Where do I even start? My conversation with Serrita Sy (pronounced see), owner of Wrapologie, was nothing short of magic happening in the universe. She had me feeling like Black was the thing to be. But seriously, Serrita epitomized my very purpose and vision for this blog. She gave me hope that this platform is moving in a blessed direction by spotlighting the journey of future leaders like her. Let me tell you why.
I walked into this interview excited to meet the person behind Wrapologie. After scanning the Instagram account and website, I saw the talent Serrita has with making gorgeous ethnic head wraps. When products excite me, I get eager to meet the creative mind(s) behind them, especially with our Black people. Our talents amaze me every day. So, here I am with this preconceived notion that Serrita was a seamstress who inherited her mother’s talents to sew, and I completely lied to myself. Little did I know her story would move me to persevere in my own journey of my ancestry. So here we are— let’s meet Serrita Sy of Wrapologie…
Growing Up Black
“If you don’t know where you came from, you don’t know where you’re going.”
A quote Serrita recollects in reflection of her childhood. Her mom would recite this as a way to convey to her children the importance of their Black culture.
Serrita Sy (also known as Dehati Sy), a second-born, raised in Columbus, Ohio, of a father from Louisville, Kentucky and mother from Cleveland, Ohio. I listened warmly as Serrita explained her childhood growing up with a mother that was very vocal about their heritage at an early age, intentionally exposing her and her sister to African culture and art. Her mom was a vendor at several events making certain to bring Serrita and her sibling along. When she finally experienced Africa as a college student for the first time, it was like a long-awaited meeting with her ancestors. I could only imagine the feeling of rich heritage walking through the warm soils of Africa.
One of Serrita’s fondest memories growing up Black is being with her siblings, “riding a bike nonchalantly without a care in the world,” playing with her sister and doing her hair.
“I cherish everything, especially now that my father has passed away. It’s makes you like hone in on getting a glimpse of those little moments as opposed to trying to have those big moments because it’s the little moments you remember the most.”
When Serrita’s parents marriage dissolved, she gained three more siblings from both her mother and father. Fighting to be seen and heard made her feel as if she had a bit of a middle child syndrome. But what I admired was that Serrita chose to see the beauty in her situation.
Being surrounded by her newly extended family allowed her to learn how to connect and communicate with different personalities.
“I’m at this connecting block of all these individuals but the great thing about it is that I’m a very sociable person. I feel like because of their situation, it made me not be close-minded with individuals and what they go through.”
At the time God was also setting her up for relationship-building with her soon-to-be clients.
The vision was being conceived.
Birthing a Black Business
Serrita Sy, Wrapologie
“I love to play with fabrics. In my mind like when I’m manifesting where I want my business to be and I am traveling the world, I’m looking at fabrics that are unheard of or just like breathtakingly gorgeous. I’m figuring out ways to create a mesh. Because essentially, I am an African American. I recognize that my ancestors walked this land and they created a life for themselves here, so I respect that work. And I try to find fabrics that represent America, for a lack of better words, such as the stripes and polka dots and I try to infuse it with African [patterns] because I feel like that’s what I am.”
-Serrita Sy, Wrapologie
At the age of 16, Serrita begged her mom for a sewing machine that her mom eventually blessed her with but without the gift of teaching her how to sew. I was surprised to hear that no seamstresses were in her family tree, but apparently, God gave her a natural gift. Yet, it would be years before she actually put it to use it.
Hearing the significance the sewing machine played in her life put me in the mind of our how I view our Black ancestors’ faith and spirituality.
“To know and think back on how old it was but vital it was— how much of a role it played in my life.”
That thing hit me because so much of our African American history was advanced through the meticulous stitching with our hands or sewing machines. Stitching is storytelling and our stitches tells our story. They personify our creativity, love, and togetherness we have as a culture so that when it’s all comes together over the years, you’ve created this intricate beautiful invaluable product that has depth— Black lineage.
Speaking of family, in 2002, Serrita took on the name Dehati Sy (by her then friend and now husband) after traveling to Dakar, Senegal in West Africa while working with a traditional West African dance company. When traveling back and forth, her husband’s family would always greet her with a gift of fabric— a true gift that would manifest it’s way later into her life.
Learning who she was with her travels to Africa made Serrita want to “rediscover and re-love” herself. She would dance with wigs and wraps that she felt hid who she was until one day, she decided to change it. She needed to find something that could stabilize her hair while she danced but could also unhide the beauty of her natural hair. Unknowingly, Serrita’s vision had been birthed in her own challenges. God already laid the foundation when her mother had sewn a seed with the sewing machine. She tested the waters with head wraps for children first as not to overwhelm herself but then a high demand for adult head wraps followed.
Thus, Wrapologie was born in 2015.
“It’s a story that just kind of tells itself. It just came out of the sky almost, you know? It was something that I know I needed and then, it presented itself.”
Continue reading about Serrita Sy in “Wrapologie is Not Just A Head Wrap – Story II”
Wrapologie
wrapologie.com
wrapologie@aol.com
G.O.R.E.E. Drum & Dance
1676 E. Broad St
Columbus, OH 43203
goreedrumanddance.org
www.goreedrumdance@aol.com
