Sonoma County Black hair stylists fight for hair equality

Jan 09, 2024

For other stories about the local Black experience, go to pdne.ws/42pVpdK.

All hair types require knowledge and skill before a stylist can begin to do their work and help their clients shine. And any client with texture, thickness or curls will tell you their hair is unique and requires an extra special touch, and lots of skill. Fortunately, in Sonoma County, there are a few stylists who have the expertise to handle these hair types, and they are in high demand.

"Black hair is a fundamental part of Black History. From braids to Afros to locs, our hair tells a story about the Black experience and our heritage," writer Nyah Peebles said in a post on HBCU Buzz, a site dedicated to historically Black colleges and universities. "How we wear our hair can be a sense of self-expression and identity and is an integral part of Black culture that has transcended generations."

Black hairstyles can range from braids to twists, dreadlocks, cornrows and Afros. And many Black people have been discriminated against because of their hair. The CROWN Act, which stands for Creating a Respectful and Open World for Natural Hair, is a bill in Congress to prohibit race-based hair discrimination, which is the denial of employment and educational opportunities because of hair texture or protective hairstyles including braids, locs, twists or Bantu knots. Twenty states, including California, have adopted versions of the Crown Act into law.

Ziquitá Rangel remembers being drawn to hair since she was 5 and would often braid extensions into her Barbie's hair. Her mother went to beauty school and taught her, and her siblings, how to do their own hair, too.

"It was destiny. I kind of pushed against it," said Rangel, who has worked as a professional hair stylist in Sonoma County for 11 years. "But really, once I had my daughter, I knew I had to really push for it."

Rangel began her career working with clients in 2013 at the Christopher Downs salon in Tiburon. Before this, Rangel attended beauty school in San Rafael and got her license.

Since then, her journey has taken her to high places such as coloring wigs for Oakland native Zendaya, Beyoncé and Mary J. Blige.

Rangel did own Salon Eclectic in Rohnert Park but has since revamped it into a new venture called Mixed Strands, a hair salon that she describes as a collective for hair stylists. Ragel also has Mixed Strands Luxury Hair, a luxury hair line that is sold out of her salon and will be available to purchase online soon. She offers extensions for people with tight coil, looser coil, waves and more hair types. In the future, Rangel wants to offer as much selection as she can including tape ins, clip ons and wigs. Next year, Rangel said, she will be launching a Mixed Strands product line as well as host a program to get young stylists workforce-ready.

Rangel said many of her clients had to travel to Oakland, Sacramento or San Francisco to get their hair done. Being able to provide a close proximity service makes her sing and dance with happiness.

"You have to understand the laws of color and the laws of hair, the texture, the porosity, the coil, all of those things," Rangel said. "It's important to have someone like myself, so that the women and men here can get their services and feel good stepping out of a salon. Sometimes the person (doing the service) doesn't know what they’re doing or are overzealous because they’re like, ‘Yeah, I can do whatever.’ And then they (clients) come out, sometimes traumatized. So, you’ve got to work on understanding it. And I made sure to do that. It was very, very important. Nobody wants to come out looking like a square or a mushroom."

Ukiah resident Elizabeth Bohanan looked for hair stylists around town and said when she’d inquire about their services, they would be honest and tell her they would not be able to style her properly. Then, she found a place in Sacramento, but that was a 2½-hour drive, one-way. One day, as she researched hair hashtags on Instagram, she found Rangel. Although she still has to travel for her hair, the drive is a little over an hour away from Ukiah.

Bohanan is keeping her hair natural, meaning she's not using harsh chemicals on her hair. She schedules a trim service with Rangel every couple of months for upkeep. Rangel said she teaches her clients how to properly take care of their hair by breaking down the texture and scalp in order to see her less for their own benefit.

"It's really just trimming. Like deep conditioning, just keeping it healthy and trying to get it to grow. That's my goal right now, is growing out my hair," she said. "We’ve done a couple of fun things where she's done flat ironing. I know she (Rangel) does wigs and weaves. She can pretty much do it all."

Rangel values the community she serves and wants people to know she is here and available to try new styles with clients.

"Statistically, for my Fijian clients, there's only 4% of Islanders here, there's only 4% of African Americans here, and It's like 28% Latino, and the rest is Caucasian, right?" she said. "And so although our percentages are low, there's still a lot of people here."

And they all have a right to access the services they need.

"I want to do what I love to do and make people feel good. You have to go out to Oakland and San Francisco to smell culture. Here, you have to grab and find your culture, within your surroundings, so I just want people to not have the scratch to survive about their hair," she said. "And that we can love on it, restore it, repair it and get it healthy, get it to life, get it to grow, because what I do most out of anything, is I care for hair and I grow hair."

In March, All Things Hair wanted to look at hair inequality in women over the age of 16 in the United States. The survey found that women of color with 4c hair, which is characterized as kinky or coarse hair, were being subjected to Afro Tax or Texture Tax. Meaning women with 4c hair face price discrimination and lack of availability and variety of hair care services and products.

The survey also found 19.6% of Black women have to travel more than one hour to have their hair styled.

"Black hair is a fundamental part of Black History. From braids to Afros to locs, our hair tells a story about the Black experience and our heritage," writer Nyah Peebles said in a post on HBCU Buzz, a site dedicated to historically Black colleges and universities. "How we wear our hair can be a sense of self-expression and identity and is an integral part of Black culture that has transcended generations."

Mixed Strands: Ziquitá Rangel's salon is a collective for hair stylists. Under the Mixed Strands umbrella is Mixed Strands Luxury Hair, a luxury hair line that is sold out of her salon and will be available to purchase online soon. 5000 Roberts Lake Road, suite 2, Rohnert Park. https://pdne.ws/3X4mr9y

Multicultural Hair Studio: Owner Jasmin Montgomery has been a hair stylist for 24 years. Born in San Francisco and raised in Sonoma County, she attended school at the Atlanta Technical Institute in 1997 and returned to the county in 2002. 707-319-8188. 5222 Country Club Drive, Rohnert Park. https://pdne.ws/3oKkVN6

Loc’d Tite: Alicia Hendricks is a Napa-based stylist who creates, installs and teaches various faux loc styles. https://pdne.ws/3qfSVRN

TKs Beauty Bar: Karona Kincaide is a Santa Rosa-based stylist offering a variety of hair services, including weaves, hair extension training and braids. 3979 Sebastopol Road, Santa Rosa. 707-495-9322. styleseat.com/m/v/tksbeautybar

"I really am passionate about what I do because I love this. A lot of people discredit hair stylists and barbers," she said. "And a lot of people think that they overcharge, but when you find someone who's passionate in this and breaks down this in a scientific matter, you want someone who's going to break down the cuticle for you. If they can break down the hair standard for you, that might be your person."

In Rohnert Park, a different hair studio resides. Multicultural Hair Studio is owned by Jasmin Montgomery, who is well known in the community and has seen generations of clients walk through her shop doors. She has been a stylist for 24 years. Born in San Francisco and raised in Sonoma County, she attended school at the Atlanta Technical Institute in 1997.

Montgomery moved back to Sonoma County in 2002. After that, she quickly made a name for herself in the community.

"It was instantaneous. I started working at a salon in Santa Rosa and I had instant clientele because there was just nobody here that did ethnic hair, really. I’ve never not been busy," she said.

She has owned a salon for 14 years with in-house braiders, and someone specializing in dreadlocks. She said they were able to do every style possible. When she started the business, she would see 40 to 50 clients a week. Now, she sees about two a day, which leaves her time to train apprentices and up-and-coming stylists in the area.

Montgomery said she has never had to advertise her business. She garners new clients through by word of mouth, just like Rangel.

"The moment that a person of color walks around with their hair done, that's your walking advertisement," she said. "Because every other person of color is looking, like ‘Where the heck did you get your hair done? Did you get it done locally?’ "

Her favorite part is working on children's hair, she said. Often she’ll help educate children and their families who don't understand what products and services are necessities for healthy hair.

"Sometimes they (kids) come from foster care. Sometimes they are part of these adoptive families where there's a lot of mixed race going on. And unfortunately, when these Black kids get adopted into these white families, people do not know how to take care of their hair," she said. "Fortunately for some of these kids, these families have sought out help. To see a child with very low self-esteem transform into a smiling, confident little being is one of the most delightful things I’ve experienced doing hair."

These are her "littles." Montgomery has been able to see many of them grow up and some of them have children of their own.

Montgomery stressed there is a dire need for more resources for families and children when it comes to Black hair care. She said she's reached out to various sources to get funding to create a program to help educate Sonoma County residents on Black hair, one of those sources being Santa Rosa Junior College. Montgomery is hoping she and the college could collaborate on a program to offer services and teach others how to style Black hair.

Though she specializes in Black hair, Montgomery emphasized she styles people from all walks of life with various hair types. There is no preference over another, everyone is welcome.

"But most importantly it's a safe place for Black people to come and get the hair done without judgment," she said.

In order to receive a license from the California Department of Consumer Affairs Board of Barbering and Cosmetology, students have to be accepted into a program, complete thousands of hours worth of education at school and through apprenticeships, and pass written and practical exams for the California Board of Barbering and Cosmetology. On top of the formal process for getting a license, students must pay for fees, course materials, transportation and products. According to the Board of Barbering and Cosmetology, in 2022, the overall pass rate for barbers was 47% and 53% for cosmetology, which means they can prep, style, cut and color hair.

In March, All Things Hair wanted to look at hair inequality in women over the age of 16 in the United States. The survey found that women of color with 4c hair, which is characterized as kinky, or coarse hair, were being subjected to Afro Tax or Texture Tax. Meaning women with 4c hair face price discrimination and lack of availability and variety of hair care services and products.

51.1% of women with coily hair spend more than $100 at hair salons, followed by 28.1% of women with curly hair, 22.4% of women with wavy hair, and 18.9% of women with straight hair.

5.2% of women with coily hair have to travel more than three hours, compared to only 0.5% of women with straight hair.

19.6% of Black women have to travel more than one hour to have their hair styled, followed by 15.2% of Hispanic/Latina women, 12.2% of Asian women, 8.7% of multiracial/biracial women, and 3.9% of white/Caucasian women.

5.2% of women with coily hair in the U.S. spend more than $100 on hair products each month, followed by women with curly and straight hair at 2.5% and 1.7% for women with wavy hair.

19.2% of Black women shop at drugstores for their hair products, compared to 42% of Asian women and multiracial/biracial women, 30.1% of white/Caucasian women, and 26.1% of Hispanic/Latina women.

75.9% of Black women in the U.S. are more likely to purchase their hair products from beauty supply stores.

Source: All Things Hair

"Part of the reason why I have my own hair salon was because to rent a booth from somebody in a white hair salon was like Mission Impossible. And if you did get your foot in the door, you were always the problem," Montgomery said. "Your clients change the atmosphere and it just ends up being a very uncomfortable situation. So I was literally forced into opening up my own little hair studio."

Unlike other women who see salon visits as relaxing and a treat, Black women who go into white hair salons may experience something entirely different.

"I was gonna say (there's) more integration. But I don't think that would be appropriate, because it's actually very uncomfortable for Black women to get their hair done at white salons. Because they become a petting zoo. They become a sideshow," she said, "(They’re asked) 50 million questions while they're just trying to get their hair done. So no, that's not what people want, either."

On May 5, the nonprofit Petaluma Blacks for Community Development hosted an event at the Petaluma Community Center to discuss how to style Black hair. Brendnetta Ashley, hair stylist and artistic educator with the Salon by Instyle, spoke to a crowd of 20 people, adults, teenagers and children about her expertise.

"I will tell you in cosmetology schools … they do not teach texture. And it is a huge conversation that we're having that it needs to be a part of the curriculum. It needs to be a part of what you do as a test to exam out," Ashley said. "So then that way, every hair stylist should be able to do all different types of hair. And that's one of the things that I kind of pride myself on. When people say, ‘Are you a texture specialist?’ No. I can do anybody's hair who sits in my chair. If you are a hair cutter, you should be able to cut anybody's hair."

And Sonoma County residents are eager to learn about hair and how to style their own.

"We have a youth program, Grapevine Youth Leadership program. One of the things that they asked for was something about hair because we have students with kinky hair, some with straighter hair. And so they wanted to know how to take care of it," said Faith Ross, president of Petaluma Blacks for Community Development, at the event. "There were issues at school where kids were coming up to them and feeling their hair. And so we were looking at people that could talk to them about that."

For other stories about the local Black experience, go to pdne.ws/42pVpdK.