April 2007
Turning Heads
by James Wortman
Memphis hairstylists trim away stigma
Tennesseans are leaving the salon with more than a new ‘do: they’re walking out with HIV education, too. Memphis-based Project Stylin’, which helps shop owners and stylists raise HIV/AIDS awareness among their clients, has worked with 25 shops since 2004. The program hopes to get appointments with many more this year to address the more than 4,000 people in Memphis living with HIV. Michele Daniels, 48, HIV positive since 1999, heads Project Stylin’ and leads training sessions to help stylists understand HIV, its transmission and the dangers of stigma. “We teach how to turn gossip [about HIV/AIDS] into a more positive conversation,” says Daniels. Shop owners, like 74-year-old barber Warren Lewis (known for his flame-cutting technique, which uses a candle to burn hair into a style), are happy to spread the word. “I pass out literature to all the people that come here,” says Lewis, owner of Warren’s Original Hairstyle. “I tell them: Wrap it up.”
