Samaria J’s Salon Fosters Community, Fighting for Environmental and Racial Justice

Passing by the beautifully painted mural on the side of Samaria J’s Salon, you’d never know it was once a burned out, vacant building. Owner Synia Gant-Jordan wears many hats: the founder of Legacy & Love LLC and a licensed realtor, Gant-Jordan has spent the last three decades transforming the salon into a hub for collective action, bringing together leaders, propagating new ideas, and advocating for environmental and racial justice.

Her business was always much more than a place for women to get their hair done. 

“My space is a welcoming free-to-speak zone that encompasses women of all ages that come and share their voices and are looking for ways they can get involved in community” says Jordan. 

A Thriving Space for Community Action 

In addition to the services the salon provides, Samaria J’s serves as a meeting place for community organizers and groups that want to create positive change, including:

• C4 (Community Collaboration on Climate Change), where Jordan serves on the leadership team.
• Brothers in Development, a group including Jordan’s husband that hosts meetings to discuss critical issues. 
• The Grand Rapids African American Community Task Force, a group dedicated to creating a deep impact in the community for Black people. 
• Sistas in Development, a community development organization that seeks to empower and uplift women and their families.
• The Southwest Business Association, a local business and community advocacy organization that promotes economic welfare of the community.
• Black Voices @ The River, a community-led initiative focused on ensuring equitable opportunities in new developments along the Grand River.
• Women’s groups promoting financial literacy and access to credit.

Samaria J’s Salon is also a space used to advocate for environmental justice. Jordan facilitates meetings there regarding heavy truck traffic in the surrounding Roosevelt Park Neighborhood, where there is an ordinance in place to limit exhaust fumes in residential areas that is not being enforced. Heavy truck traffic is responsible for an outsized proportion of the neighborhood’s air quality problems and poses threats to the climate and serious human health risks. 

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Community engagement and community connection are not limited to the four walls of Samaria J’s salon. Jordan also holds parking lot party events to bring the community together. 

Synia Jordan: Stylist, Activist, Sustainability Leader

Even outside of organized gatherings, Jordan often brings these topics to the patrons of her salon. A new client may sit down thinking she was only getting a new hairstyle, and leave with a better understanding of racial disparities in her community, the climate emergency, and ways to live a more sustainable life, all from speaking with Jordan.

Jordan’s hopes of the future include Samaria J’s leading as an environmentally sustainable business, making investments in energy efficiency and renewable energy. She hopes to use this as an opportunity for people in her community to learn the trade of installing solar panels while reducing her business’s emissions and demonstrating the importance of the practice to the neighborhood. 

“My goal was always for my space to be a hub to where people learn and grow, so when they go home they can share that knowledge with someone else,” says Jordan.