Braiding Black hair, a struggle in Idaho 

Rather than walking into a salon a short drive from home, many Black women are unable to find services for their hair type, particularly in Idaho.  

Jessica Samuels is a retention counselor at Washington State University’s African American Student Center and is also a licensed cosmetologist. She spoke at the University of Idaho Wednesday about her experiences in cosmetology school, working in the career and simply having African American hair in Idaho.  

Samuels asked the audience how many of them had gone to a hair salon before, with the majority raising their hands. As a Black woman herself, Samuels had never had her hair done at a salon.  

“Don’t you think it’s important that everybody should be able to go and get their hair done, no matter where they are? And don’t you think it’s important that everybody should be, if you’re a cosmetologist, trained to be able to do that type of hair?” Samuels asked.  

Idaho’s licensing laws for Black hair makes it much harder for Black women to find hairdressers. 

Raised by a white mom and Native American dad in Idaho, figuring out her hair was nearly impossible. 

“I had the worst hair problems ever. There was nowhere for me to go to get my hair done,” Samuels said. “There was no one to teach me, no one to teach my mom how to do my hair.” 

At 21, a friend invited Samuels to a meeting to learn about cosmetology school. She jumped at the chance, eventually enrolling and graduating with high marks.  

Still, Idaho’s cosmetology schools did not teach Samuels about her hair.   

“After 2,000 hours of education, which is a full year, I learned nothing about my hair,” she said.  

While cosmetology school was required to gain a license in order to do hair, the curriculum failed to educate on Black hair. Instead of embracing natural textures, all Samuels learned was how to chemically relax and straighten coily hair. 

Samuels’ experience in cosmetology school is the root of a larger issue. Three women recently challenged Idaho’s licensing requirement for braiding hair.  

Charlotte Amoussou, Sonia Ekemon and Tedy Okech filed a lawsuit, resulting in the overturn of braiding licensing requirements on March 28.  

“While these women can now braid, what is the deeper issue here?” Samuels said.  

Idaho was one of five states that did not have an exemption for braiding according to Forbes. This meant unlicensed braiders could receive a misdemeanor.  

“This is just another area of hidden policies and hidden regulations that affect African Americans on a daily basis, especially when you’re in small rural communities, like Idaho,” Samuels said. 

While Samuels was paying $20,000 for cosmetology school, and learned nothing about braiding, her school received a cut of the braiding services she began providing.  

“They weren’t teaching me the skill, yet they were making money from me and my skill, and they didn’t feel the need to teach anybody else the skill so that they could be a competent cosmetologist down the road,” Samuels said. 

She was left feeling exploited. Despite finishing cosmetology school at the top of her class as one of two students to pass the board exam, Samuels experienced discrimination within the practice.  

“You can best believe that the older white ladies do not want you doing their backcombing,” Samuels said. “They did not want nothing to do with me.” 

She had all the expertise to do white hair, yet clients did not like to be styled by a Black woman. 

“I had a little kid sit down in my seat before, and straight up look at his mom, and said ‘Mom, I thought we’re not supposed to talk to these people,’” Samuels said.  

Haadiya Tariq can be reached at [email protected] or on Twitter @haadiyatariq