Braiders - thee Real Urban Designers

This post was written in December 2, 2020, now published from the drafts on the date above

A city is only as good as its braiders.

If you can’t connect with a braider, or don’t know one. Then Idk what to tell you. Perhaps, to work on your community building?

I joke, but I say that lovingly.

Braiders are counselors, braiders are visionaries. Have you ever seen the explore page of your IG? Have you seen an editorial? Have you ever just looked at your friends or the person coming up from the subway? Their hair looks good!

Rare are the people who can make so many people feel and look good, who construct the temple of the body, the crown, to crop the face, who spend intimate hours with your bald spots, with your dandruff, with your split ends, your breakage, and makes them all go away in a waterfall of plump, even rivers cascading over your scalp and over your neck.

Who else do you trust to put their hands in your hair?

Braiders are mathematicians, sacred geometrists, therapists, councilors, creative advisors, hypefolks, DJs, waitresses, confidants friends, life parters. They are the plug, who gets to sit in their chair and become a relic of their talent.

It’s never just braiding hair. They are magicians, alchemists, braiders are the keepers of the culture, of what’s current, connecting the past to the future, mediums of modernity.

Have you seen Missy Elliot’s newest album? What other style can do that? Which other people can do that?

Braiders are the keepers of culture, customization, and of our confidence. They give us something to be proud of, a way to express ourselves, to be seen and heard, authentically. For the amount of work, effort, skill, finesse, artistry, vision, precision they have - I don’t argue the price, especially when the craft is priceless.