JOE MANNS BLACK WALL STREET AWARDS | WOODLAWN | 15TH ANNIVERSARY
Founder of the Natural Hair Care Expo continues to champion Black beauty, self-love, and cultural empowerment
(WOODLAWN – May 28, 2026) – There are certain queens who, when they move, all you can do is stop and pay homage because you know it’s a queen. Malaika-Tamu Cooper been doin’ it gracefully for years. My ex-wife and daughter used to go to her shop in the Junction. Like another popular Black Wall Street WOODLAWN honoree, Randy Dennis, Malaika has too made a lasting impression on Baltimore and beyond with her majestic way of bringing people together, celebrating our culture, and growing our businesses.
On Thursday, June 4, 2026, BMORENews.com and the Joe Manns Black Wall Street Awards — WOODLAWN will proudly honor Malaika-Tamu Cooper for her extraordinary contributions to entrepreneurship, culture, beauty, and community empowerment.
A respected Baltimore-based natural hair care specialist, author, and entrepreneur, Cooper is best known as the owner of Dreadz N’ Headz Natural Hair Salon in Woodlawn and as the founder of the long-running Natural Hair Care Expo — one of the East Coast’s most enduring celebrations of textured hair and Black beauty culture.
Located at 2100 Gwynn Oak Ave., Dreadz N’ Headz has become more than a salon. It is a cultural institution and safe space where generations of clients have learned to appreciate and care for their natural hair with pride.
Long before natural hair became mainstream, Malaika-Tamu Cooper was already doing the work.
She understood early that natural hair was never just about style. It was about identity, self-acceptance, confidence, and freedom.
In 2001, she launched the Natural Hair Care Expo, envisioning it as a platform to educate, inspire, and build community around natural hair and holistic beauty. Over the last 22-plus years, the expo has grown into a landmark event, bringing together stylists, educators, product creators, authors, and advocates committed to celebrating textured hair and Black culture. The expo has consistently evolved alongside the changing landscape of beauty and empowerment — offering workshops, demonstrations, panel discussions, and conversations around the cultural significance of natural hair.
More than a beauty event, the Natural Hair Care Expo became part of a broader movement. Through her leadership, Malaika has helped normalize natural hair in professional spaces, schools, media, and everyday life — empowering countless individuals to reject shame and embrace authenticity. She has also used her platform to promote events like “Happy Nappy Day” and other regional initiatives centered on self-love, cultural pride, and Black beauty acceptance throughout Baltimore and beyond.
She is also a published author. Her book, Beautiful — available on Amazon — reflects the same philosophy that has guided her entire career: that beauty begins with self-acceptance and cultural affirmation.
Now, here is where I want to speak directly to why these awards matter.
This is about our $2 trillion in annual disposable income — and how we spend it and who we spend it with. It is about us re-circulating those dollars within our own communities. Look at the businesses that set up shop in our communities. Do they live here? If not, that means they are extracting dollars rather than recycling dollars. So, Malaika’s business must be a priority. Legacy Awards must be a priority. Shura at 6665 Security Blvd. has to become a priority. We must support our businesses. Malaika’s way has been just that for the past three decades.
She is ten toes down, ’bout it-’bout it, no doubt, won’t stop, can’t stop, all the way to the wall-type of down. One look at the determination in her eyes and you know you have met a sister of the ilk of a Maggie Walker, a Harriet Tubman, and an Ida B. Wells wrapped up in one. She’s business. She’s unity. She’s uplift. Yep — and some.
Personally, I love a determined spirit. I love a person who will not give up. No matter how many times life hits them, no matter how impossible a dream the dream might be — Malaika is that one individual who says bump all of the excuses and all of the reasons why it won’t work, and she effortlessly shows us what can be done. And unapologetically so.
Malaika-Tamu Cooper didn’t wait for the culture to catch up to her. She helped pull it forward — one loc, one expo, one conversation at a time. That kind of impact deserves recognition. Bravo to Dave Green for such a deserving nomination.
The Joe Manns Black Wall Street Awards — WOODLAWN will take place Thursday, June 4, 2026, from 6 to 8 p.m. at Shura, 6665 Security Boulevard, Woodlawn.
RSVP: blackwallstreetwoodlawn.eventbrite.com
Doni Glover is the founder and publisher of BMORENews.com, now in its 24th year of covering Black Baltimore, and the founder of the Joe Manns Black Wall Street Awards, now in its 15th year. He is also the host of the Emmy-nominated Doni Glover podcast and The Doni Glover Show on WMAR-TV 2.
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