african style

where do the african residents of the istanbul city get their hair cut which has become the symbol of decades-long resistance? welcome to the african style hair dresser in the middle of istanbul.

“don’t let those other boys fool you, gotta love that afro hairdo…”

corinne bailey rae calls on ladies in her ‘put your records’ song: girls love your afro hairdo!

black hair has more meaning than it’s biological dimension. in the early african civilizations, a hairdo had signs of a human’s roots, tribes and sociological status and many other things regarding that human being’s identities. these all could be understood at a glance from his or her hairdo. since the hair was the closest part of the human to the sky, in some groups, it was used for “spiritual communication” with the god. in senegal and gambia som tribe men used to plait their hair as they were heading for a clash or some women used more plain hair when they were mourning for their lost.

what is more striking than anthropological approach, their hairdos are a political resistance symbol for the blacks. even though the slavery ended in the 19th century the marginalization of the black hairdo continued for decades. they were forced to camouflage their hair to be accepted by the “white man’s beauty standards.”

till 1960s they had to flatten their hair even with some chemicals which cause skin burns on their heads. the goal was to have “silky” hairs as white do. the hair sector grew more and more with all these shampoos, hair flattering chemical products, intensive care creams… in fact a black female entrepreneur madame c. j. walker made millions of dollars from the hair products at the time and became “the most successful entrepreneur” of her time.

in 1960s civil rights movements’ rose across the globe, afro-american civil movement also had become so powerful. for all those years under oppression afro hairdo became iconic with the motto “black is beatiful.” segregation was confronted by the natural black hairdo’s and another icon was the “afro pick” combs. the comb was redesigned in 70s as a black fist. this fist is generally being associated with nelson mandela’s fist salute when he was released from the prison, but it has nothing to do with it.

in 70s dreadlock also took its place in the pop culture with bob marley. dreadlock is one of the most important figures of rastafarianism religion. rastafarians used to let their hair grow more and more because the old-testament forbid cutting the hair. afro hair wave of 70s continued till 2000s. though braide hairs with beads seem popular for everyone nowadays, still there are blacks being discriminated because of their hair. in 2016 summer, a school in south africa, pretoria high school for girls told its black pupils to straighten their hair and “do not come to school with their afro.” the issue quickly became a hot topic on the social media with the #StopRacismAtPretoriaGirlsHigh hashtag.

you can suddenly desire hairs like erykah badu, before the summer you may like to have braided hairs. where to go to have afro braided hairs in istanbul? if you are in the city, get to the metro and take off at the osmanbey station of sisli. ibiza hairdresser is what you need.

ahmet egbon is the owner of “ibiza kuafor” where one can only have an afro hairdo. ibiza has three saloons, one in kurtulus neighborhood, the others in yenikapi and kumkapi. in kurtulus men and women may have their hair cut but yenikapi is for women and kumkapi is for men only.

egbon migrated to ankara from nigeria 30 years ago to study trade. he left the school to work and done anything to earn money in different cities of turkey, antalya, konya, istanbul. in 2009 he opened his first place and got married fazilet hanim, she is from nigeria. they have two kids, they study in cyprus. egbon has great relations with the other shopkeepers but he has no friends. it is just him and his wife. the saloons are open between 08.00 and 22.00 everyday, so no time for socializing. the only thing he could not get used to is the turkish food. he eats only one time in a day but no doubt he drinks two times more tea than an average turk.

with ahmet we have visited the kumkapi saloon which he says was opened out of need. there are hundreds of africans coming istanbul to study or work and it is impossible for them to get their hair cut to the turkish hairdressers. in the turkish hairdressers there are no equipments to cut a male africans’ hair properly. ibiza kumkapi is just the place to fulfill this need. two washing seats and two tables with mirrors. just that. a small saloon. another table left for a laptop, music never stops here. when we got in wiz khalifa was playing, “see you again…” bruno mars, rihanna, drake, kanye west… you get a new style in the party mood, awesome. it’s a busy place, people are coming by to check if there is any empty seat inside but no, they are taking a tour. the place has a unique “cool black” calm atmosphere.

there are special hair products for blacks imported from nigeria. i bet the sweetest package designs belong to afro hair products. for only their vintage typographies they are so buyable but mr. ahmet tells me they are not for me and shows the avon products.

there are tens of models for men but braided is just another universe in the hair models galaxy. in the kurtulus saloon it is only braided hairs, it takes 7 or 8 hours depending on the length of the hair. it does not damage the hair, you may continue washing habits with your new model.

when you want your old model, you do not have to cut your hair, you just need to open the braided parts. after my short myth brakes about the braided hairs, here is a tip from mr ahmet for all hair types: coconut oil.

ibiza; worths a visit for black residents of the city where we are having difficulties of acceptance. to listen anything about them from the first hand is the best.