Citizen Contributions | Culture & Community | International Festival of Arts & Ideas | Arts & Culture | Yale Schwarzman Center
From left to right: Dr. Siobhan Carter-David, Professor Theodore Kim, Jazmi Zanders, Stacy Graham-Hunt, Luvena Leslie, and Renée Loren. Logan Dinkins Photo.
On Wednesday evening, Yale Schwarzman Center became the site of a conversation that felt both deeply personal and long overdue.
Hair, Home & Belonging, a free public conversation co-presented by the International Festival of Arts & Ideas and Yale Schwarzman Center, drew a near-capacity audience to Schwarzman's "The Underground" for an evening examining Black hair as a reflection of identity, culture, memory, and belonging.
Panelists included The Curly Hair Salon Founder Luvena Leslie; Renee Loren, founder & CEO of Trachouse Beauty Salon; Dr. Siobhan Carter-David, associate professor of History at Southern Connecticut State University; author and Jazmiup Experience Founder Jazmi Zanders, whose children's book Koral’s Big Hair Day came out last year; and Theodore Kim, professor of Computer Science at Yale University.
Produced and moderated by journalist, publicist, and cultural observer Stacy Graham-Hunt, the conversation moved fluidly between laughter, personal testimony, cultural critique, and collective reflection. Panelists explored everything from beauty standards and hair politics to childhood memory, professional identity, artistry, and the emotional intimacy connected to Black hair rituals across generations.
“Talking about Black hair means thinking about beauty, power, identity, and belonging," said Graham-Hunt. "I wanted to create a space for people to talk about their shared experiences in community and in an inspiring space like the Yale Schwarzman Center. Yale has a complicated history with Black people and Black voices, and it was an honor to center these voices at this prestigious institution where they may have been overlooked historically.”
The evening also unfolded in dialogue with RUSUNUNGUKO (liberty/independence/freedom)
Throughout the evening, audience members nodded in recognition, laughed in agreement, and reflected openly during moments centered on memory, family, professionalism, and self-expression. The conversation resonated across generations, speaking both to personal experience and broader cultural realities.
“Yale Schwarzman Center exists to create space for conversations that matter, not just for our students and faculty, but for the broader community," said Schwarzman Center Executive Director Rachel Fine. "The connection between this panel and Nontsikelelo Mutiti's installation created an experience that felt immersive, reflective, and deeply resonant for the audience.”