Atiya Johnson, head of Jana’s Cosmetology Academy in Clementon.
Says that her Camden County school didn’t need to apply for a $50,000 grant from Beyoncé’s charity foundation, BeyGOOD.
Instead, the mega-superstar’s foundation found them.
The foundation chose the New Jersey beauty school because it’s one of the few cosmetology programs on the East Coast that offers a course on textured and Black hair.
“They sought us out,” said Johnson, 38, of Gloucester Township.
“They could not find one school in New York that offered a textured hair course … so someone from the team said, ‘let’s expand the search to Jersey.’”
And once BeyGOOD came across Jana’s Cosmetology Academy — located a small, 5,400-resident borough near Camden — the directors of the foundation told Johnson they felt they had “found a diamond in the rough,” she said.
BeyGOOD and the haircare line Cécred, both founded by Beyoncé, announced earlier this month that five cosmetology schools in New Jersey, Atlanta, Chicago, Houston and Los Angeles would receive a total of $250,000 in grants.
Part of the grant money will be used to support five $10,000 scholarships for students to attend Jana’s Cosmetology Academy, according to the foundation.
“Hairstylists have an immense impact on the people in their chairs,” the BeyGOOD foundation wrote in its announcement. “They create a sacred space where we can show up how we want and express ourselves through our hair. We’re honored to give back to this amazing community.”
Jana’s opened in 2021 as the only Black-owned and operated beauty school in New Jersey, according to its founder.
Since then, the school has graduated about 120 students — many of them Black or from other diverse backgrounds — from programs including cosmetology, barbering, natural haircare and braiding.
The beauty academy also offers a 10-week course on braiding and natural textured hair separate from its cosmetology program. Unlike other cosmetology programs that may only dedicate a few weeks to the skill, their course places special emphasis on natural hair throughout the entire nine months, Johnson said.
In October, New Jersey Attorney General Matthew Platkin announced the state’s technical schools will now ensure that all cosmetology students are trained in “the theory and practice of styling Black and other textured hair,” following a state discrimination investigation against Gloucester County Institute of Technology.
The decision was made following claims that the public vo-tech school lacked an adequate number of Black mannequins and didn’t mandate non-Black students learn techniques for textured hair.
Many trade schools also lack adequate training in working with Black and textured hair, critics said.
“When I was in cosmetology school, which was about 20-some years ago, in a nine-month program, textured hair was only about two weeks,” Johnson said.
The academy’s goal is to ensure students graduate debt-free. However, many have been unable to enroll because they cannot afford the tuition without a job.
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Source: Los Angeles Times (edited)
