Straw Into Gold

August 3, 2024 we hosted an incredible art exhibition honoring a West Oakland native and esteemed elder Rosa “Malikia” Johnson. A trailblazing hair stylist and braider to the Bay Area community since the 1970’s, Malika went on to be a stylist for such cultural icons as Stevie Wonder, Nina Simone, and Cicely Tyson. The exhibition highlighted the cultural legacy of African ancestral hair sculpture of this visionary artist.

The show was curated by Malikia’s daughter, Matema Hadi of Forever Nubian Productions. This has been a tremendous undertaking to collect, preserve, and curate into an exhibion the life’s work of this artist.

We at B-Love’s were thrilled to host Matema and Malikia in a week long retreat and one day public exhibition that culminated into a glorious reunion of family, friends, and community all in celebration of the countless contributions to the culture of African American natural hair styling.