The student organization Let’s Talk About It (LTA) partnered with the Men and Women of Color (MWOC) and Black Women’s Voices (BWV) to host “Curls & Convo” at the Whitinger Business Building at 5-7 p.m. on Nov. 9.
Lajayaa Henderson, second-year psychology major and member of LTA, talked about organizing the event.
“I don’t think, well from my perspective, that it was that hard to organize the event simply because we have some great collaborators, as well as the topic is pretty near and dear so it was pretty simple,” Henderson said.
Amary’e Ventor, second-year pre-dentistry major as well as a biology major and member of LTA, talked about the planning process from her perspective.
“We spent a lot of time pre-planning and getting our collaborations in beforehand so that made the process very much easier,” Ventor said.
“Curls & Convo” was a discussion-based event where African American students discussed the struggles, but also the blessings that came with having their personal hair type. Through group discussion, audience members told stories about the expenses, the stereotypes and the personal insecurities that everyone had with their hair.
Keaton Higgins, fourth-year pursuing a major in fashion industries and the co-president of the MWOC, talks about why he partnered on this specific event.
“I think it’s just good to talk about it,” Higgins said. “I think a lot of the time that’s all we need to talk about things so, when it came on hair products and things like that and me just having locks, I felt like it would be good for me to come here and talk about things and get some insight and just talk to people about hair and that’s just something I love myself.”
The other co-president, Connie Prater, fourth-year pursuing her master's in criminal justice– also touched on the partnership.
“Men and Women of Color is all about uplifting and encouraging people of color, so we have to reach out to people of color and make sure that we're doing what we need to to make sure everyone is up and confident in everything they do,” Prater comments.
The organization got its wish. The room was full of people of all genders who shared their experiences and opinions with their different hairstyles and backgrounds.
Taylor Coleman, second-year telecommunications major and LTA member, touches on how they handled small issues in the event planning stage.
“Just like the little minor problems that just come with being an organization, but we have an [executive] team that's communicating it makes it easy to work past those little hiccups,” Coleman said.
Contact Jayda Mann with comments via email jayda.mann@bsu.edu
The Daily News welcomes thoughtful discussion on all of our stories, but please keep comments civil and on-topic. Read our full guidelines here.