The Bronner Brothers have been making hair care products for OUR commmunity for over 70 Years.

Support BLACK Business
Purchase Bronner Brother Hair Care Products
http://www.blackrefer.com/beauty7.html

Not only should we buy black-owned products, can we PLEASE stop going to the Asians for our hair products! They are ripping us off. I know it’s at least three of their stores in every black neighborhood in every major city. It just doesn’t make sense.

As if they have any idea of how to care for black hair!

WOW!

More information about a BLACK OWNED HAIR CARE COMPANNY, Bronner Brothers:

The Company

Bronner Bros. is a privately held, family owned company. It was founded in 1947 by Dr. Nathaniel H. Bronner, Sr. and his brother Arthur E. Bronner, Sr. (see history). Today Bronner Bros. is headed by the second generation. Bernard Bronner leads the company as president and CEO.

The Bronner Bros. Enterprise consists of Bronner Bros. Beauty Products which include BB, African Royale and Nu Expressions product lines, UPSCALE Magazine, Cottonwood Hot Springs Spa and Motel in Alabama, Bronner Bros. International Beauty and Trade Shows, The Word of Faith Family Worship Center, and The Ark of Salvation Worship Center. Bronner Bros. employs over 300 full time and part time staff members, operate two manufacturing facilities, one shipping facility, two beauty stores, one hair weaving studio, public relations office, and our corporate headquarters located in Marietta, GA.

This is really sickening. When I watched it there was a knot in my stomach.

on Friday, September 8, 2006 @ 10:32 am

BEANS said:
——————————————————————————–

Not only should we buy black-owned products, can we PLEASE stop going to the Asians for our hair products! They are ripping us off. I know it’s at least three of their stores in every black neighborhood in every major city. It just doesn’t make sense.

As if they have any idea of how to care for black hair!

Bill Said:
……And what’s Up with NAIL CARE ???
How come only ASIANS own NAIL SALONS ???

I normally do not post on CL, but I am passionate about the topic… ANGELA, BRIAN, and TIANNA, please put this word out often on this site. If you think about all the money we as black people spend on hair care, it is a shame. A Shame because that money leaves the black community immediately… NEVER to be seen again. NEVER! I have so much info on this topic it is a shame. The asains have cut us out of the market, but we let it happen and WE continue to let it go on. I will not go to an asian store to buy products. Even if I know it is cheaper. It is sad to say, but I rather give to the white man at sally’s or walmart than the asain…. Now buy hair is a problem. That’s why I stopped wearing braids. The asains have 100% of that market. WAKE UP!

i have not even watched the 2,3 and 4th part but darn it I am mad. That is how they do us they take ALL our ideas and copy. shit the whole us of !@!@#$%^&*() a has swagger jacked us!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! And we are so navie that we don’t even think that it matter because we are getting a knock off cheap. Just like music we will listen to this crap now and days and be happy when we should be damanding better!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! in everything not just music or hair or anything ” balck” related. Hell they did not even let us keep peanut butter.ie:;\

Agricultural chemist, Carver discovered three hundred uses for peanuts and hundreds more uses for soybeans, pecans and sweet potatoes. Among the listed items that he suggested to southern farmers to help them economically were his recipes and improvements to/for: adhesives, axle grease, bleach, buttermilk, chili sauce, fuel briquettes, ink, instant coffee, linoleum, mayonnaise, meat tenderizer, metal polish, paper, plastic, pavement, shaving cream, shoe polish, synthetic rubber, talcum powder and wood stain. Only three patents were every issued to Carver.

Sorry that is off the topic but still it just goes to show how are are bieing cheated and allowing our selfs to being cheated out of our glories.

yea bill I am with on that one that is one of the main reasons I stopped getting mine done to !!!
pkus it seems like they damage your natural nails on purpose and then they want to treat us like sh@t.

Bill Said:
……And what’s Up with NAIL CARE ???
How come only ASIANS own NAIL SALONS ???

I have always told people that the products on the counters in stores are not for black woman. Since when does a white woman know what a black woman should use for her hair? They even tried to make Pantene for black women and made the bottle brown. How racist is that? Then the shit made my hair hard as a rock and that’s because my hair is very fine and curly so they think every black woman has uncontrollable hair. The shit you see on those commercials Dove, Fruitis, Pantene, John Frieda it’s not for us period. Black women have to learn to leave their hair alone and let it grow naturally on it’s own. All the perms and coloring ruins the hair. I have always had really long hair but right now I have a weave in it so I don’t have to deal with it in the winter. Last year when I took my weave out my hair was healthy because there were no chemicals in it. They put that stuff out there to destroy our hair. They don’t want us to have anything and we have to wake up!

Preach CocoBeans !!!

I hear you !!!

ISN’T ARON A WHITE MAN? As far as I know he is. (I could be misinformed, but when I googled him before I wrote this, a white man’s face popped up) I don’t know why it’s a surprise to people. When we go get our packs of hair, who hands us a receipt? An asian person that was watching our every move as soon as we checked our bags at their front door. Many of the products are made in Asian countries, so you know they will only export to their own. Maybe Tyra or Beyonce will start a hair care line

I knew that most hair care products targeted to African-American women are manufactured by non black owned manufacturers. I mean we as black people don’t want to see another black person succeed. The only thing we are successful at is killing one another and keeping each other down. And when black movies come out we don’t support them either. They are there for us to go see and not to bootleg. Perfect example:Idlewild. Willie Lynch is really succeeding right now.

Whoa thanks for this link….verrry interesting

In the words of willie lynch
for the one who don’t know what he was about.

“Gentlemen. I greet you here on the bank of the James River in the year of our Lord one thousand seven hundred and twelve. First, I shall thank you, the gentlemen of the Colony of Virginia, for bringing me here. I am here to help you solve some of your problems with slaves. Your invitation reached me on my modest plantation in the West Indies, where I have experimented with some of the newest and still the oldest methods for control of slaves. Ancient Rome’s would envy us if my program is implemented. As our boat sailed south on the James River, named for our illustrious King, whose version of the Bible we Cherish, I saw enough to know that your problem is not unique. While Rome used cords of wood as crosses for standing human bodies along its highways in great numbers, you are here using the tree and the rope on occasions. I caught the whiff of a dead slave hanging from a tree, a couple miles back. You are not only losing valuable stock by hangings, you are having uprisings, slaves are running away, your crops are sometimes left in the fields too long for maximum profit, You suffer occasional fires, your animals are killed. Gentlemen, you know what your problems are; I do not need to elaborate. I am not here to enumerate your problems, I am here to introduce you to a method of solving them. In my bag here, I HAVE A FULL PROOF METHOD FOR CONTROLLING YOUR BLACK SLAVES. I guarantee every one of you that if installed correctly IT WILL CONTROL THE SLAVES FOR AT LEAST 300 HUNDREDS YEARS. My method is simple. Any member of your family or your overseer can use it. I HAVE OUTLINED A NUMBER OF DIFFERENCES AMONG THE SLAVES; AND I TAKE THESE DIFFERENCES AND MAKE THEM BIGGER. I USE FEAR, DISTRUST AND ENVY FOR CONTROL PURPOSES. These methods have worked on my modest plantation in the West Indies and it will work throughout the South. Take this simple little list of differences and think about them. On top of my list is “AGE” but it’s there only because it starts with an “A.” The second is “COLOR” or shade, there is INTELLIGENCE, SIZE, SEX, SIZES OF PLANTATIONS, STATUS on plantations, ATTITUDE of owners, whether the slaves live in the valley, on a hill, East, West, North, South, have fine hair, course hair, or is tall or short. Now that you have a list of differences, I shall give you a outline of action, but before that, I shall assure you that DISTRUST IS STRONGER THAN TRUST AND ENVY STRONGER THAN ADULATION, RESPECT OR ADMIRATION. The Black slaves after receiving this indoctrination shall carry on and will become self refueling and self generating for HUNDREDS of years, maybe THOUSANDS. Don’t forget you must pitch the OLD black Male vs. the YOUNG black Male, and the YOUNG black Male against the OLD black male. You must use the DARK skin slaves vs. the LIGHT skin slaves, and the LIGHT skin slaves vs. the DARK skin slaves. You must use the FEMALE vs. the MALE. And the MALE vs. the FEMALE. You must also have you white servants and over- seers distrust all Blacks. But it is NECESSARY THAT YOUR SLAVES TRUST AND DEPEND ON US. THEY MUST LOVE, RESPECT AND TRUST ONLY US. Gentlemen, these kits are your keys to control. Use them. Have your wives and children use them, never miss an opportunity. IF USED INTENSELY FOR ONE YEAR, THE SLAVES THEMSELVES WILL REMAIN PERPETUALLY DISTRUSTFUL. Thank you gentlemen.”

fear, distrust, envy. I see it all working in us every day. young against the old. male against female. light skinned vs dark skinned. Blacks don’t trust each other and we are quick to jump to the white man defense.

Look at the never ending cycle. When will we be the race that we are supposed to be. We can trust each other so we rather give our money to who??!!!!
oh, don’t get me started. I am done I will say no more.
Sorry

You know, this mess really makes me heated. I had noticed a long while back that Asians run all the beauty supply stores, but I did not know that they were in on the production and distribution end as well! Not only do they come into our communities and set up hair supply stores, but liquor stores, gas stations, whatever other method they can devise to take our money. These people and this country don’t give a flying shit about us! No one in this world is gonna take care of us except us, and some of us get a little something and are so busy trying to feel important and make our brother feel bad about himself that we just get stuck in this downward spiral! When will we realize that we are being used, abused, and treated like stepchildren?! We built this damn country! Not white folks, not Koreans, not Hispanics, but BLACK FOLKS!!! Other races are still profitting off of us, it’s just sickening! I wish I knew the companies who truly are black owned and not cheap imitations, b/c I have a feeling, I too have been hoodwinked for awhile now!

Well Dayum I’am a stylist and had no idea! {going to a corner and hiding my face} Thanks for posting this Angel.La i will be spreading the word this is so WOW! and @ 10 yes thats true about the panteen and it says for women of color thats….whew fucked up!

damn yall just finding this out…

…and we all know the majority of black people are consumers and not producers…

thats something we really need to work on within our communities

I don’t wear weave so I don’t know how cost effective it is or anything, but I think that we should just wear our natural hair anyway because we have the most beautiful curly hair, wavy hair, or whichever pattern you may have. If your hair is short, rock it. We are poisoned by the videos and media everytime we look at ourselves we see something wrong. God made us the way we are and he has never made anything or anyone ugly in His eyes.

As far as hair product; lotion, gels, etc., we should keep it black owned. Black owned products are probably the only ones which really work for us anyway.

Here’s my question: Why are we getting all riled up and pissed off when at least half of the women on here patronize these stores and salons? Everybody is getting mad, but guess what: You been knew Asains were running things. Stop acting like this is news. It’s not. And you knew because your asses were in Chin’s store getting a bag of Kanekelon Premuim for a dollar a pop and a bag of Yaki for $9.99! And You paid for it. Know why? Because you wanted to save the rest of your money for those nice set of rims that Mr. Guido was selling or that nice grill Mr. Burkenstein just made for you.

People should have been woken up. This is nothing new. And I have a feeling that this information will continue to fall on deaf ears because you can’t change your behavioral patterns until you change your mentality. You won’t change your mentality until you change your habits and it’s clear to me that old habits die hard. Black people will never prosper as long as they fail to realize the value and true power of money and the spending power that they have.

So while we’re all on here bitching about the Quans ripping us off, just ask yourself: When was the last time you put that money into a money market account rather than used it to go get your hair did!

PS, J. Lewis, I Cosign to the Nth power.

this is what we are supposed to be focusing on. let’s stop wasting time oohing and aahing at music videos, and get some education on. even if your ass is to lazy to go to a classs, you can take a class online or tv courses. it is not just the Asians, it is also the Arabs, and then they go back to their families and talk about how our brothers are lined up outside the liquor store before it even opens, or how our sisters will spend their last dimes on Korean hair, when obviously what the itch needs is hair care not hair cover up. media is entertainment (music videos) not a how to guide to get through life. stop thinking you are going to sell just enough to buy a house, stop thinking if i get this kinda weave or dress like so and so i’m gonna hook me a baller. that is gettin us nowhere

This doesn’t just apply to hair care products, we need to become owners of anything we have ideas about. If your not an business owner in American you just a slave, because your just slaving to pay your bills. John Singleton painted the same picture in “Baby Boy”, when Tyreese was selling clothes. He made the charater realize if your not selling anything your just buying every and your never gonna have a peice of the pie. A lot of people miss that point in the movie.

I just watched the video and I’am disgusted I need to leave Cl and gather myself…

I was told by an African- American studies professor years ago, that very few companies that sell black hair products are actually owned by blacks. In fact most of these companies attempt to have the most african names and try to include the word “african” in their products to make blacks think that it is a black owned company. This professor explained that black owned companies that sell hair products usually have a symbol on them- which is a woman with hair down her back- this symobl could be found on Luster’s beauty products (ex. pink oil mosturizers) and others. I forgot what the symbol is called- but apparently black owned companies join this organization to have this symbol placed on their products- if the symbol is not there- then 90% chance that it is not black owned..

@#22 - your tone was a bit harsh, but i must say, i kind of agree with you. for all of the people who are mad about what you learned in the video, what are you going to do? sadly, i don’t think most black women will stop patronizing asian beauty supply stores or buying their products. and a boycott is simply out of the question, because hair is the black woman’s achilles heel.

the possible solutions are to (1) wear your natural hair, (2) buy black, or (3) reclaim a spot on the production and distribution end. Asians will fight option 3 to the death; option #2 is problematic (how does the average consumer know what is black owned? just because it has black people on the label doesn’t mean we own it). option #1 has the most likelihood of success and it will get at the asian retailers where it hurts.

I believe that the Only way that the Black Race can CONTINUE to succeed is through ECONOMIC EMPOWERMENT

We should Own EVERYTHING in our community.
There should not be a reason for other races to come into OUR community and make money off of us.

We should own EVERY Cleaners
We should own EVERY Check Cashing Store.
We Should own every Corner Store & Market

Now…here is a PAINFUL TRUTH:
You can’t really say that we as a Black race have not had a chance to own & operate stores in OUR community…

Back in the 70’s, when I was growing up, the Black Race) owned & operated everything in Newark, Bed Sty Brooklyn, Crown Heights Brooklyn & Harlem.

I think what happend to destroy our dignity & self worth is DRUGS.

Once Crack Cocaine entered our community in 1985, Blacks no longer had a DESIRE to own & operate our own businesses.

Reason: Black Business Owner were tired of getting Robbed by Crackheads
**This is why MY father, a Black Business Owner SOLD his Business. He couldn’t afford the Insurance, was tired of getting robbed at gunpoint every month…He said His Life wasn’t worth what was in the cash registar..

When I was a kid, The Nation of Islam had Newark, Harlem & Brooklyn on LOCK.

I use to go to their resturants..
Remember “Steak & Take”.That was a NOI enterprise !!!
If you can FIND a Black owned Business in the Urban Community it MAY be a Liquor store.

The Asian & Indian own all the Check Cashing places, Cleaners, Nail Salons, thing of substances.
Forget about the Chinese Food Take Out stores on every corners that sell chicken legs, Lucy’s & shrimp Fried Rice

THAT’S WHY I USE BRONNER BROTHERS, IT SAYS RIGHT THERE ON THE PACKAGE: 100% BLACK-OWNED BUSINESS

Angela,

Thank you so much for posting this. I saw this on Youtube and it blew me away. I think what bothers me the most is the apathy of our African American people about a subject that has such an economic impact on our community.

Before watching this film, I had no idea why African Americans were not in control of such a vital industry. NOW I KNOW WHY.

The least I could do is purchase the film. I will bring it to he salon where I get my hair done and hopefully others will do the same. I think this is a fight that can be won, but not without the support of the consumers.

This is one film we should BUY and not copy.

Thanks,

Kind.

#27 - Yes, my tone was harsh and I intended it to be that way. There’s a time to play and a time to get real. I have little sympathy for whiners. And just to make it clear, my statement was not specifically directed at anyone on this blog, It was intended for those who are always crying foul, the ones that swear the “man” is always holding them down, the ones that never support black business but complain when other nationalities take over a segment of a market and the ones that are really just clueless. You know who you are.

And don’t get me wrong. I’ve used Korean hair products in the past and currently. I’ve bought stuff from the corner store that the Arabs owned. I’ve eaten food that the Chines made. But I also use Black products and support black businesses as well.
In the real world you cannot limit yourself because it’s a global economy. But when certain Blacks cry about stuff like this it makes me wonder if those same blacks are doing anything to empower themselves or to create a future legacy for their kids. If not, then I have no sympathy and all that crying falls on deaf ears.

Let’s keep buying rims, grills, plasma TVs and all that other useless sh!t while continuing to have bad credit and live in Section 8 tenements. Let’s spend $85 on a perm we had to wait 4 hours to get or $200 on some braids some African took 12 hours to do and neglect to pay our cell phone bills. Let’s continue to be ignorant about financing, home ownership, and education but know every Beyonce lyric and every new dance move. We’ll get real far real fast.

Ms_Mac1

I cosign !
Sela & Amen…

The “man” isn’t holding us down.
We’re holding OURSELVES down

This is how you can tell:
Watch BET for a week, and you can SEE the IMAGES that WE put out about our race !!
* Although VIACOM OWNS BET, Blacks STILL control & Program BET. Debra Lee Controls EVERY Image, Every Video shown on BET !. Believe that !!

BET ain’t nothing but Nasty videos, followed by Commercials for Cell Phone Ring Tones, Sex Chat Lines, and Malt Licquor Ads !!!

See…. If we don’t say positive things about ourselves, who else would.

Now, I had the opportunity to watch “Flavor of Love” on MTV the other day, with Flavor Flav.

Now, I must admit, I had a GREAT time laughing at the Coonery Of Flavor Flav, and the Girls.

But…I thought about the show a few hours later, and I realized that Caucasians & Other Races watch these shows and form images in their minds about our race….

Something to think about.
Peace

I just wanted to let you all know which hair care companies are BLACK owned.

I ALWAYS buy products that have the “Proud Lady” on the back of the bottle.

There are even companies that are using the African flag and making you think that their product is Black owned. They (African Pride) even sued an actual Black owned company for the right to use the African Flag on their products.

Here is the link for the Black owned hair care companies!

http://www.ahbai.org/index.html

bill they had those images imbedded in their minds way before flava of love

flava of love just took it to whole notha level

in most of their minds we are seen as the entertainment
which is why i personally believe blacks succeed more in entertainment and sports than any other profession

we are not to be taken seriously

I agree that this is something that has been going on for a long time, shit too long, but Big ups for Mr. Aron for bringing it to the fore front and getting this issue the attention it deserves!

With that said, whew, this is overwhelming, I don’t even know where to start!

KoKa-touch said:
——————————————————————————–

I was told by an African- American studies professor years ago, that very few companies that sell black hair products are actually owned by blacks. In fact most of these companies attempt to have the most african names and try to include the word “african” in their products to make blacks think that it is a black owned company. This professor explained that black owned companies that sell hair products usually have a symbol on them- which is a woman with hair down her back- this symobl could be found on Luster’s beauty products (ex. pink oil mosturizers) and others. I forgot what the symbol is called- but apparently black owned companies join this organization to have this symbol placed on their products- if the symbol is not there- then 90% chance that it is not black owned..

on Friday, September 8, 2006 @ 12:27 pm

mezzo.soprano said:
——————————————————————————–

I just wanted to let you all know which hair care companies are BLACK owned.

I ALWAYS buy products that have the “Proud Lady” on the back of the bottle.

There are even companies that are using the African flag and making you think that their product is Black owned. They (African Pride) even sued an actual Black owned company for the right to use the African Flag on their products.

Here is the link for the Black owned hair care companies!

http://www.ahbai.org/index.html

Bill Said:
Since my wife & daughters spend a considerable amount of time & money at the Asian Hair Care Store, they very LEAST they can do is purchase BLACK OWNED HAIR CARE Products !!!
There is a specific symbol on Black Hair Care Products.

Look for that Symbol !
——————————————————
Koka Touch Said:
*This professor explained that black owned companies that sell hair products usually have a symbol on them- which is a woman with hair down her back- this symobl could be found on Luster’s beauty products (ex. pink oil mosturizers) and others. I forgot what the symbol is called- but apparently black owned companies join this organization to have this symbol placed on their products- if the symbol is not there- then 90% chance that it is not black owned..

OK, I’m on a roll right now so I gotta get one last thing off my chest about this topic (well, hopefully the last). Here’s my two cents about black businesses as well. I support them, but I am very selective about the ones I support. Case in point:

I live in the richest black community in the US so there are plenty of black businesses to support. In my neighborhood they recently built a new town center that is almost 90% populated by black businesses. There are three soul food restaurants in this town center.

Went to the first one and waited over an hour to be seated but never got seated and ended leaving because the power was out and none of the staff bothered to alert the customers that were waiting.

Went to the second one where the server had on a dirty ass apron, a purple weave that was hanging off the side of her head and she barely looked at me when I walked through the door. Hell, she didn’t even look at me the entire time I was placing my order.

Finally, I went to the third one. Walked in, was greeted with a smile, was addressed with a Yes Ma’am, Thank you Ma’am, Come Again Ma’am … you get the picture.

Which one do you think I’m going back to? This is another reason why so few of us succeed in business, be it hair, nails, beauty, whatever. We treat each other like sh!t, or as J. Lewis said, like crabs in a barrell.

Ladies, how many times have you walked into a black beauty salon for your appointment and didn’t have to wait for your beautician to get there?

Gentlemen, how often do you go into a store to buy something nice and get top notch service?

Just like that professor in that video said, the Koreans took over the market because they had support. They supported EACH OTHER. OK, so the US gov’t gave them a hand. BFD! They wouldn’t have succeeded if they did not support one another. PERIOD.

Bill, you’ve hit the nail on the head. How can we
expect to be treated well and expect doors to open for us if we can’t even treat ourselves well?

If those first two soul food businesses fail, I wouldn’t be the least suprised and I wouldn’t care. They did it to themselves. You can’t succeed in business if you don’t treat your customers right.

And for the record, that third business is expected to gross over a nice hefty profit by the end of this year and I hope they continue to thrive.

I PERSONALLY spend ALOT of time speaking about it and less time actually BEING ABOUT IT. But most of what I preach I DO PRACTICE.

Black people if you have ideas, concepts…if you know chemists who can take your idea to sample (and even a syndicate who can help bring it to market)…start thinking and BEING about it. PERIOD…particularly about black hair care products.

As for business ownership and practice and merchandising I will say this….Asians have direct links to overseas markets-for obvious reasons. They do big business in import and exporting products that have 100-200% built in mark up.

We need to think similarly with buying and building these structures with African countries.

I’m interested in hearing about people who are actually doing some of the BUILDING AND LESS OF THE RHETORIC.

let us not think that Asians and Arabs are the enemy, if someone makes a product that no one buys then that will send a message. these liquor establishments are out of control. before a store can open in your area they have to make an application , you can find their application in the classified section of the local paper. basically it says that John Doe wants to poen a store at 123 South May St. it will also include if they are seeking to obtain a liqour license. it also invites anyone who opposes this establishment to appear and tell why. all they need is three people to oppose and the store cannot be opened. and if you get you alderman involved that will really show them you mean business. if you read the classified it also list the names of the people who want to open the store and their address, so often you see people who live in suburban areas making applications in the city. so the information is there, we need to be proactive and use it

I use only Carol’s Daughter products because she is a sistah and I support these endeavors of black businesses. If u haven’t heard of her http://www.carolsdaughter.com and here’s some info on her http://abcnews.go.com/GMA/story?id=1405821

That being said.. I agree with everyone about blacks owning our own businesses.. but it’s also disheartening that it’s difficult to own these in our own neighborhoods because of destruction. For instance.. rioting in black neighborhoods destoying black businesses! What is that about?? You think white people are affected when we burn down black businesses?? No! And now what’s happening in DC is that corporations have bought up property in bad areas building million dollar condos. Can’t even afford to live in the hood anymore and black businesses in those neighborhoods are being squeezed out to make room for starbucks and all the yuppies trying to take over! Support your brothers and sisters folks its as simple as that.. instead of trying to interfere with the successes of black businesses.. help build them.

I agree wit #15 but also I have noticed black folks, are not big on acquiring assets, its not necessarily a bad thing, our history shows we are real lax when its comes to that sort of thing, the Moors and other African nations used to travel the world before and around the same time as the Europeans, but they just wanted to visit and learn, not conquer. Thats how we are, I think as a people we are rich inside and thats wat really matters, white folks inspire the world to run after money and try and conquer and own everything, so u can amass power and wealth, but that is y many of them lack true spirit and love, cuz its almost like when thats all u seek u sacrifice ur inner riches. Look i think black folks should own there things and acquire assets and wealth, its only fair if they work for it, but contrary to wat most think that will not fix our problems. In our rush to try and be like massa, has anyone ever realized that massa was a slave too, too his own greed and need to conquer. White folks are born brainwashed , believeing that the key to happiness is to have it all, and that is y they will do anything for it, and wat they did to the slaves, in their mind was a necessary means to an end. Do we really want to trade in one slave mentality that has led to poor finances but strong soul for another that has high financial gain but leads to a weak, almost nonexistant soul. And some will say u can have both, but history has shown u can’t, look at some blacks in the past, they used to own slaves when they became “free” and gained some wealth. How do we free ourselves then, i don’t know, yet, but starting from here is a good place, cuz most don’t look at it from this angle, cuz we all think riches is the answer. I understand we have been conditioned to dislike each other, but even after all that we are in my opinion the most loving race on the planet for all the wrongs that have been done to us by other races, we will accept and love our “enemies” with great ease, and in my opinion that makes us ahead even though the world says we are behind.

okay so now that everyone has vented and put others up or down for not knowing.

Where do we go from here?

I stopped being a slave to the product when I went natural but that was my choice and if I do purchase hair products it may be from a black owned company ie. oyin, carols daughter, or perhaps sally’s beauty supply or walmart or something like that.

Since it’s time to wake up as a people and everyone has gotten their venting out about our slave mentality what do you plan to do to make a change?

My plan is to educate my family and my own daughter and son about all aspects of life and to invest in themselves and their families and/or peoples to help one another out. And to stay away from those establishments.

Can somebody please school me as to why we stopped boycotting to get our points across?

Anyhoo that is my question for today. We can vent all we want cause in reality if you didn’t know about this I’m a little surprised this has been going on a LOOOONNGGGG time, BUT what will you do about it?

If you so mad about it, Do something about it ya feel me?

never underestimate the power of a educated sister or brother.

Remember Knowledge is power but wisdom is application.
~me lol

ms_mac1 I hear what you are saying. And you are right Black Business has GOT TO STEP UP ITS GAME. But its so fuckin cyclical its stupid. We suffer inconvience with Black enterprises because they often suffer with not bringing in the revenue to hire “GOOD” staff that properly represents them. Effiency COSTS. Being seated quickly (restaurant/beautician etc) comes with an indirect price as well. Many Black propreitors have side hustles-when their main focus should be ACME dry cleaners, they may actually pay their mortgage with XYZ plumbing or even a full/part-time day job…so many times they aren’t even there. The lack of responsiveness and service is directly tied into US patronizing the black establishment. When there are no customers coming in as a result of service..you get the idea.

You bring up a good point. we got to step it up from an image perspective, from a product delivery presepctive etc. There are many black businesses with NO web presence. And sometimes the web presence is really really horrible.

I think we want to own businesses SO BAD that we compromise quality. But if I can launch something right I don’t do it all. We need to really feel that concept.

meant if “I cant launch something right I don’t do it at all.”

We need more black ownership indeed, but the black owners also have to learn to be organized and be on their shit! THere is a black owned beauty supply in my old neighborhood that I always try to patronize, but do they ever have what I’m looking for??? NO! DO they greet me when I come into the store??? NO! Are they friendly or helpful??? NO!!!!!! What I find with black business owners a lot of the time is a lot of “Sidity” behavior and a lack of appreciation for the customers!!! But do I still patronize black owned businesses and tell my friends and family to do the same??? YES I do! Even though the prices are usually higher and ther service is usually horrible I still patronize whenever I can, but I also still need what I need, and then there are times when a sistas money is tight so I have to go to the other spots…

Geez sometimes when you think about it we seem so hopeless! How do we get the hump of Willie Lynch off our backs and actually become a thriving community??? It can be done but how???

Are you serious? The Asians and Koreans been doing the dayum thing. Let me ask a question. Where are all the Asians and Koreans mostly set up at? In the black neighborhoods. How many Asian stores are in the hood? How many are in the white neighborhoods? Do you think “other races” would allow them to take over. Hell No! So they did it to a race that they know they can get away with it. And quess what? They have. So we need to really wake up my people. By the time our children get of age, will there be any black businesses for us to support?

@ DATDUDE

I never thought about it that way! Thanks for that perspective! I’ve gotten my dose of enlightenment for the day!

ms_mac1 said:
——————————————————————————–

OK, I’m on a roll right now so I gotta get one last thing off my chest about this topic (well, hopefully the last). Here’s my two cents about black businesses as well. I support them, but I am very selective about the ones I support. Case in point:

I live in the richest black community in the US so there are plenty of black businesses to support. In my neighborhood they recently built a new town center that is almost 90% populated by black businesses. There are three soul food restaurants in this town center.

Went to the first one and waited over an hour to be seated but never got seated and ended leaving because the power was out and none of the staff bothered to alert the customers that were waiting.

Went to the second one where the server had on a dirty ass apron, a purple weave that was hanging off the side of her head and she barely looked at me when I walked through the door. Hell, she didn’t even look at me the entire time I was placing my order.

Finally, I went to the third one. Walked in, was greeted with a smile, was addressed with a Yes Ma’am, Thank you Ma’am, Come Again Ma’am … you get the picture.

Bill Said:
My Family has owned a variety of different business for over 30 years.

I watched my family run various companies in Urban strip malls
** Resturants, Grocery Stores,Cleaners &, Laundry’s.

The one observation I came away with is this: It’s VERY difficult to get Quality Black Help to work for you !!

The Teenagers that we would hire would work 1-2 weeks then quit.

The Black Men that we would hire would steal money out the registar, or sneak items out of our stores.

The Black Women that we would hire would always be angry, and rude to our customers.

And..get this: Blacks RESENT working for Other Blacks !!.

They have NO PROBLEM working for Mr. Tom, but can’t say Yes Sir to Mr. Johnson.

The Blacks that we would hire, would fight us tooth & nail, disrespect us & steal from us.

There rationale was: They are Rich (so they thought), they live in the Suburbs, and Drive Nice Cars, so hey, they can’t afford it.

It would break my Father’s heart to come to his store in the morning, and see that it was broken in during the night.

I watched my Father cry from seeing Women High on Crack come in and shoplift, or attempt to sell their personnel belongings for a 5 dollar hit of crack.

We HAD a a Power Base in our Major Urban Community’s for over 30 years (Since the 70’s).

You can say that we didn’t have the opportunity.
We have had PLENTY of opportunitys.

But..I would give up hope on my people.
I STILL have Faith….

Peace

@ MrsDawsondn:
Can somebody please school me as to why we stopped boycotting to get our points across?

My answer: 1) when MLK died and 2) When we determined that it was every man for himself.

Saw a documentary on a Latin gang run by this kid from the Bronx. It was all unity and togetherness until the brother got locked up. Moral of the story: We rely on others to lead us instead of taking the lead. That is why we cannot come together. We are too busy waiting for someone to bring us together.

@ im_not_her : You’re right. It’s a dirty circle and we have tons of forces working against us in business (poor representation, fewer financing options, etc) but we’ve gotta overcome that. Imma tell you right now. I hope and pray every day that the business I am about to lauch (which is geared mostly toward black men) will succeed. I hope and pray every day that I can be the best employer and set an example. But in the back of my mind I fear that my people will not come through for me. Nonetheless, I’m going to hire black folks because we have to start somewhere. A lot of us are ignorant to what it takes to be successful. And as I stated above, a lot of us are waiting for someone else to take the reigns and make it happen. Those of us that are smart will just do the right thing and stop waiting for a reincarnation of Malcolm and Martin.
Perhaps it will take the more driven people who want to engage in this type of dialogue to do it.

I suspect this post won’t get 300 hits like the average entertainment post because everybody isn’t “there” yet. Some people are still stuck on stupid and some people are happy right where they are. But we have to start somewhere.

MrsDawsondn I agree. Since there are a vast representation of age groups that range from 14 to 50, I think the suggestions should be targeted somewhat to age groups.

I’ll start with the teen age group. There are some super computer savvy and web kids out here. BLACK KIDS. I would suggest they start looking at local black businesses in black directories and local black chamber of commerce directories to identify businesses that are web challenged from no presence down to a bad presence (meaning broken links, cheap microsoft generated images-missing images, sowly loading…on and on and on. Give them a call. Offer to do the work. First offer full price and if not discount. If you still get flack and you like the business idea or potential, offer to your fee (WITH CONTRACT) on the back end against future revenue (this can sometimes be a little higher because its not upfront).

I think the idea could also apply to college aged folks as well.

I think the older age groups 30+ should consider rebuilding neighborhoods that suffer from blight–they exist in every major metro area. I am in the process of forming an investment syndicate (with some restrictions to net worth and assets) but this can be done on ANY LEVEL. I’ve seen and purchased homes in areas that were bought for the price of Chanel handbag (800-1000 BUCKS) now worth close 100k. Get 10 people who can commit to 5-10k dollars. Refi to Rehab. and duplicate.

I have other ideas as well that I PRACTICE…I’ll post others later.

I cannot relate cause I don’t spend money on haircare. I wear my hair natural the way God created it, and it’s most beautiful in it’s natural state. Black owned hair care businesses are just as bad as the Asians ones, both of them sell the idea that black hair is ugly in it’s natural state. Until we as black learn to love ourselves , we are always going to fall victim to others who fully know our insecurities and weaknesses and use them to exploit us. Black people are without a doubt the most naive people in America. How the hell does shit like this happen to us, but never the Hispanics, Asians, and people form India when we’ve been in this country longer than all them? What the hell to they have that we don’t have? Oh yea, organization. Even the Native Americans have casinos.

Man I keep posting links to black owned hair care product sale sites as a start to a boycott but my posts keep getting deleted so I advised users to google

Oyin products
carols daughter products
miss jessie
Asha’s
bronner brothers
and google black owned hair care

Check it yall!

on Friday, September 8, 2006 @ 1:21 pm

Elvira said:
——————————————————————————–

…….. Black people are without a doubt the most naive people in America. How the hell does shit like this happen to us, but never the Hispanics, Asians, and people form India when we’ve been in this country longer than all them? What the hell do they have that we don’t have? Oh yea, organization.

Even the Native Americans have casinos.

Bill Said:

Yeah..Did you noticed how all of sudden, out of the blue, The American Goverment ALLOWS the Native Americans to own casinos !!!

The Goverment gives them tax breaks, loans & the property to build on !!!

Blacks were slaves for 400 years, and all we can get is some free Goverment Cheese.

Ms Mac I agree…But while we overcome we need to get busy too. Walk and chew bubble gum at the same time. Sometimes we get mired down in our own patholgies that we fail to act and we get paralyzed as a result.

One last thing before I go to lunch…We as black people have got to understand some of the spiritual laws of success. We often think that there is one way to skin a cat, one way to become wealthy, one way to own a business. The list and the possibilites are VAST. HUGE. INFINITE.

Another concept we miss that was apart of my recommendation is SERVICE. The law of abundance (and there is one by the way) honors when you are of help. I have peers who make tons of money all day every day. And they are reluctant to show someone else how they did it.

A few years ago I was working at a tech company. Just at lunch oneday I told him about something I was working on. Well he took it and ran with it. Got funding from a white investor–and came back and asked me if I wanted to consult (ON MY IDEA). I could have been pissed. And for a minute I was. But I learned a powerful lesson. 1) The difference between a talker and a doer. 2) the power of an idea-people places and things show up to help-ie the investor. 3) things come full circle,

Lastly we look at things from a scarcity concept. That there are x amount of ideas that I can have in my head. There is x amount of money I can make. There is one direction to take with x. If Shanequa owns a beauty shop, I cant really do it cause she’s going to think I’m jockin her. All the above manifests in jealousy-which manifests in people doing what they did to Angel LA. Which manifests in that jealous person limiting their potential because of Karma and God’s Law.

GLORY, HALLELUJAH!!!!!!
My prayers are being answered!

IT’S ABOUT TIME my brothers and sisters are starting to wake up about the ECONOMIC RACISM that’s been going on. Someone asked,”Where do we go from here?” Let me tell you….

Some of you may not agree, but I stand by this: We need to start by acknowledging and respecting God and who HE is and has been to us. If you don’t know by now, you need to recognize that we are spiritual people and God has had His hand on throughout our history and even now…if you submit to Him and His authority….Who do you think brought us out of slavery, the civil rights movement, and etc? How did we repay him for the freedom? We forgot about Him and put all the glory on Martin and Malcolm, who, if you ask them, were INSTRUMENTS used by God to get us liberated.

This battle is a Black battle. It’s time for us to turn inward, b/c no one will be able to elevate us, but God and ourselves. It’s time to put aside that old mentality of expecting other races and cultures to “HELP” us. GET THIS: THEY DON’T CARE.

We go from here acknowledging God, learning about economic empowerment, acquiring assets, teaching and helping the poor to do the same, booting out the negatives (AIDS, teenage pregnancy, drugs, etc.) by simply learning to do two things: LEARN HOW TO LOVE BEING BLACK AND WHAT THAT REPRESENTS & LEARNING HOW TO LOVE AND TRUST ONE ANOTHER BY SPEAKING DIFFERENTLY OVER OURSELVES.

I listened to my Grandmother talking about black businesses and black men yesterday. I realized that she was speaking EXTREMELY negative things about US. These are words we are all speaking (Bad customer service, bad attitudes, selfish, men in jail, on drugs, etc.)

We start by changing our own self-image of ourselves and how we perceive other Black people? You have to start with SELF? Judge yourselves honestly. What does being Black represent to you? Haven’t we all been negative about our own folks? It’s time to stop being ENVIOUS (Yes, I said it!) of Asians, Indians, Whites, and etc. b/c of our own failure to own businesses in our own neighborhood. We didn’t do it, so they did.

The question is: Are you going to patronize the Black-owned businesses that continue to do it? When you are mistreated, are you simply going to point it out to the owner and continue to patronize it or are you going to do the immature thing and patronize non-black businesses b/c you think you’re being POWERFUL and taking money from the black business? You’re being stupid. You want to be powerful? Open your own and do it better, without going for the throat of the other owner. There’s enough room for two.

This doesn’t mean you just run out and start businesses all willy-nilly, folks. THINK, first!!!!
You may not be cut out for corporate, but what gifts and talents do you have that can help someone else? There’s always a balance to everything. Greed is not the answer. We will win when we put God in His proper place, allow Him to lead, Work hard and smart, and be kind & nice to others. He may use a white, asian, or indian person to help you…..My apologies for writing a book, but I’m so excited and happy about the possibility of Black America finally coming together and appreciating and respecting ourselves.

BILL SAID:
And..get this: Blacks RESENT working for Other Blacks !!. They have NO PROBLEM working for Mr. Tom, but can’t say Yes Sir to Mr. Johnson.

—————————–
Preach!

Why do we do that??????

We have to start teaching our kids the reverse of what a lot of our history has (or has not) taught us: That black love is OK. That all Black people are not useless, greedy and selfish. That we have to take people as they come. That we are our own best friends, not our own worst enemies. That’s the first move in reversing the cycle IMO.

one last thing people…THIS CONCEPT IS LARGER THAN REVELON PERMS AND Motown weaves. So if you can’t relate to black wealth building..something is definately wrong. Natural hair needs norishment just as a permed head would.

I really do not know much about african- american history-but from what I’ve read by black authors. I am Black- My family is west- indian so I really do not know how the black community was during the 50s to 70s. However according to people that are older and are Black american they have always told me that the black community was more prosperous in the days when we were separated-{ do not get me wrong I am for integration and every race and ethnic group should live in harmony.} But appears that we as people should sometimes follow some of the theories of Malcolm X in some aspects of our lives- we should support black owned businesses- Because these business invest in our community.When we go to the chinese store and buy the 4 chicken wings and french fries, go the koreans to buy our hair and get our nails done- all we do is spend money and go home to our ignored and dilapitated neighborhood. However these shop keeps go homes late at night- to there home in the surrounding upper class neighborhoods. We should think about who we give our money to.

MrsDawsondn said:
——————————————————————————–

Man I keep posting links to black owned hair care product sale sites as a start to a boycott but my posts keep getting deleted so I advised users to google

Oyin products
carols daughter products

Bill Said: Hey MRs Dawson
Thanks for the Links:
I did a CUT & PASTE for you on your FIRST two products

A Little About Oyin
http://oyinhandmade.com/oyin/index.php
Oyin Handmade hair & body products speak for themselves, in the silky skin and happy hair of our satisfied customers. Our goodies are designed with a focus not only on aesthetics and styling, but the nourishment and health of hair & skin.
We are a family-owned company, named after the Yoruba word for ‘honey’ - one of nature’s most versatile beauty products! We make our products from scratch, by hand, in small batches to ensure freshness. We never use petroleum, silicones, or non-nourishing fillers - every ingredient in our mixtures has work to do! In our goodies you can find unrefined shea butter, nutritive sea vegetables, pure aloe vera juice, nourishing vitamins, and herbal infusions carefully chosen for their beneficial and healing properties.
Rich creams, botanical styling products, fragrant lotion bars, succulent SLS-free shampoo bars, and oil-free conditioner sprays… Oyin Handmade products are tried and tested by people with a wide range of skin sensitivities and hair needs, with results that can be seen in the testimonials that pepper our website.
Carols’s Daughter Products
About Us
http://www.carolsdaughter.com/aboutus.asp
In 1993, Founder Lisa Price transformed her hobby and love for fragrance into a skin care business. From that love Carol’s Daughter was born. Inspired by nature, our unique line includes over 300 products for face, hair, body and home - allowing for product combinations and possibilities that are endless for every man, woman and child regardless of skin type, tone, or need.

All of our products are presented with an abundance of love and quality ingredients. The concentrations in our moisturizers are among the highest you’ll find tested on people, not animals and do not contain harmful additives or cheap fillers. Our vast array of fragrances offers something for everyone. From head to toe to home, we strive to enhance your life by providing the best, the sweetest and the most luxurious products our hearts can offer.

From the first Carol’s Daughter boutique in the cozy confines of Brooklyn’s Fort Greene neighborhood we have designed products and gift baskets for many celebrities and opinion leaders. As a result the brands success has lead to products being featured on top national television shows, including The Today Show, The View and The Oprah Winfrey Show as well as numerous magazine editorials. This type of mega-watt attention has made Carol’s Daughter a household name synonymous with beauty and wellness. Loyal customers, products made with love and word of mouth are what have made our brand a success, and Carol’s Daughter counts celebrities as loyal customers and refers to them as “Friends of the Family.”

In August 2005 we celebrated the partnering of a strong team of investors as well as the opening of our flagship store in Harlem. We will follow this with retail stores around the country. From our family to yours we thank you for your interest and support.

Peace.

I’m_Not-Her, and Ms. Mac, please email me at: writtenwordpro@hotmail.com. I’d love to talk with you both about this.

@ im_not_her said:
A few years ago I was working at a tech company. Just at lunch oneday I told him about something I was working on. Well he took it and ran with it. Got funding from a white investor–and came back and asked me if I wanted to consult (ON MY IDEA). I could have been pissed. And for a minute I was. But I learned a powerful lesson. 1) The difference between a talker and a doer. 2) the power of an idea-people places and things show up to help-ie the investor. 3) things come full circle,

——

PREACH. Had the same thing happen to me and learned the same lessons.

@ Jqueen, I feel your excitement because I’m excited too. Despite my harsh tone, I really want better things for my people. It’s just not time to coddle anymore. We’ve done that way too long.

One time I got terrible service from this sister at a restaurant. At the end of the meal I called her over and said, very respectfully, ‘You know what sis. I’m sure you’ve had a long day and you’re probably tired but I really don’t think you gave me the best service possible today. I just wanted to let you know that because I can see you’re a hard worker and you’re just having a bad day.’ And do you know what she said, “Thank you for that criticism. It was hard but I can take it and I appreciate you coming at me like that.” I left her a nice fat tip just because of her response.

We have to learn to treat each other right so that it translates into our every day lives. Like I’ve said, everybody isn’t there yet so we have to help get them there.

Blacks who work in the service industry have to learn the POWER of RESPECT.

Say Yes Sir or Yes Mam to your customer.

Smile & great your customer

Ask them “How is their day”

Treat them the way you would like to be treated if you were in their shoes.

It’s SO simple. Respect Your customer, and they will come back.

it’s a shame that we are giving our money to non black product compains to make our hair better!! DAMN!

@ Ms Mac_1 (comment #22):

Just so you are informed…

Not all people on this site have weave nor shops at the Asian stores. Instead of using “you” why not try “some of you”? Just a suggestion. (smile cus I know you’re like WTF?… lol)

I MAKE IT A POINT (which means driving an extra 20-30 miles) just so I can buy from Black owned businesses. Everytime I drive by an Asian hairstore, I just shake my head in disgust. I have been in there with a cousin and it is a damn shame that they have all kinds of stuff for African Americans, especially when the only African Americans working there are security!

Some of us are not just waking up to this Asian invasion. If you already knew, why wouldn’t you think that some of us knew too?!? I don’t think we should point the finger at our sisters and brothers who do go to those stores. Some people have to get whatever they can afford and from whomever. But we do need to reach those that can afford to bypass the Asian shops and go buy black-owned products.

@42 Mrsdawsondn:
You are definitely on to something. If each of us does just one thing to benefit the black community, things will change! Movements are only as big as their true believers. I am going to post this video link on all of the black haircare blogs/sites that I have visited to spread the word. If there is no demand, then there is no supply. It’s all about grasping that one concept. And I definitely understand what you are saying about boycotting. The African-American community boycotted a Beauty Island store because the owners beat a pregnant black woman (of course!) that they accused of stealing. This happened at least 6/7 years ago. Guess what?!? It’s as if it never happened… I see my black sisters AND brothers waiting outside before the place even opens. What a shame.

@Katz (#46):

Girl, I have seen people get treated the same way when I go to some black-owned places. It’s a vicious cycle. The young women think you’re too uppity and the older professional women think you’re… black! (As in they treat you as if you’re the only black person in an all-white high fashion boutique and I KNOW you all know what I’m talking about!). I love my au naturelle sisters because I have seen them treat everyone with the same courtesy and as if they are family.

@Bill (#49)
Things will change. I love that you are being optimistic and not throwing in the towel. While grocery shopping, a small boy asked me for money because he was hungry and offered to carry my bags or push my cart. Initially I thought no, but after thinking about it I had to give the boy something for knowing that honest work pays off. (Sidenote: Some parents need a damn whooping!)

I can say that things are changing a bit. Many more sisters are sporting natural hairstyles than I’ve seen in the past decade. We are finally embracing US! Black people are beautiful - hair and all. Lauryn Hill preached to the masses that sisters are beautiful being natural and sisters believed it. Now it seems that looking white is in and unfortunately sisters are eating that up too.

WELL BLACK PEOPLE cannot COMPLAIN. I live in BROOKLYN & just about EVER BEAUTY SUPPLY STORE I go to anywhere out here you are 98% likely to see KOREAN or CHINESE behind the counters, & most own these stores.

The CONSUMERS are BLACK of course because it is in the minority neighborhoods. HISPANIC & BLACK. The KOREANS just go where the money is. If they know that BLACK PEOPLE take PRIDE in their HAIR & will SPEND, SPEND, & SPEND even if its their last dime on…”HAIR! Hell can you blame them? KOREANS own NAIL SALONS too! & CHINESE RESTAURANTS….(you think CHINESE people are eating FRIED CHICKEN & FRENCH FRIES in their COUNTRY? HELL NO— They make that type of food here in AMERICA because they know that that is what “WE” EAT!

I cant be mad or upset at the KOREANS or EVEN WHITE FOLKS for that matter. MORE BLACK PEOPLE need to FINALLY get up off their ASSES & start INVESTING in BUSINESSES that will BENEFIT US & OUR PEOPLE. INSTEAD OF “COMPLAINING”- ALL THE TIME about the next one taking what they started!

@ Beans, WTF????!!!
J/k. I got you sweetie. Point taken. Just got a little heated over the topic and forget my PC manners.

Ooooh, Angel. You know I’m gonna have to do a big post on this over the weekend, right? Thanks for bringing some knowledge to the site. So many other sites are just pure fluff. At least we can learn something here, from the information you post, and from each other in the comments. You’ve given me alot to think about here in my sad little cubicle.

Tracey said:
——————————————————————————–

it’s a shame that we are giving our money to non black product compains to make our hair better!! DAMN!

Bill Said:
The documentary stated that Blacks spend BILLONS of dollars on Hair Care Products
The Documentary said that although Black make up less than 10 % of the population (?????), we PURCHASE 70 percent of weaves, extensions & wigs.

Then: A BLACK women said that, “Blacks will spend their last DIME to get their hair done !”

Consider this:Is it POSSIBLE that MAYBE as a race, we suffer from Self Esteem Issues ??

With the Images that are presented on TV, Print & Internet, Our Black Women are convinced that they can’t let a pay day past without getting their hair & nails done, and buying a new pair of shoes…

There is NOTHING wrong with that, but if that’s ALL you spend your paycheck on, then…………

Tithe 10% (It’s HIS anyway…)
SAVE 10%
Live on the remaining 80 %…

PS, @ Beans, did you read my follow up response in #31? Just asking b/c I clarified.

some girls/women aren’t ready to go without super straight hair. i just wanted to let them know that you can have natural hair and flat iron it straight. sometimes i wear my hair in its curly naturalness and sometimes i flat iron it. i’m just happy that i don’t have that fire cream in my hair, seperating with my 55 dollars, and able to scratch my scalp

I’m damn near close to speechless after watching that video. Once again, african american’s are so damn late in the game and so quick to shell out billions of dollars that will never be returned to their communities. Ya gotta give the Koreans respect for the fact that they work as a COMMUNITY. Their plan was well thoughtout and executed.

Hell, to see those Korean women going to the black hair show…DAYUM! I won’t front…I have no idea who actually manufacturs the products that I buy, but I sure as hell am going to find out now.

Though it pains me to say it, we have no reason to hate Koreans. They are living the American dream. They come into the country, ban together and establish business that have a great deal of demand and can increase their profit margin like crazy. We as a people are giving them all they need to succeed, while we spend time worrying about and killing ourselves to get our next weave or touch up. Just like the black woman said in the video, we’d rather starve than to slack off on our hair. All that money spent is going into the pockets of those who will soon if not already OWN the entire market.

I find it interesting that these folks can barely speak the language, or even give back to the community, but they are making a killing off of us. Hell, I can’t even remember going into a hair joint to buy particular brands of styling products without the proprietor being Asian. Who the hell did we go to before Koreans? Can anyone remember?

Damn shame right! I’ve shared this video with my sisterhood. Damn we need to get more educated.

We have only ourselves to blame for the state of our community. We can’t hate the Asians for coming together to prosper. HEll, that’s what we should be doing right, but too many years of hating ourselves and each other have brought us to where we are today. We’d rather trust someone from another race than ourselves. The Asians are kicking ass in our community. They roll in, establish business they KNOW we’d frequent like crazy and they leave each night, off to their suburban homes to reap the rewards of the black community. Can’t hate them for that. It’s the american way…to live and prosper and they are…on our money!

@Beans

I don’t know about the all natural sisters treating all people with courtesy comment though!

There was a small Afircan business by my daughters school that I used to patronize all the time, but those “Natural” sisters in there treated me like boo boo!!! They looked me up and down when I came in the store like why is this yellow straighte haired heifer in my store??? I was like “Hey how are you” and they gave me a lil half smile like it hurt them to do it! NOw I always went into that store but when I started going there it was ran by two black men who were very nice and always gave me good deals… I shopped there to buy real Shea Butter and real Black Soap, and sometime I would buy the handcrafted expensive ass jewelry for my GOd mother who likes that kind of stuff!! ANyways the guys were nice, and sometimes they would joke with me about my hair and ask why I don’t wear it natural; I don’t have a perm I just straighten it, but once I wore it natural and they were like okay I like it better straight, come to find out those chicks were there sisters, and they straight up told me that their sisters did not like light women cause I sure did tell them how they treated me!

Not trying to single the natural sistas out cause I respect their gangsta, and I know some who are really nice, but sometimes some of them look down on you for not choosing to be like them! And some do it especially if you are light skinned!

I have not watched the video yet, but I have recently decided to wear my hair natural. I have not had a relaxer since May the 16th and I am getting ready to do the big chop. I am surprised at how beautiful my natural hair is, am I am also one of millions of black women who are revolting against this european-esqt view of beauty. I am very light-skin, so people think that I am mixed, but my nappy (and beautiful) hair show people that I am proud of my heritage and my looks. There is a website called napturality.com where average black women document the transition period.
Also since this is about black products AFRICAN BLACK SOAP is the best. It can be used a shampoo and a regular soap. I fights break-outs and mositurizes the skin and hair. The REAL BLACK SOAP is a sand paper color and can be found online and it also benefits african communitites. Check it out.