At Curlfest and beyond, Curly Girl Collective's true purpose is serving the Black community

Earlier than Curly Woman Collective blossomed right into a globally acknowledged model, it started life as an electronic mail thread. It was 2010, and as a brand new technology of Black ladies was beginning to transfer away from relaxers and perms, the Pure Hair Chain served as a protected area for them to ask questions, share assets and get recommendation on transitioning to pure hair.

After a number of conversations by electronic mail, Tracy Coleman, Melody Henderson, Charisse Higgins, Simone Mair and Gia Lowe determined to plan a small get-together. The group met at Coleman’s house and immediately felt affirmed in that shared and supportive area. Wanting extra individuals to expertise the power they did that night time, the quintet shaped the Curly Woman Collective and started to plan extra occasions all year long. As their fanbase and recognition grew, so did the demand for his or her sold-out occasions, and so they continued to evolve.

(Left to proper) Melody Henderson, Simone Mair and Charisse Higgins at CurlFest 2023 at Randall’s Island Park in New York Metropolis, July 15, 2023. Picture: Vonecia for Curly Woman Collective

In 2014, the 5 founders launched their neighborhood of naturalistas to a brand new occasion; an out of doors picnic to accommodate their now strong neighborhood. Thus, Curlfest was born. Kicking off in Brooklyn’s Prospect Park, the occasion rapidly grew to become a visible illustration of the whole lot the Curly Woman Collective stood for, a celebration of Black hair and a protected area for each particular person to be comfy being their genuine selves.

“The primary Curlfest was about 800 to 1000 individuals … after which quick ahead [to] 2023, we had our ‘bounce again,’ and we’ve acquired an entire island,” Henderson informed theGrio, referring to this 12 months’s July celebration on Randall’s Island after a three-year hiatus. “It’s been a very good journey. The neighborhood has grown exponentially, and it’s actually a worldwide motion at this level, which is one thing that’s the gas for us,” she added.

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Higgins and Mair shared related sentiments, with Higgins remarking how “rewarding” and “humbling” it has been to create an occasion valued by individuals world wide. That feeling and the data that that is one thing greater than themselves continues to drive the collective ahead.

“We all know collectively that is greater than us,” added Mair. “The mission is larger and has far more impression than any of our short-term hurdles or bumps within the highway.”

Regardless of the corporate’s now-significant development, Curly Woman Collective continues to serve its neighborhood by protecting Black individuals on the forefront of the whole lot it does. From the manufacturers they collaborate with to the music they function at their occasion, the main target stays on the Black diaspora because the founders lean into their neighborhood to make sure every collaboration and exercise caters to the Black expertise.

Attendees at Curlfest 2023 on July 15, 2023, at Randall’s Island Park in New York Metropolis. (Picture: ShotbyNi for Curly Woman Collective)

One of many Curly Woman Collective’s core values is bringing others alongside for the experience by reaching again into the neighborhood to amplify and help small Black-owned companies. Henderson famous that success tales like Mielle and Pardon My Fro that began on the Curlfest garden gas the workforce’s entrepreneurial hearth.

“We’re increasing [the] neighborhood, and we’re remembering once we began,” Higgins defined. “We’re having over 100 small companies in our vendor market that we’re that includes. We’re working with different neighborhood companions or different individuals doing related issues in our neighborhood that’s celebrating pleasure.”

For the primary time throughout Curlfest 2023, Curly Woman Collective created a “magnificence village” particularly centered round Black companies. Set aside from the mainstream vendor market, the part gave smaller manufacturers area to shine away from the splashy activations of the bigger names in attendance.