I have been attending Bailey’s Cafe for over 7 years now. I will say that every summer was a new chance to connect with other people, as well as yourself. This will allow you to meet new people and make connections within whatever industry you are looking to go into.

This summer at Baileys (2022) is different from the previous years. We have smaller numbers but we have more options to explore with it being smaller and this makes it more intimate. They tried something this year called “what’s in your hands” . This saying makes you think about what you can do in life, what you do now, and how you help yourself.
I’m going to be completely honest and say that I wasn’t expecting to like this summer because it was so different. However I’ve learned that my hands can help my community, my hands can make jewelry, my hands can embroider, my hands can help me reach my goals, my hands hold my future.
Personally I am a huge fan of Wednesday afternoons with yoga and writing right after eachother. You wouldn’t think that yoga and writing would fit in the “what’s in your hands” theme this year but it does. Yoga helps you realize the balance is being held in your hands and with your strength. The writing makes you realize that a pen is one of the strongest things you can hold and has a way of controlling others and your emotions.
Baileys has always been the place where you can go to learn, have a second home, and to laugh all in one. All of the problems of the outside world get left at the door and you enter a whole new world and it’s a world that I will continue to come to year after year.

How Baileys changed the way I see myself and my hair
My hair has always been a problem in my eyes. I never wore it in its natural state since I was in elementary school and my mom would do my hair. I would cover it with braids, twists, or any style to where I didn’t have to deal with it.

In February of this year I started to remember some of the important lessons that Bailey’s Cafe has given me in all of my years of going there. These lessons were to show yourself more love.To be comfortable in who you are and to “take up space” whether that be literally or figuratively. So this led me to forcing myself to learn to do my hair.

It was a hard start; I would do braid outs, twist outs, and blow drying my hair to make it look longer in the state it was in. When march hit I realized I wasn’t really learning to love my hair. I was learning to love someone else’s hair and curl pattern but I remembered the people at baileys who wore their natural hair openly and lovingly with all the curls and coils that they may retain. These people are Myra, Pia, and Britney; their love for their hair helped me learn to love mine in whatever state whether it’s wet, dry, or in the middle.

I can always look at Baileys to see the lessons I’ve learned through time that may not be applied at the time of learning but I have always noticed it’s there when you need it the most.

Being in Bailey’s this summer, I was happy to learn that I would have the opportunity to learn how to sew. Sewing has always been a skill that I wanted to learn. I have always been facinated by handmade clothing and the process behind it. The fact that people can think of and create their own clothing with their own two hands is something that I’ve always wanted to do.

When sewing lessons started I honestly had no clue what I was doing. On the first day of sewing, Jendayi, Fahmidah and I took the fifteen minute walk from Bailey’s Cafe to the instructor’s studio. The instructor, Willie, has a studio that he built inside of the basement of his house. The studio is a place where he designs, creates, and makes all of his clothes.

Stitching is a hobby that over time becomes easier and more exciting to do

Mckenzie

We learned how to stitch, how to create a pattern and use a sewing machine. In the class I had the opportunity to make a dress out of a patterned fabric. I was excited to be able to make something and bring it home. The process was filled with trial and error but with Willie’s help, it became more fun than stressful. Stitching is a hobby that over time becomes easier and more exciting to do. Now that I am leaving the class I know that I am walking away with a new skill and possibly a new hobby.