Page 25 - Florida Sentinel 7-24-20

National
Black Teens Make History With
San Francisco Court Orders Black
From Foster Care To Hair Care, Meet The Founder Of A Black-Owned Vegan Haircare Line For Curly/Wavy Hair
TONYA FAIRLEY AND HER PRODUCTS
PASADENA, CA — Tonya Fairley had a rough start. She was born to drug-addicted par- ents and spent most of her childhood in foster care. How- ever, that didn’t stop her from becoming the successful owner of two hair salons, and the founder of Strandz Hydro-Curlz – a line of vegan, cruelty-free hair care products for today’s generation.
She comments, “I wanted to create a product that was clean, had good ingredients and strayed away from the toxins as much as possible. As a woman of color, I wanted my fellow curly-haired folks to feel taken care of and seen.”
Tonya, who has been a hair- stylist for 30 years, understands that women and men every- where, with a variety of different curl patterns, are looking for ways to not only tame their hair but make their curls stand out. Hydro-Curlz contains muru- muru butter, watercress oil, pumpkin seed oil, bamboo ex- tract, and amla powder, which are all designed to moisturize and strengthen the hair. Strandz Unlimited is sulfate, silicone, paraben, and phthalate-free as well as free of artificial colors and fragrances.
Strandz Unlimited is a fe- male, Black-owned company made in the U. S. A.
3rd Consecutive Win At
Landlord To Forfeit Her $4M
Harvard Debate Competition
House To White Tenant
On one of the most outra- geous judgments ever, a San Francisco court has ruled that a Black landlord, Anne Kihagi, should give her $4 million build- ing to a white tenant.
The reason behind the court’s decision was that the landlord had displaced the tenant so that her sister could move in. The displacement might seem un- fair, but it is completely legal.
The San Francisco law allows a landlord to recover possession of a rented unit for either the owner or the owner’s close rela- tive to occupy. This means that a landlord has the right to evict a tenant so that a close relative can move in.
This was precisely the case in Ms. Kihagi’s building. But ap- parently, this law is only for white landlords and does not apply to blacks.
In 2014, Ms. Kihagi pur- chased an impressive building for $2.5 million. Using some of the money she managed for her younger sister, she also made some investments.
Ms. Kihagi, now a landlord, could assist her younger sister. So, she did what any loving big sister would do. She decided to give one of the units in the building to her younger sister to live in.
To do this, she had to evict one of the tenants. Remember, this was within her rights as a landlord. After removing the tenant, her younger sister moved into the unit in 2016.
Ms. Kihagi’s sister, after moving in, had her partner move in with her. They also had a child while living in that unit.
ANNE KIHAGI
Meanwhile, Ms. Kihagi had also refurbished the building, making its value increase to a whopping $4 million.
This was the status of things until the City Attorney connived with the tenants to bring mali- cious cases against Ms. Kihagi. They teamed up with a group of attorneys to take her down.
It’s important to note that the City Attorney, Dennis Her- rera, had in 2015 threatened to drive Ms. Kihagi out of the City. And seeing an opportunity, he grabbed it with both hands. Therefore, despite all the evi- dence that Ms. Kihagi’s younger sister had been living in the building, the City Attorney claimed that she had never moved in.
They managed to convince a white jury that the notice of eviction was a sham notice.
As a result of these claims and accusations, the San Fran- cisco court ruled that Ms. Ki- hagi should give the entire five-unit building to the evicted white tenant.
For the third year in a row, a team of African American stu- dents known as The Atlanta Great Debaters, defended and won the championship title for the international Harvard de- bate competition. Held virtually this year because of COVID-19, they competed against students from more than 25 countries.
According to 11 Alive, the en- tire team is being recognized for doing “an awesome job,” but senior Madison Webb, the first Black female student, and sophomore Christian Flournoy, the youngest Black male student, secured the vic- tory.
Every year, Harvard Diversity Project recruits a cohort of tal- ented Black youth out of an ap- plicant pool of hundreds throughout Metro Atlanta. The program seeks students that have never been exposed to aca- demic debate.
On Saturdays, students un- dergo a rigorous 10-month training regimen, where they are introduced to debate through the exploration of academic dis- ciplines that foster critical think-
MADISON WEBB AND CHRISTIAN FLOURNOY
ing, public speaking, and argu- mentation.
The program normally cul- minates with a summer resi- dency at Harvard College, where students study academic debate alongside and compete against hundreds of gifted scholars from around the world. However, this year, it was all done online be- cause of the COVID-19 pan- demic.
The end goal of the Harvard Diversity Project (HarvardD- CDP.org) is to promote educa- tional equity by creating opportunities for underserved youth to gain exposure and ac- cess to academic training that will distinguish them as top can- didates in the college admis- sions process.
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