A local hair salon owner was recently recognized for her efforts in preserving, protecting and promoting Black beauty culture in Nova Scotia.
Each year, the Downtown Dartmouth Business Commission recognizes one business person who “demonstrates an excellent level of business standards and ethics, plus leadership, creativity, vision and entrepreneurial spirit,” according to the commission’s website.
This year’s recipient is Samantha Dixon Slawter, long-time owner of Styles by SD. The hairstylist says she was “shocked” to learn she had won.
“I’m like, ‘Really? I won?’ So my day was pretty much made clear that you’re doing this so that Black people can be seen. So that we can be seen,” Slawter tells Global News.
Slawter first opened Styles by SD in 1992. She was the first African Nova Scotian to receive Red Seal certification as a hairstylist from the Nova Scotia Apprenticeship Agency. Back in the 1990s, she says only her and a handful of others catered to the Black community.
“Black people are used to making a way out of no way. We are so used to being oppressed,” Slawter says.
“A lot of the work that was done on our hair was actually done in our kitchens because we couldn’t go to the hair salons, we couldn’t go to the beauty schools.”
Nearly 30 years later, and Slawter says many of the challenges that existed back then still exist today, but she has made it her mission to change that.
In 2016, Slawter co-founded the Black Beauty Culture Association. She’s held many free lectures educating the public on the history of Black hair in Nova Scotia. She’s also applied to the province to open a private career college with a focus on Black and textured hair.
“This is my calling. I’ve actually tried to maneuver myself out of the industry, and I’ve always come back,” she says.
She says winning this award has confirmed she’s on the right path.
“It feels like I’ve been heard,” she says, “not just by the people that I’m serving — because the people that I’m serving know how hard I work, my family knows how hard I work — but you know, to be seen and heard by people you think aren’t seeing and hearing you.”
Slawter was anonymously nominated and the winner was selected by a jury.
“We were moved by the quality of nominations for the inaugural Gloria Fisher Award, and our selection committee had a difficult task. It is heartwarming to know so many people in our community appreciate the dedication of downtown Dartmouth’s business owners,” says Tim Rissesco, DDBC’s executive director, in a news release.
Last week, Slawter was presented with the award at a socially distanced awards ceremony held at her salon.
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