Who is Ronnie Marie Paiva? Black woman selling hair goods accused by 'Karen' of selling drugs
SACRAMENTO, CALIFORNIA: A White woman reportedly accosted a Black woman and asked if she was dealing drugs in a public park. The encounter was captured on video and has since gone viral on TikTok and other social media platforms.
The video, shared on Thursday, July 22, by TikTok user @prettii_tb, showed the Black woman making a delivery to a client on her bicycle. As she approached her customer’s waiting car, an unnamed White woman told her that her drop-offs looked "like a drug deal.”
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Who is Ronnie Marie Paiva?
The Black woman making the delivery was Paiva, the owner of Marie’s Luxury Hair Extensions. Paiva showed the White woman that the items in her bicycle basket were not drugs – they were a bundle of extensions and other hair accessories. “Ma’am. Do you see what this is? Hair extension,” she said.
Paiva also informed the woman that she was a resident in the neighborhood and that she owned a legitimate business going on seven years and paid over $50,000 in taxes. When asked why she was selling her products at the park, Paiva said, “Because I can. It’s a public park.”
She added, “Do you own the park? Can people pick up here? It’s just a pickup.” The White woman then insisted that “everyone” in the area was worried about “the girl on the bike dealing drugs.” Paiva then told her to call the authorities. The woman said she preferred not to call the cops but warned Paiva that someone else might.
Following the video going viral, Paiva said she woke up to messages of support for keeping her calm in the midst of dealing with a “Karen”. Speaking with The Grio, Paiva said that she was “grateful for the experience,” adding, “Jesus turned into a moment for His Glory.”
She said that on the day of the incident, she didn’t think much of the encounter “because when you know who you are, where you came from, and where you’re headed … you don’t let anymore take you out of your character.” Paiva said of the “Karen” in question, “I don’t know if she was a racist or not, but I know she was ignorant and nosey.”
“But I say you ‘kill a Karen’ with success,” she said. “I don’t want to give her any shine. I’m here to serve my clients, provide an amazing product with excellent customer service. And that’s all I have the time to focus on.” She also said that she hasn’t stopped using that park for her pickups, maintaining that she hasn’t had any complaints from her other neighbors.
Speaking with TMZ, Paiva said that she hopes the woman had learned her lesson. She also said that she does not want the woman to lose her job or get canceled over the incident – as has happened on several occasions in the recent years. She said that “kindness is how you kill a Karen." She said that the positive support from customers and strangers on the Internet was the best way to discourage this kind of behavior, adding that she was not planning to take any legal action against the woman.