((PKG)) WOMEN HAIR BRAIDER
((VOA French to Africa))
((Banner: Braids and Society))
((Reporter/Camera: Arzouma Kompaoré))
((Additional Camera: Mariam Traoré))
((Adapted by: Martin Secrest))
((Map: New York City, New York))
((Main characters: 3 females; 1 male))
((NATS: Street))
((Popup Banner: Hair braiding is a popular job choice for
newly-arrived African women in the US))
((Pauline Tapsoba, Hair Braider (in French) ))
All women who come here, who don't have legal papers and
don't know anyone, regardless if they have a high school
diploma or even a Ph.D, they start braiding hair until they can
do something else.
((NATS: Street))
((Hassana Zampaligré, Owner, Soraya’s House of
Beauty))
I was a shopkeeper in Burkina Faso. I used to buy goods
there and sell them to my African sisters here. When I would
come in their hair salons, it was always busy with clients
waiting. First, I didn’t know how to weave. So, they taught
me how to finish the ends. At the end of the day, they
sometimes gave me 100 dollars to 200 U.S. dollars. I
thought, ‘There's money to be made here.’
((NATS: Hassana: You look beautiful!))
((Popup Banner: In New York, licensing can be an
impediment for braiders))
((Hassana Zampaligré, Owner, Soraya’s House of
Beauty))
It's not easy for us. The government is asking us for licenses.
Many women hide because they do not have the license.
((Locater: Waldorf, Maryland))
((NATS: Salon))
((Banner: In Maryland, braiders organized a town hall to
convince lawmakers to drop a license bill))
((Julie, Maryland Hair Braiders Association))
It started three years ago, where the African-American salon
owners decided to go to the Maryland House of Delegates
and have them (not) pass a law that would make the braider
go to school for 1500 hours. Of course, it didn’t make any
sense to anybody. We decided to, we walked around and
mobilized with phone calls everywhere to everybody to show
we could get. We presented our case to the delegate. At the
end, they were like, ‘Oh, we don’t know what is that. What is
braiding? We don’t know what it is.’ Because I mean, they
really didn’t have no idea.
((William C. Smith, Maryland State Senator))
We decided not to do the bill because it would have
foreclosed a lot of economic opportunity for immigrants. We
were trying to regulate something that we really didn't
understand. The cultural, the techniques, the safety
procedures that are put in, that really make this type of
regulation unnecessary based on the conversations that I
had at that town hall, which was tremendously enlightening
and invigorating, frankly.
((Julie, Maryland Hair Braiders Association))
The only place, where we are able to actually come together
as African- American Africans, is the braiding shop. And the
only place where, as Africans, we can actually have the
opportunity to educate African-Americans about our culture,
about who we are. So, by actually doing the braiding, I feel
like the braiding shop is a place where people, who come
newly from Africa, is a place where they can come and get
used to the American culture. So, because this place here is
a place where you need somebody to help you.
((NATS: Salon))
((VOA French to Africa))
((Banner: Braids and Society))
((Reporter/Camera: Arzouma Kompaoré))
((Additional Camera: Mariam Traoré))
((Adapted by: Martin Secrest))
((Map: New York City, New York))
((Main characters: 3 females; 1 male))
((NATS: Street))
((Popup Banner: Hair braiding is a popular job choice for
newly-arrived African women in the US))
((Pauline Tapsoba, Hair Braider (in French) ))
All women who come here, who don't have legal papers and
don't know anyone, regardless if they have a high school
diploma or even a Ph.D, they start braiding hair until they can
do something else.
((NATS: Street))
((Hassana Zampaligré, Owner, Soraya’s House of
Beauty))
I was a shopkeeper in Burkina Faso. I used to buy goods
there and sell them to my African sisters here. When I would
come in their hair salons, it was always busy with clients
waiting. First, I didn’t know how to weave. So, they taught
me how to finish the ends. At the end of the day, they
sometimes gave me 100 dollars to 200 U.S. dollars. I
thought, ‘There's money to be made here.’
((NATS: Hassana: You look beautiful!))
((Popup Banner: In New York, licensing can be an
impediment for braiders))
((Hassana Zampaligré, Owner, Soraya’s House of
Beauty))
It's not easy for us. The government is asking us for licenses.
Many women hide because they do not have the license.
((Locater: Waldorf, Maryland))
((NATS: Salon))
((Banner: In Maryland, braiders organized a town hall to
convince lawmakers to drop a license bill))
((Julie, Maryland Hair Braiders Association))
It started three years ago, where the African-American salon
owners decided to go to the Maryland House of Delegates
and have them (not) pass a law that would make the braider
go to school for 1500 hours. Of course, it didn’t make any
sense to anybody. We decided to, we walked around and
mobilized with phone calls everywhere to everybody to show
we could get. We presented our case to the delegate. At the
end, they were like, ‘Oh, we don’t know what is that. What is
braiding? We don’t know what it is.’ Because I mean, they
really didn’t have no idea.
((William C. Smith, Maryland State Senator))
We decided not to do the bill because it would have
foreclosed a lot of economic opportunity for immigrants. We
were trying to regulate something that we really didn't
understand. The cultural, the techniques, the safety
procedures that are put in, that really make this type of
regulation unnecessary based on the conversations that I
had at that town hall, which was tremendously enlightening
and invigorating, frankly.
((Julie, Maryland Hair Braiders Association))
The only place, where we are able to actually come together
as African- American Africans, is the braiding shop. And the
only place where, as Africans, we can actually have the
opportunity to educate African-Americans about our culture,
about who we are. So, by actually doing the braiding, I feel
like the braiding shop is a place where people, who come
newly from Africa, is a place where they can come and get
used to the American culture. So, because this place here is
a place where you need somebody to help you.
((NATS: Salon))
