Stylists, barbers key to program focused on improving Black health

By Jennifer Fernandez GREENSBORO — Charlotte Sparks likes to get her hair done at Empire Beauty School. It gives students a chance to practice what they’re learning, the 84-year-old Greensboro resident said. On the weekend before Christmas, the school’s beauty salon also offered clients a chance to learn. The school was one of six sites in the South to take part in the Black Beauty & Barbershop Health Initiative.  The program is a collaboration between the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services’ “Risk Less. Do More.” campaign and the Black Beauty & Wellness Foundation, an organization created “to empower Black women & girls with the knowledge to choose healthier lifestyles.” Margo Wade LaDrew, founder of Black Beauty & Wellness Foundation ” data-medium-file=”https://i0.wp.com/www.northcarolinahealthnews.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/01/Margo-Wade-LaDrew-photo-edited.jpg?fit=103%2C138&ssl=1″ data-large-file=”https://i0.wp.com/www.northcarolinahealthnews.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/01/Margo-Wade-LaDrew-photo-edited.jpg?fit=103%2C138&ssl=1″ src=”https://i0.wp.com/www.northcarolinahealthnews.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/01/Margo-Wade-LaDrew-photo-edited.jpg?resize=103%2C138&ssl=1″ alt class=”wp-image-59051″>Margo Wade LaDrew, founder of Black Beauty & Wellness Foundation The goal is to use beauty spaces, which play a vital role in Black culture, to increase awareness of vaccines that reduce serious illness from flu, COVID-19 and respiratory syncytial virus, or RSV. The flu alone killed 28,000 people in the U.S. in 2023, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention estimated. “Stylists and barbers have always been trusted advisers” to their community, said...