Trey Field-Bennett, a Bainbridge High School student, describes himself as a “hat guy — but not by choice.”

He had never been to a Black barber, and his teenage curls had begun to come in. But when Field-Bennett sat down in Donald “Swa” Francois’ chair, he got much more than a new look.

“In the beginning, I did a lot of research online to find hairstyles, but then a lot of that pretty much went out the window when he saw my hair. Swa said, ‘Yea, your hair can’t do that, but it can do this, this and this’ — all stuff I didn’t know my hair could do,” Field-Bennett said. “He taught me a lot about how to care for my hair, what I needed to do if I wanted it short, or if I wanted waves, braids or dreads. He was super cool.”

Growing up Black on Bainbridge, Field-Bennett was in a “super minority,” an experience made more isolating during COVID, he said. But when Chastity Malatesta, a BI multicultural educator and equity advocate, opened her garage for an outdoor pop-up barbershop for Black families in the summer of 2020, Field-Bennett suddenly found over a dozen peers and mentors who shared his experience.

“I went into it fairly nervous, because a new barber is always a big risk, but it felt super nice to have someone cut my hair who knew what they were doing. (After that) I rarely wore a hat, because I just felt proud and confident,” he said. “I still talk to people that I met through that to this day. It was super amazing to meet all these people, not just from Bainbridge, but from Poulsbo and the surrounding area. It turned getting a haircut into something to look forward to.”

In the absence of adequate resources for their hair care, Kitsap County’s Black cultural leaders have sown a grassroots support system for families with textured hair needs. From the barbershop chair to the classroom, Kitsap residents with textured hair are hoping to see the field prosper.

“Part of it is cultural; it’s an art that is passed down from generation to generation. Your blackness has nothing to do with your ability to do your own hair — that’s something you learn over time. If your parent or someone in your family doesn’t have the gift of braiding, then they can’t pass it on to you,” said Jewel Shepherd, Port Orchard stylist and director of the Kitsap Black Student Union.

“There’s a learning curve […] It’s like if you have an issue, and you can’t find the person, you become the person — if cosmetology is your hobby, you can hone in on that, and it can be the best career for your life, and you can make livable wages off of it.”

Healthy roots, slow growth

Hair texture refers to any visible curl, wave or coil pattern in hair growth, but the phrase “textured hair” is more commonly used to refer to the type of hair that some Black and Polynesian people grow. Keeping textured hair healthy and vibrant requires more upkeep than straight hair because the intricate curls can be prone to dryness, breakage and tangles. Hair care unites the Black community, and the style and quality of one’s hair is an important outlet of expression for many Black Americans.

There used to be many barbershops and salons in Kitsap that specialized in textured hair, Shepherd said. But today, Kitsap residents are driving hours to sit for 45-minute appointments, settling for simple styles or inexperienced barbers.

“There was a lot of entrepreneurship over the years, but a lot of people moved out of the area,” Shepherd said. “It was more expensive to rent down there (downtown), and not a lot of foot traffic coming their way — and a lot of the stylists were older, and being a cosmetologist or a barber takes a toll on your body. Most stylists only get about twenty years, and then they have to retire because of carpal tunnel or varicose veins.”

Despite the business atrophy, demand remains high, especially for women, Shepherd said. Her clients range from military personnel to foster children, some of whom she has seen since they were 3-years old. There are a handful of stylists in Central and South Kitsap, but options are limited elsewhere, Malatesta said.

“Textured or ethnic hair services can be difficult to locate on Bainbridge, as many stylists cater to less-textured services. Those who are trained locally are in high demand and may not have children sit in their chairs for long services, such as braids,” Malatesta said. “This causes many of our multicultural families to have to travel across the water or deeper into Kitsap for the many salons who cater to textured hair.”

Shepherd has heard that complaint from some of her military clients. Many textured hair services require multiple hours in the salon chair. On top of travel, that usually means Kitsap residents must block out an entire day to get their hair done — “kind of absurd,” Field-Bennett said.

After two years of giving pandemic haircuts in Malatesta’s garage, Francois’ barbershop Ride or Dye reopened in Bremerton in 2022. Field-Bennett and his parent Kendra Field still try to book haircuts with Francois, but getting there from BI can be an ordeal.

“Thankfully, I’m not a person who cares very much what people think about me, so I just let my hair do its thing. But it’s been a really, really big struggle. There’s a couple barbershops on the island, and no disrespect to them, but they try and they fail,” Field-Bennett said. ” I can see a lot of time when they’re cutting my hair, they’ll make these faces and ask like, ‘Uh, does that look right?’ I’m like, ‘What do you mean? You just snipped off half my hair!’ But I just roll with it.”

Protective styles

Francois’ pop-up barbershops brought pride and connection to young Black men in BI and North Kitsap, but also revealed gaps in textured hair services in the region. “Although we were able to do fades for boys, we could not do the same for little girls, and we saw a definite need for elementary-aged female students whose parents needed help understanding how to work with their children’s hair,” Malatesta said.

Shepherd saw it too. Through KBSU, students would frequently approach her to ask for advice about their hair. They wanted help navigating inappropriate contact at school from classmates and adults touching their hair without permission. “If students have curly hair, people are literally pulling their hair so they can see it bounce back,” Shepherd said. “It really did a number on some students’ mental health.”

That’s how Shepherd and Bainbridge salon owner Johnny Levi came to host the first “Textured Tresses” workshop in 2023. Attendees received bags of hair ties and product, and the stylists conducted a daylong teach-in for families to learn some basics of hair care. But most importantly, the workshop created a space of support, Shepherd said.

“It was so amazing to see these little people and big people say, ‘I didn’t know how I could love my hair because I didn’t know what to do with it,’ and providing this history that they never knew, ancestor-wise, about the greatness of their hair,” Shepherd said. “You saw the transformation as they sat there in that room. I’m just so excited for the students to be able to play in their hair and the hair that they are born with, and if they want to add something to it, they can love that too.”

Last December, a few fifth- and sixth-graders in the Culture Club at Sakai Intermediate School who attended a Levi and Shepherd workshop were inspired to bring their knowledge back to school. The students collected donations of textured hair care supplies from Black and multicultural professionals on BI, then installed care packages in each school nurse’s office as an emergency reserve for students with diverse hair needs.

“Seeing a need and having a community that supports families builds belonging,” Malatesta said. “We knew there would be challenges in finding resources, but having relationships that build bridges to resources helps us meet those needs.”

A new look

Due to the lack of stylists in Kitsap, Shepherd sees an opportunity for economic growth. There’s no reason that ferry-connected places like Bremerton or BI can’t be textured-hair care destinations, instead of the other way around, she said.

Talent can be grown here, but holding it back is outdated information about cosmetology from high school counselors, Shepherd said. In the educational “Welcome to your Future” program run by social health nonprofit Kitsap Strong, middle and high school students can build financial life skills through a simulated career path. Students choose a career and follow its effect on their quality of life, learning about how their expectations balance out with their decisions.

“It’s always a challenge when I see students from Bremerton School District that are saying they want to be a cashier, versus someone in the Central Kitsap School District saying they want to be an aeronautical engineer,” she said. “We have students who say, ‘Oh yeah, I braid my friends’ hair all the time, but I don’t think I would want to do that for a career,’ and I’ll ask them, ‘Well, why not?’ I don’t think that the information regarding braiding and anything ethnic is taken into consideration.”

Getting through cosmetology school is another hurdle. Students aren’t always prepared for the amount of work that is required to become established. One student shadowed Shepherd in the salon and was surprised to learn that she had to have a strong grasp of fractions to do hair color.

“I never want to stifle anyone’s dreams, but I’m always asking them, ‘You have this dream — how do you get there? And I think that in public education schools, we’re missing that part. As educators, we need to be able to say, ‘Yes, you will need that skill, and here’s some area of life you can apply this concept.’”

Jewel Shepherd courtesy photo “Textured Tresses” meeting attendees Inez Maubane Jones, left, and her daughter Eliza Jones learn how to care for and appreciate their natural hair textures.