureChat ("CCC") came about from my own curly hair journey & chats with different friends and family members about the challenges of embracing one's curly crown, the unique challenges facing people of colour in terms of their experiences and beliefs about hair, and lastly, the frustrations of trying to find quality products IN Aotearoa (so basically all of us whinging, haha jokes). 

 

When I was scrolling through socials to learn more about what products to use, how to style etc., I found that the spaces were dominated by UK and USA pages and that there wasn't any Pasefika type curly hair pages.

 

 

 

As part of my chats with people, we had talked about a range of topics concerning hair from Western beauty ideals to the natural hair movement and also cultural norms/beliefs about hair. So from these conversations, I felt strongly that we needed a space for us. 

 

 

 

I wanted to create a space where, firstly, it wasn't just my face 24/7 lol, but a space where we could share knowledge, talanoa (discuss) and learn from one another. Even though I was feeling a bit out of my depth (as I was, and still am, learning), I knew that those who wanted to, would engage, and that the benefits outweighed any insecurities I had about putting myself out there.

 

 

So voila! CCC was created in September 2021, and I can't say enough good things about this community. Predominantly made up of beautiful curly sisters who are SOOOO supportive of my own journey and everyone else's, there's also a few mamas with curly-hair kids, a few brothers who follow too + others who just love to support and contribute to the posts. 

 

 

 

One unique feature of CCC, is that it's not all about the physical aspect of our hair e.g. hair routines but it also includes little snippets of Oceanic cultures - their traditions and beliefs in regard to hair. For Pasefika, indigenous knowledge is precious. I saw CCC as a forum/opportunity where different Oceanic/Pasefika cultures could be explored and presented through incorporating the deeper parts of our cultures in this learning journey about hair. I've found that others feel the same and are truly interested - contributing a lot to the talanoa!