Weaving a Wicked Community – refugees find safe haven in London braiding salon
Weaving a Wicked Community – refugees find safe haven in London braiding salon
In North London, a braiding salon owned by a Congolese refugee is a safe space for women and a community hub. When the owner received a call asking her to help to braid a wig for the film Wicked in just 3 days, family, friends and staff came together.
The entrance to Marie Josee’s professional braiding salon is unassuming, with a small entrance and photos in the windows showcasing the range of services she offers. But her reputation brings people from across London and beyond to visit her.
The salon opened in 1989 and has become a mainstay of the high street in North London’s Finsbury Park. Originally from the Democratic Republic of Congo, Marie Josee arrived in the UK with little English and none of her extended family to support her. She and her husband lived in a block of flats overlooking Finsbury Park station and the salon she would go on to run for 36 years.
When she arrived in the UK, Marie Josee said it was hard - she was suffering from trauma, and despite having refugee status, every time she heard a siren, she feared that she was going to be taken away.
She started learning English by watching This Morning on the TV, making notes and then checking words in her small dictionary. ‘Slowly, slowly, I learnt the language,’ she remembers. She still worries about her English and asks her daughter Abigail to help her with emails and communication. Abigail jokingly reassures Marie Josee, saying ‘your English is fine Mum’. Whilst working in the salon, Marie Josee books appointments, jokes with staff and customers and deals swiftly with sales calls.
Marie Josee and her daughter Abigail talk about their memories of the salon over the last 30 years.
Abigail and her sister Naomi started learning to braid when they were about five years old. They recall that ‘cousins, aunties, sisters, we would all learn to braid - and the customers who let us practise all thought it was very cute.’ They recall getting pocket money which they would exchange for penny sweets in the shop next door.
Marie Josee says that the kindness that she experienced after arriving in London helped her to overcome her loneliness and build a life in the UK. She attributes the welcome that she received to her being able to succeed in business, raise a family and help other refugees who are finding their place in London.
‘The British people are nice. I want to help them back.’ She only has to step outside the salon briefly to see this kindness towards her. Passersby cheerily ask her how she is, and one man comes up to give her a hug. It turns out that this is her landlord.
‘This is my bestie,’ Marie Josee declares with a smile. ‘He has supported me and helped me in many ways since I took this place.’
The team at Marie Josee's salon, many of whom she has trained herself, say they are like a family. When they were given three days to work on a wig for the film Wicked they all pitched in.
Marie Josee is keen to emphasise that she appreciates all the opportunities that she has had in London, and wants to make sure she contributes to society, economically and socially. She says that she works hard and has made sure her children were bought up with the same ethos.
‘Back home, we all do each other’s hair, so I had learnt the basics of braiding from my family and friends.’ But in order to turn this into a career, she wanted to develop her skills, and before receiving her permit to work she spent her days learning how to braid in a local salon, then practiced on her husband’s hair in the evenings.
Marie Josee’s talents haven’t gone unnoticed. Last year she received a request from Universal Studios, asking her to help with a wig for Cynthia Erivo’s character in the hugely successful film Wicked. The braids on the existing wig needed to be finer. But with only three days to do this, a team effort was needed. ‘I’ve never braided that thin before’, says Marie Josee, ‘it took us three days, and three nights. We were taking the wig home with us at night.’
When Marie Josee got the call, she didn’t comprehend how big the film was going to be. ‘I was innocent,’ she said. But after seeing the film in the cinema with her family, she started to understand the magnitude of it.
Being a part of the film, prompted her to reflect on what refugees can do when given the chance. ‘I’m a refugee from Congo! And I made a wig for the Wicked film!’ she exclaims, going on to say, ‘I hope it motivates other refugees or women, or men, or children!’
Maria and Marie Josee have now known each other for 30 years. Marie Josee has taught Maria how to braid, and she has worked in the studio ever since. Maria says they are family.
One of the women involved in this effort was Maria, who has been working at the salon since she arrived in the UK. After setting up her business, Marie Josee wanted to ensure other refugees had the same opportunities as her. Her daughter Abigail says that whilst she was growing up, many women ‘who had nowhere to go, would hear that the salon was a safe space ... it showed us as her children how to love.’
‘I was one of the 100 or 200 Congolese who arrived first, so I wanted to help others,’ Marie Josee says. Pointing towards Maria she says with a smile, ‘she was 18, I saw her and thought, she looks Congolese. I invited her to my house, and one day I said, “how about teaching you to braid?” She’s been here for 30 years now.’
Maria says that when she met Marie Josee she didn’t know anyone in the UK and didn’t know what she was going to do. She says she was struck by how hard Marie Josee was working whilst raising four children. By learning to braid, they could share the work and they could help each other out. ‘Back home we’re always helping each other out, so that’s what we do here. We’re family now, she even hides her lunch from me sometimes’. Marie Josee retaliates by joking, ‘but you always get some anyway.’
As four people, including Marie Josee’s daughters and a younger trainee, get to work on braiding a regular client’s hair, a process that will take 5 hours, Marie Josee explains that she is proud to be able to ‘bring a little of my culture to the UK. We braid black and white hair, people from every nation. European hair is a bit hard to do, but we learnt, and now we are masters.’
Kana Josee (centre), a Congolese refugee, advocate and campaigner, visited Marie Josee and her team at the salon to share their experiences of life in the UK.