So what is the name of the braids were doing today
It's Ghanaian ?!
Do you want me to show you the two
Sure I'll look at it
Anita Yeboah came to the united states
in 1999 . and has been running hair business
In New Jersey , for the past ten years
It's the main source of income for her and her kids
What do you think ?
I would do two
You think to?
Ok , lets look at second opinion
To braid hair in New Jersey you need
a cosmetology licence
The cosmetology schools mainly focus on cutting coloring
and styling hair with tools and chemicals
So , why didn't you choose to go to cosmelogy shcool
If I really wants to do chemicals
I have to go to shcool and pay for money because
you are dealing with chemicals its not a joke
When I'm doing your hair , I'm using just my comb
and my hands . Thats it, not too much
How much would it cost you
to go to cosmetology school ?
I've heard about 15 , 18 somebody told me
now its higher , but I don't know how higher it is
15 or 18 what ?
To 20 thousands dollars , just to have the loan to go
Anita doesn't have a cosmology license
so according to the state of new jersey
her practice is illegal
Are ever afraid that you're gonna
get in trouble or gonna get fined by the state
because you don't have a license ?
Most of the time
This is what I want to do to support
my family so , sometimes
you have to deal with it
perfect!
feel pretty fabulous !
the new jersey cosmetology board is
in charge of regulating hair-braiders like anita
and its executive director is Jay Malanga
need to be put through, a vigorous testing process
now it is possible malanga has lots of experience with
black women hair.
but we can't it for sure because he ,in the cosmetology board, denied repeated
requests for interviews for any of its 9 current members
but Peter mcgree who served in the board as
recently as 2016 was willing to talk
how long have you been doing it hair?
how long? Have I've been doing hair? oh god...
client: since I was a little boy!
oh right...
yeah ahhaha
have you followed at all the debate
around wether or not people who braid and don't use chemicals should
have to go to cosmetology school?
I am not sure what the question is again...
right now there is a bill being proposed
and a lot of the braiders in new jersey say they are raised learning how to braid
don't need anybody to teach them
and cosmetology school doesn't give them anything, it just costs them a lot of money
would you, as a member of the board, support them?
I don't know what this person is going to do
just braid all his life?
yeah, i think so ..
someone should be trained
I don't care wether it is in the barbershop
as an apprentice or in a beauty shop or
certainly should know
what he is doing
so they should .. be qualified
and licensed like we are.
peter and anita shops are different in almost every way
except in the eyes of the cosmetology board
and new jersey braiders are tired of being treated like
white and black hair is all the same
at a local community meeting, braiders
to rally behind assembly women
for a bill that would separate hair-braiding from cosmetology
so this bill will
allow you not to have to pay
up to 17,000+ dollars to get training that you do not
that you do not need and that you don't use
what are some of the cultural and historical things
that were behind hair-braiding?
that maybe your typical law-maker doesn't understand?
if you are not of african descent or African American
you really don't
you really don't have a clue as to
how your hair was braided
when i get my hair braided people say to me
wow your hair is beautiful! how does that happen?
your hair grew so long overnight!
ahahaha exactly! so what we need to do is educate
So why are the laws set up in this way in the first place?
well, this law happened in 1984
and now we are in 2018, so
it's time for us to actually look at this law and amend it
assembly women Mcknight expects the bill to
be heard in new jersey assembly floor
Let me tell you guys ! We have a gift
a gift that nobody can take from us