Harlem hair salon essay contest makes young women’s outside match their inside
Teenage pregnancy, low self esteem, peer pressure, sexual abuse and homelessness; growing up as a young woman in Harlem can be tough, lonely and traumatizing.
That’s why Valerie Price, owner of the Acres of Diamonds Hair Salon on 371 Lenox Avenue in Harlem, decided to organize a “Day of Luxury” to give special attention to some of Harlem’s young women.
Valerie Price with three of the essay writers
In mid-November, she challenged Harlem teens and young men and women to write an essay about their personal struggles. The reward? Beauty treatments, including manicures, make-up and a haircut, and professional styling from a fashion designer. About 15 young women submitted an essay, and on the night of Dec. 3, eight of them were selected to read their stories to members of the community.
“This is something that has been on my mind since 1989,” Price said while styling one teens’ hair with a curling iron, just 10 minutes before the “show” is about to start. “These girls are not only brave to speak about their own problems, they are also setting an example for all the young girls that are in a similar situation right now.”
With this initiative, Valerie wants to show young women they can be beautiful from the inside out. Many of them have faced traumatic experiences in the past but are now off to a new start. In order to match this new attitude, they will get a new look.
Meet some of Harlem’s young women and hear their stories:
Chaila McKoy, 20: “My life started bad when me and my sisters were molested … My mom had to find out for herself one day when she walked in while it was happening.”
Twenty-year-old Chaila, a high school senior who grew up in the Bronx, thought it would be easy to put her life story on paper. But when she started writing, the tears kept coming. From a young age, Chaila and her sisters were abused. When she found the courage to tell her mother one day, she was told she was lying. Only after her mother caught the abuser was Chaila taken seriously.
Even after he went to prison, Chaila kept facing difficulties. She now fights with her mother’s new boyfriend, which doesn’t help her relationship with her mom.
Chaila’s long-term dream is to go to college and become a lawyer.
Mecca Burnes, 20: “Just two weeks ago, my mother kicked me out. After this is stayed in the Covenant House, where I found out I am pregnant. “
Mecca has been in foster care since the age of 2 and was adopted when she turned 10. She never met her biological father and doesn’t talk to her mother anymore. Things didn’t go so well with her adoptive parents, either. After a recent fight, Mecca called the police. Currently she is staying in the Covenant House, where they are trying to find her a new home.
Mecca hopes to go to school and get a job in the upcoming year.
Drusilla Ollennu, 17: “Big feet. Excessive acne. Small chest. Too tall and too skinny. Those were all of the things that were ‘wrong’ with me.”
In her own eyes, 17-year-old Drusilla Ollennu was ugly. At 5 foot 10, she felt like she never fit in at middle school. Students always laughed at her and called her names like “tree” and “giraffe.” The in sixth grade, her body started developing, along with her confidence. Remembering her feelings of loneliness, she had empathy for those who struggled. Since then, she has participated in several community service activities and Habitat for Humanity. Her big feet and giraffe-like reach helped put a roof on a house that she helped build for an evicted woman and her son.
“I realize now that my flaws were not really flaws at all,” she said, “but helped define who I am, and I have become the better from them.”
Tonichelle Harvey, 18: “I started rebelling against parents at the age of 12, and have since then been in three adopting programs.“
The Jamaican born Tonichelle Harvey came to the United States when she was 7. After living in New Jersey, Tonichelle moved to New York when she was 11. That’s when the trouble started. The Office of Children and Family Services, the Department of Juvenile Justice and the Administration for Childrens Services; Tonichelle has seen it all. She is staying at the Covenant House right now and seems to finally have her life back on track again.
Tonichelle wants to become a psychologist and help other people.
Crystal Sivil, 17: “Smoking, drinking, getting tattoos, leaving at any time of the night. This was the life I idolized, it was the life I craved.“
It only took Crystal Sivil one night with her intoxicated cousins to realize she didn’t want to be like the people she had always envied. When she was 13, she would watch as her cousins got ready for the nightlife, hoping to be just like them one day. One night however, her mother gave her permission to join them for the first time. While walking through the streets of Harlem, her cousins encouraged her to take a sip, but Crystal was too nervous to drink. As the hours passed, she became more shocked at her cousins’ behavior as they grew noisier and more obnoxious. “Spending one simple night with teenagers under the influence taught me to be my own follower and focus on what is in front of me, my academics, my social life and my future,” she said. Crystal recently joined the Harlem Children’s Zone program and is now more focused on her schoolwork than ever.
Crystal wants to pursue a major in journalism so that she can become a radio personality.
{ 2 comments }
Such a great idea. Those makeovers are a great way to boost confidence
Wonderful opportunities for strong, hopeful young women. God bless them and all those who reach out to help them up!
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