Introducing our sister podcast, the Curl Code!
Hosted by Wafaya Abdallah, owner of Curly Oasis, a curl salon and education platform in Rockville, MD, the Curl Code explores individual stories of how learning to embrace our natural hair can be the start of a journey to embracing and empowering our most authentic selves. Each episode reveals a unique story of the day someone acted on a decision to learn about caring for their curls, and started a process of transforming how they view the world, society, and themselves.
On this episode, Wafaya interviews her dear friend and warrior for the sake of humanity, Luby Ismail founder of Connecting Cultures, which works to fight Islamophobia and ignorance, and teach intercultural exchange. Luby and Wafaya grew up in the same era in Egypt, longing for straight, silky hair, wielding hot irons and chemical relaxers to try and meet the beauty “ideal.” In adulthood, Luby became an intercultural educator and public speaker, and realized that she couldn’t be authentic in her teaching if she wasn’t authentic in herself. That was when her journey to embracing her curls began, with Wafaya as her guide. Her journey also includes living with multiple sclerosis, and in this episode, she educates us on how even when we have the best intentions, we can fail to see the fullness of lives that differ from our own, or the narrow-mindedness of our own point of view.
Luby’s whole family is committed to dispelling prejudice and building bridges; from her son's environmental activism to her husband, Alex Kronemer's film company, Luby has devoted her life to making the "foreign," "familiar," and working for the betterment of humanity.
Find the Curl Code on:
Apple: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/the-curl-code/id1706416262
Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/1rKdhcNpk3PyE8Ig567fWK?si=8b5207ddd93c4144
And wherever you get your podcasts.
Trying to get those last few dollars out the door for your 2025 charitable donations? Or maybe you just have a little extra this season, when so many don't have enough? There but for the grace of God go all of us, amirite? Well, if this is you, please consider giving to the Hebrew Free Loan Association of Greater Washington so they can continue making interest-free loans to community members in a bind--like myself. And thank you!
