The Big Hair Assembly 2021
WORLD AFRO DAY FOR SCHOOLS

The Big Hair Assembly returned bigger than ever with 222 Little assemblies too! 15th September, 192,000 kids and young people, over 560+ schools from 9 countries united for World Afro Day 5th anniversary.

From South Africa to America and Britain to Brazil, children will be joining together in a celebration of hair, identity and equality. The event aims to change negative attitudes towards Afro hair into positive inclusion.

YOLANDA BROWN

Broadcaster and double MOBO award-winning saxophonist, will be the UK host of The Big Hair Assembly 2021.

“Hair plays such a big part in our identity, I absolutely leapt at the opportunity to present the Big Hair Assembly and be involved in the wider World Afro Day celebrations.”

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TASHARA PARKER

News 8 Daybreak Anchor, will host the assembly from the USA. October 2020, a hairstyle worn by Tashara went viral and sparked conversations around: who determines what is “professional hair?”

“It was important to get involved with World Afro Day because young boys and girls need to know that their natural tresses are beautiful.”

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TAIS VINOLO

News 8 Daybreak Anchor, will host the assembly from the USA. October 2020, a hairstyle worn by Tashara went viral and sparked conversations around: who determines what is “professional hair?”

“It was important to get involved with World Afro Day because young boys and girls need to know that their natural tresses are beautiful.”

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ALICE DEARING

The first Black female swimmer to represent Britain at an Olympics in Tokyo and co-founder of the Black Swimming Association.

“For me personally, afro hair has been a journey of learning self love and flourishing along with my hair. My hope is that now and in the future all girls and boys blessed with afro hair will know their coils and curls are beautiful.”

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This is an educational event involving people from all backgrounds, joining together in a celebration of Afro hair, identity and equality. The assembly aims to change negative attitudes towards Afro hair into a positive force for inclusion. This is a covid safe event, which can be adapted to be fully virtual.

Award-winning, World Afro Day is a global day of change, education and celebration of Afro hair. Since 2017, the event has been endorsed by the UN Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights. If you want your school to be a global leader. Sign up for the Big Hair Assembly and to receive our free resource pack.

Watch 2021 Assembly

World Afro Day is a global day of change, education and celebration of Afro hair, culture and identity. Join us on this journey.

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World Afro Day is a global day of celebration and liberation for Afro hair and identity.

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YolanDa Brown

Double MOBO award winning saxophonist, YolanDa Brown is the latest buzz in broadcasting; keeping the nation’s children engaged through her eponymous series for CBeebies, “YolanDa’s Band Jam.” The show won the Royal Television Society Awards as Best Children’s Programme with the songs recently released as a music album. Yolanda has a passion for young people and education, creating free online music lesson plans, downloaded by over 10,000 children!  She is a presenter for Radio 2, Jazz FM, the BBC Proms and the annual Young Voices event. 

The UK’s premier female saxophonist; she is also known for her fusion of reggae, jazz and soul. She has toured with Diana Krall, The Temptations, Jools Holland’s Rhythm and Blues Orchestra, Billy Ocean, and collaborated with artists such as Snarky Puppy’s Bill Laurance, Kelly Jones from Stereophonics and the Royal Philharmonic Concert Orchestra.

YolanDa also chairs the UK’s largest music education charity, Youth Music. In 2018, she launched the “Drake YolanDa Award” with philanthropist James JP Drake, offering grants for emerging musicians, and also launched the “London Saxophone Festival”. From concerts for children to film screenings and the very popular Sax Village, it’s been a welcome addition to the festival circuit. She was awarded an Honorary Doctorate of Arts by the University of East London, and was even invited to meet the Queen at Buckingham Palace!

Outside work, and in the limited spare time, YolanDa loves to drive fast cars around race tracks and she boasts being able to rattle off a Rubik’s Cube in around five minutes (on a good day). She’s a real renaissance woman, set to reach new heights.

Tashara Parker

“I enjoy the versatility of my hair. Why should I look the same every day?”

Tashara Parker is an anchor and reporter at WFAA News 8 in Dallas, Texas covering traffic, breaking news and inspirational stories. Originally a Texas A&M grad, Tashara had planned to be a forensic psychologist. But after switching focus to maximise on her penchant for public speaking, she moved to communications and went on to get a Masters in journalism from DePaul university. 

Tashara has since been featured as one of WFAA’s preeminent voices, bringing experience, vibrancy and authenticity in her role as Daybreak anchor. She captures the attention of DFW viewers in an engaging and informative way, all the while creating loyalty. 

As one of Dallas’ influential voices, Tashara utilises her platform to volunteer hundreds of hours to many organizations, including the Boys and Girls Clubs of America and her sorority, Delta Sigma Theta Sorority Incorporated. And with a dedicated following both on and off the air, she is described by viewers as “someone who truly cares about people and this community.” With this mantra lighting her path, Tashara continues to carve her slate within the industry – bringing both DFW and the best in community storytelling to the forefront.   

In 2019, Tashara decided to wear her hair naturally curly on air for the first time. And following thousands of comments from viewers, it propelled her to the forefront of the natural hair debate.

Tais Vinolo

Show the world the beauty of your true colors.

Tais is a French pre-professional ballerina, currently studying in New York at one of the world’s most prestigious ballet schools. She’s based between New York, France and California, where her professional ballet career began. After her studies, she aspires to land a major role in a professional ballet company, and eventually work to combine her skills in both ballet and acting. 

As a ballet dancer, she hopes to leverage her experiences and platform to change stereotypes in the ballet industry and beyond, which she was able to do at the helm in her most recent production: the global 2020 Amazon Holiday Ad “The Show Must Go On” and it goes without saying that this was an incredibly proud moment.

Ballet is Tais’s number one passion and she especially loves being able to express herself through different hairstyles. Which is why being a part of World Afro Day is so important. Being able to share her story with not only her own generation but with younger children with Afro hair too has enabled her to bring attention to what it is like growing up with a lack of representation. For Tais, she believes that growing up without seeing people who looked like her; affected her self-confidence and even made her feel uncomfortable in public. But now, she’s proud to say that her Afro hair is her strength: and its power, beauty and versatility has been seen on the world’s stage.

Alice Dearing

“For me personally, afro hair has been a journey of learning self love and flourishing along with my hair. My hope is that now and in the future all girls and boys blessed with afro hair will know their coils and curls are beautiful.”

Alice Dearing is 24 years old and currently based in Loughborough, Leicestershire. Originally from Birmingham she learned to swim at 5 years old and joined competitive swimming at 8 years old; eventually progressing to the elite level. She has since competed at the Tokyo 2020 Olympics in the marathon swimming (10KM open water) event becoming the first black woman to represent TeamGB in a swimming event at an Olympic Games.

She is in her final year of higher educational study, completing a Masters in social media and political communication at Loughborough University, where she trains with Loughborough University swimming program.

She has a passion for making swimming accessible to all which led to helping co-found the Black Swimming Association (BSA) in 2020. Since then she has became a voice for black people in swimming seeking to promote the life saving benefits as well as the potential doors which it can open.  

Alice has been on journey with her afro hair taking the step to go natural and get the ‘big chop’ in 2018 after years of using chemical relaxers.