HairNomics – The Politrix of Black Hair

I ran across Msnbc journalist Melissa Perry’s story and thought it interesting how much popularity of what many are calling the “Natural Hair Movement” is getting!

I know there are some ladies reject that the notion that it is a “movement.” Many, including myself  would contend that its not just a mere movement or trend, but more of an “awakening” & acceptance of the natural opulence of beauty we posesses & a rejection of the european concepts of what has been regarded as “beauty” for far too long.

I’m beyond elated that these discussions about our hair are begining to surface in the mainstream media– especially the economic side of it.

After all,

  • Black hair care is a $9 billion industry.
  • 30% to 34% of all hair products in the U.S. are purchased by black women. And weaves, worn by women of all ethnicities but especially by black women, account for 65% of hair-care revenue!
  • The hair comes from a variety of sources: India, Asia, Russia, Brazil, Mongolia and Malaysia.
  • There are only a handful of black hair care product manufacturers—most are international conglomerates.
  • Korean vendors have cornered the market on the sale and distribution of hair weave through their beauty shops.

Now, since we know that Black women account for 65% of hair-care revenue, why is it that we dont see even ONE percent of Black owned beauty supply stores? The Asian community it capitalizing BIG TIME off of our hair care because they KNOW the value we place on our hair. They also know that no matter how low the economy will get, Black women will ALWAYS make sure she gets her hair done! Thing is, many of them refuse to do business with us & they use their language to lock us out of getting involved in a market that is all about Black beauty! My People, we are seriously missing out on a TREMENDOUS opportunity to help ourselves economically as a group. Since we know that  the Black community is economically disadvantaged, we should be looking toward dominating the market in industries where we spend the MOST! If we could buy from and sell products to ourselves, this would be a  way to help ourselves out of the postion we are in.

 

This is why see something key here with regard to the new awakening & acceptance of Natural Black hair! I’ve noticied in the price slashing of perms & other chemical products in the Asian beauty supply stores. I would love to think its because our sistars are waking up & realizing that these chemicals have done more harm than good for our hair.

 

Grassroot startups like Nikki Walton of CurrlyNikki.com & Kim Love of “Kimmytube” & LuvNaturals.com have proven that there is a growing demand for education, tools and techniques that will work to care for OUR  hair. I encourage more Black women to embrace their natural hair, because we need Stylists, unique products, educators — this is a big industry and there’s room for everyone.  I think that going natural is a outstanding way for Black Women to take back the hair/beauty industry! Nobody knows how to care for our hair better than US, so who else SHOULD be reaping the greatest benefit from the BILLION DOLLAR industry on OUR HAIR, other than US??

Love yourselves & LETS BUILD!

~Dallas

Journey Back 2 Roots- Bantu Twist Debut (Video)

This is a video blog of my very FIRST bantu twist EVER!

I went natural back in June of 2011 & this is a short chronicle of my experience going out into the world w/my first natural hairstyle.

It’s honest. It’s real. & its ALL me!

The Big Business of Weaves and African-American Hair

 

 

 

weaves

 

 

The Big Business of Weaves and African-American Hair | The Atlanta Post.

 

Ohhh the cash I spent getting my hair done!!!  For the most part, was a addicted to the mink yaki! I shudder at the thought to think what that dollar amount comes out to!!! I kinda knew in my heart it was a lil excessive, but I remember thinking it didn’t matter HOW much time it took, or how much it cost me, (within reason of my budget) I just  had to get my hair done! That’s what addicts do, don’t they?

Especially  during the years when I was doing television,

hosting my show The TAKEOVAH & was performing alot  around town on stage.

I figured if I was going to be visible to the masses,

I needed to look my best and well….the natural crop I had underneath was hardly appealing. I felt like it was an “investment” well  worth it because anything was better than people  seeing my “nappy” (cant stand that term btw) head & my messy “kitchen” in the back of my head, right?!

I remember feeling myself a lil bit when I had a short appearance on the Tyra banks show.

When I went in for make-up/wardrobe, the hairstylist didn’t even have to do anything to my hair because I came IN there fly!

There was a time that I was thankful I had a weave due to some serious damage someone had done to my hair. The entire crown center of my hair was uprooted & I was completely bald. How else could I have covered this ghastly eyesore?

But I admit, that was just a justifiable excuse for me to spend the money. It’s really incredible to think what I could’ve done w/all that money, considering the fact I was getting it done every MONTH! No wonder people in the beauty supply industry wasn’t worried about business going down due to the economy because of the thousands…no millions of Black women who had the same mentality I once had. Last I heard, it was a 9 BILLION dollar a year industry and growing!

Below is a great video report on the issue that really gets to the core of what this means for Black women, & why I think, many should take a deeper look at what it is we’re really doing.  Not  just to  reevaluate whether or not we should or shouldn’t wear weaves or go natural–that’s an individual choice each woman makes for her own reason—but how we can begin benefiting from it economically.

WATCH

Now, I’m not saying for every Black woman in America to throw out their tracks, but what I would like for more of us to consider taking VERY seriously is the economic aspect of our  hair, because OUR HAIR is big business for everyone else EXCEPT US!!! Can you imagine if Black women were recycling that 9 BILLION among ourselves? What kinda of impact that would have in our community?

If we’re going to be spending a collective 9 Billion plus on hair & hair care products, I would love to see Black women and men, redirect that money into our OWN Beauty Supply stores, and consider taking back what other non-black businesses are gratefully & gladly benefiting off of. At some point we gotta reverse the mentality of taking so much pride in being consumers & focus on more on being producers of what we spend the bulk of our income on annually. One community at a time.

 

Or is this just all “wishful” thinking?

Your thoughts??

Pi Nappa Kappa: The Natural Hair ‘Sorority’ <–Oh, okay, coo!…Wait, a WHAT??

 

 

Pi Nappa Kappa: The Natural Hair ‘Sorority’.

 

*eh hem*

Ooohkay.

First, let me begin by saying, that since I have gone Natural, I am definitely a big proponent for being “proud” of donning my God-given crown of glory w/out shame or inhibition. After all, the freedom from combs, brushes, & fear of water are just a few perks that I’ve come to thoroughly enjoy while having embarked on this journey.  Not to mention the supreme boost of confidence doing so has impacted my inner AND outer self-image.

 

Along my journey, I’ve  traveled across a seemingly endless string of websites, forums, support groups and youtube videos.  To  my surprise, I’ve found many sistas that are open, friendly & go out of their way to assist, share tips, support & encourage “new naturals,” “natural curious”  & “OG’s” alike.

“Yes!,” I thought. FINALLY…I discovered a sense of true “sisterhood” among my kindred Black Queens that I’ve never really experienced before prior to my hair transformation.

This is all good right?

Sure it is!

HOWEVER, today, I ran across an article on  Huffington Post Black Voices (via a post from the Natural Hair Group on Facebook) with a headline that read: Pi Nappa Kappa: The Natural Hair ‘Sorority.  

O_o

A HAIR SORORITY??? OK…Imma cut straight to my point b/c when reviewing the website (corrction, it was not an offical website, but a “pledge page” generated by UK based site called Mysocial) my critical thinker immediately noticed something a little, well, you know…”interesting” about the presentation.

    1.  ”bank?” that is the operative word here that tipped me off that $ is involved …”I’ll do it, but ONLY if you’ll help?” –really? if you’re really interested in true “sisterhood” why don’t you “Nike” your plan & JUST DO IT? Others will see your passion & catch the fire.
    2.  okay, I see, the founder OF the sorority says “I WILL PLEDGE TO BE A PI NAPPA KAPPA NATURAL HAIR SOROR…but ONLY IF 10k other natural hair “people” will do the same? So we’ere just “people” now, not “sisters??” Excuse me, WHY would the founder need to PLEDGE their own sorority? Let ALONE that it be contingent upon 10,000 other “people” doing it to? *strokes chin* hmmm…oh–& what do you know, there’s a DEADLINE. I get it, but no.
    3. There IS NO official “website” Just the pledge page & the Facebook Page.
    4. This sister did a youtube video commentary on the matter, that prompted me to raise even further questions regarding the sincerity & legitimacy of this “sorority”:

5.  Last but not least, when you go to Founder’s  FB page  I had a raised eyebrow b/c when i sent a friend request, and saw the message “sorry, this person already has too many friend requests”…but she only has 74 subscribers tho. “/  *sigh* So i googled her. I found that she is a “founder” (no correction, Executive Director) of other organization called shoes4schools.org, some healthy juice product & a few other misc. things. Looks like there’s not much background information on her, which i found odd, as Huffington Post decribed her as a “self-proclaimed authority on natural hair.” Most women that have the guts to claim such a title usually would have  scores of blogs, videos, tips & other natural hair resources already on the web to reference.

On the contrary. I found very little on Sister Anifowoshe. What  I DID find however, is a press release about her from 2007 about Leola Anifowoshe that dubbed her as, The “Homebased Business Queen.”  Based on the internet searches on her, that sounds a lil more like it.  Look, Im no expert on these kinda things, but I’d like to believe I have a lil common sense.  Typically, you would  think that when you get press from a popular news source like Huffington Post, one would generally “assume”  there would be current write up about the founder of  a new “sorority.” I mean, at LEAST some youtube videos of tips, styles, SOMETHING!  But to no avail,  allz I found was a bunch of miscellaneous profiles with very little content of who she is & what she’s really about.

***side note**** Not to mention the fact I ran across one video from her shoe org. that she had a annotation saying she was out of breath from dealing w/boxes ….yet  ran across an interview where she had similar difficulty  breathing  (i swear im not making this up…please click the links & watch for yourself). Im in NO WAY making fun of her health issue…its just an observation of inconsistencies .*****

Dont get me wrong, I’m all for sisterhood & all, but I hardly think that a “natural hair sorority” is something I would want to be a apart of (especially since I can’t stand cliques). I can appreciate Ms. Anifowoshe’s efforts in attempt to unify us and promote sisterhood, but I think naturals just BEING natural is a dynamic that creates the spirit of sisterhood amongst ourselves. I know enough naturals in my own sphere of influence in my real life, as well as social networking communities that I glean abundant unconditional love & support from when it comes to caring for natural hair.
Am I looking too deep into this?
Maybe its late & I just need to go to bed.
I really want to be wrong about this one.
Just BE mindful.
I have nothing against anyone that would decide to join this sorority, but please, take the time to do your OWN research & find out what the “organization” is all about before you go all out spending time & money  joining & being apart of something just because it “sounds good.”
That goes for ANY organization you may find of intrest my sistas.
Jah Bless!

Hip-Hop N’ Politics: The Anniversary Of Black Panther Assata Shakur Escaping Prison And Fleeing To Cuba [Video]

 

 

Next to Mama Claudette , this woman has been & always will be one of the most beloved Black She-roes of our time!
Great article & rare video  interview!!!

Hip-Hop N’ Politics: The Anniversary Of Black Panther Assata Shakur Escaping Prison And Fleeing To Cuba [Video]