Sarah Vevodaâs 7-year-old daughter Jaz used to say she had âup hair,â her natural Black curls growing upward instead of hanging down like nearly everyone elseâs around her, including her family. Sarah, who is white, says Jaz has commented on not seeing other people who look like her.
âItâs very hard for her to be in a sea of white people everywhere she goes,â says Vevoda, noting Jaz is darker skinned than her eldest child, whoâs also bi-racial, and her hair and skin are sometimes treated as curiosities by classmates. âAs innocent as they are, because theyâre children and arenât used to being around someone who looks like Jaz ⦠they can say things that make her feel like she doesnât fit in, that she stands out.â
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An HC Black Music and Arts Association class on pan-African culture at the Arcata Marsh. Photo by Valetta Molofsky
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Sarah
Vevoda’s 7-year-old daughter Jaz used to say she had “up hair,”
her natural Black curls growing upward instead of hanging down like
nearly everyone else’s around her, including her family. Sarah, who
is white, says Jaz has commented on not seeing other people who look
like her. “It’s very hard for her to be in a sea of white people
everywhere she goes,” says Vevoda, noting Jaz is darker skinned