FAYNIA was created by black women for several reasons which are
The Power of Black women
We are Beautiful, courageous and bold Women
We are proud of who we are as Women
We have NOTHING to prove as Women.

Let’s start at the beginning.

My name is Dr Janice Knox, Founder of FAYNIA. I grew up in Richmond, California. I am the 4th of 15 children. Being the 4th in line, I did my fair share of housework and child care, all the while going to school with dreams of becoming a dentist. No one spoke of racism in those days, at least not out loud. Looking back, I realize that racism was there all along. I can’t count how many times I was puzzled as to why the white kids were separated and given special lessons from our white teacher while the rest of us were left to study on our own. I figured it out years later. It was because the system had no expectations for us to go to college or be successful. I studied anyway.

In junior high school, I was assigned to home making class, a requirement unless you were in the college prep track. Why wasn’t I in the college prep lane? I didn’t talk to my parents about it or ask the teacher. Instead I marched to the counselor’s office to insist that I take a language class that would allow me to be on the college prep track. After all, I didn’t need to learn to make that apron or bake cookies. Being the 4th oldest and the 2nd oldest daughter, all I did was cook, clean and take care of babies. Dang, college prep was my break from all that. Besides that, I found weekend classes to take so that I could get away from house work. Don’t get me wrong, my housework and childcare duties didn’t hurt me. Instead it gave me the resolve to want to do better.

I managed to get into a well respected college, graduating and attending medical school. I spent decades being an anesthesiologist. I never forgot who I was or where I came from. I was always proud to be a black woman. I didn’t need reassurance or acceptance by the white male dominated medical field. Believe me, I went through quite a bit during my journey to being a healthcare professional. As the years went by, I, also, began to see the cracks in American democracy and who it served. I lived through the 60’s, assassinations, Malcolm X, Dr. Martin Luther King, the Black Panthers, Compton riots, Rodney King, and the list goes on. But the hate really came to the surface when Barak Obama was elected President of the United states. Hate flourished and announced itself loudly. Then came Trump. All the decorum of being politically correct went out the window.

Why is this important? Well today, as some states look to erase our culture by banning Black History, erase the story of slavery, and to dehumanize us as human beings, it’s important to me that we totally embrace and celebrate who we are. We’ve all seen the stories of our hair being mocked and banned in the workplace, schools and sports. Men, women and children are targeted. There have been stories where our children’s hair has been cut off without parental permission, or was told that our look was unprofessional. Black women have been admonished by some of our own for wearing our hair straightened or wearing wigs, braids or in its natural state. Remember the hate Gabby Douglas received as an Olympic Gold Medalist? Some of that was from our own people.

So why FAYNIA? I had the pleasure to visit Sierra Leone and receive my second citizenship there. Being there was the first time I didn’t feel that racism existed. I felt proud to be there. The language there is KRIO, a mixture of English and African languages. Fayn means gorgeous, beautiful. IA is the word for hair.

To start with loving who we are, let’s start with bothersome to some, our hair. God called a woman’s hair “her crown of glory”. So it is. Our men, women and children rock those crowns of glory, no longer will we be mocked for our hair in any state that we choose to wear it. Be it natural, wigs, extensions, straight, curly, kinky or twisted. Our hair is ours to wear. FAYNIA seeks to instill this, so it’s no more than an afterthought. Of course, it’s our hair and we’ll wear it as we please.

 

XOXO,

Janice