For Black ladies, hair appointments are sacred. They’re alleged to be therapeutic, transformative, and, on the naked minimal, drama-free. However for one Birmingham girl, what ought to’ve been a routine braiding session grew to become a full-on nightmare.
In a now viral video, Jessica Odom shared her expertise getting her hair performed at Mama Gifted Arms salon in Birmingham. After confirming a worth, model and appointment time, Odom was excited to get a contemporary set of boho knotless braids (for individuals who don’t know, braids with curly hair items). Although she was initially impressed by the customer support, issues shifted when it was time for Odom to pay and depart for her appointment. After paying the stylist the $200 they’d agreed upon over textual content messages, the braider demanded a further $50, for the usage of human hair, which Odom by no means requested.
@mamaj.o.91 Story time! My go to to @MAMA GIFTED HANDS..the way it began vs. the way it ended! #birminghamhairstylist #birminghambraider #birmingham #bohoknotlessbraids #boho ♬ unique sound – Pastormikejr
“I simply needed to get my hair performed and go dwelling. I appeared within the mirror, I beloved my hair,” Odom recounted to WRBC, recalling the proprietor’s try and cut price the unique $50 request to $30. “She informed me to simply give her $30 {dollars} and I can depart – or if not, go sit within the chair and we’ll lower the hair out,” Odom mentioned. “I mentioned you’re not chopping my hair out and I’m not providing you with something further. I paid your $200, I’m leaving. She was such as you’re not leaving so she turns and locks the door.”
The 2’s verbal alternate grew to become bodily when the salon proprietor grabbed the shopper’s hair, refusing to let her depart.
“I received locked within the constructing, and I used to be informed that I couldn’t depart and that the service I acquired was really $250,” Odom explains within the video. “After I tried to go away, I used to be pushed again in, and my hair was pulled. They pulled out my actual hair whereas doing this.”
Odom says they held onto her hair for 30-40 minutes till the police arrived. Upon their arrival, the hairstylist reportedly tried to accuse Odom of punching her. Nevertheless, after police reviewed safety footage, they knowledgeable the salon proprietor that she had assaulted her shopper, and needed to let her go regardless of her request to chop out the human hair items to forgive the $50 cost.
“I didn’t attempt to escalate the scenario,” Odom informed WVTM. “I simply tried to de-escalate, and that’s additionally what made me pull out my digicam. As a result of it’s like, if I attempt to document this, then perhaps they gained’t attempt to go to the intense. I don’t know if they’d weapons — weapons. They might’ve performed something to me, particularly locking me within the constructing not as soon as, however twice. I didn’t know what to anticipate, and I feared for my life, actually.”
With greater than 1,000,000 views on TikTok, Odom’s story has clearly struck a nerve, reigniting long-standing conversations about professionalism and accountability within the magnificence business. As a result of whereas the salon was as soon as thought of a sanctuary for Black ladies, recently, for a lot too many Black ladies, these salon chairs really feel much less like consolation and extra like a raffle
