this is what i hate about our people. we talk so much but we dont do anything.

It interesting to see some of the comments behind the clip. My husband and I tried to start up our own hair business about a year ago now and ran in so many red tape issues. We in fact had to talk to some Asians in order to see why it was so hard to get this business off the ground. The Asian lady then told us that we would have problems and it would always be hard for us although we may have good intentions. She told me not to take it in the wrong way. She also ask me to come back to her after hours so she could talk to me but at that time I wasn’t trying to hear any negative…I was about trying to get my foot off the ground. Well to make a long story short we decided to invest in something else and of course I’m glad we did. I’m still interested in the hair business but something I’ve learned and notice about our black community…we talk a good game about supporting one another but we want everything free in terms of spending to support one another. One lady said it in the documentary…There is no unity amongst the black community and that’s why we can not succeed!!!

All it takes is one person to spread the word and bring about change. I wear a relaxer. And from here on, I will buy black-owned haircare products from my black-owned beauty supply store. I am not sold on the “get your hair done every week” because I am putting myself through school out of pocket, but best believe this post wasn’t in vain. The nappy/relaxer argument is playing right into their hands because it is yet another means to divide us. If we are conscious consumers and run to school like we run to the salons, we can all get further as a race. If you pooled all the money from the black community together, you would have the 12th largest economy in the world. We are not all poor, just unaware. And for those that say that one person can not make a difference, that plays into their hands, too promoting disunity and crab mentality. Empower yourselves. And for the arguments on buying the best haircare products for your hair, you all can contribute too by buying from Walmart’s instead of the Korean-owned beauty supply stores. We can influence Walmarts and stores like that to carry more of our products, possibly diluting the Korean influence in the black haircare market by shifting the demand. We all can do our parts, because we are all black first and foremost and an economic force to be reckoned with. Nappy, transitioned, or relaxed.

i forgot to mention another black owned product distributor i love: treasuredlocks.com

i got dreads to get away from giving too much attention to my hair. i thought the perm was painful- the smell and the making sure none of it gets in your eyes. then not being able to swim, walk in the rain, sweat etc.

our obsession in keep our hair in that euro centric sense of beauty (straight) is keeping us from looking at why we feel this need to run into the salon at the first sign of kink. insecurity plain and simple. you can tell me whatever you wanna but it’s insecurity and ignorance of natural haircare.

i’ve had blacks tell me that i need to go straight to be successful for business “because the white folks aren’t going to accept you.” WTF?
i admit i’ve faced racism and too much talk about my hair in interviews, but like i told people: if i am hearing more about my hair than my resume i don’t want that person as a boss anyway.

some people from both sides of the fence act like i’m throwing my blackness in their faces. damn straight i am. Father God and Our Great Mother Africa didn’t make mistakes.

the irony is that since being natural i’ve been obsessed in finding quality, natural products that are not petrolium based. also i end up talking about my hair more than i ever did with a perm because sisters are always asking me questions about it. i’m to the point that i think i should open a natural salon.

but like the sister said about asking larger companies to carry products it’s almost like trading one slave owner to another, but i never had a problem asking a store to carry something i wanted. they usually get it.

ok i’ll stop ranting. this one film is pulling back a lot of layers. i’m glad this film and the other about skin tone is causing us to ask questions about ourselves.

Jewell #129…

That was hella interesting…thanks for sharing.
???? I read/was told a while back
that sometimes forgin business in the US don’t always have to pay taxes for the 1st 3 years or so. Anyone know anything about that?

Kind.

I like how the clip ended with the black woman saying, “We took them as being a friend and they would not come in and take over the whole industry, but that’s what they have done.” That’s negroes in a nutshell, so damn eager to reach out to these races that don’t give a damn about you. This is business, what do you expect. Maybe the Koreans were gonna come here and work side by side with you and help build up the black community, lol. Maybe after work ya’ll can hold hands and recite the MLK “I HAVE A DREAM” speech. LMAO. No disrespect to negroes out there but ya’ll are the victims of a huge practical joke. It was a very edifying documentary but I didn’t have to see it to know that the Koreans goal was to blackball the blacks. The negroes out there that are surprised really need to stop being so damn self-absorbed and open their eyes. This is America; you’re only as valuable and important as you make yourself. These other races come here with a gameplan to build up their own communities, not kiss the white man’s ass or say that “we have to get out and vote”. When the white man sees that you have a UNIFIED community, then he will send a delegation to you and try to appeal to the needs of your community. I’ve NEVER seen or heard these other races say that everybody has to come together, only you negroes. I’ma hit you with somethin’ else, these other races get loans and grants to open stores and businesses IN THE BLACK COMMUNITY from the government purposefully so that we cannot develop our own businesses. That’s why as soon as we develop prosperous businesses (Rocawear, Phat Farm, Sean John, etc.) they get bought out.

This is old news. I already knew that blacks did own the majority of the black hair care companies. They either sold them, or were pushed out of the business. I am a licensed esthetician and manicurist. YOu would be surprised how ignorant we can be. People are surprised that I am black and do nails. BIg WOW! The same blacks who complain about the Asians, are the same people who refuse to patronize businesses in their own community. Blacks would rather buy a product $2.00 cheaper from Asians, than buy a high quality product from a black-owned business. I am getting my MBA because I want to work for one of the major beauty and hair companies, and influence how they target the black market. The main problem within the black community is DISTRIBUTION! If you don’t own the distribution company, you cannot get your products to market. I don’t know about yall, but I DO KNOW that I am working towards my goal of having my own black owned beauty and distribution company. Don’t hate on the Asian, get it together.

CALICHICK that is respectable. Making the trade of hair front to back black is the key. Some people argue about the hair texture part of the issue, but to put those black-owned businesses out of business that make these products would be a mistake, also. Education is key. I start my MBA next fall. Good luck to you. It’s not enough to just have black beauticians- we need chemists, distributors, businessmen, businesses, patrons to spend in the black community.

Props to this documentary and putting the info out there. As a consumer, I did not know WHAT EXTENT the Koreans have dominated our hair care industry. I know there are only 4 black owned hair stores in my city. But there are like over 75 korean/asian hair stores. We don’t have a high black population where I live (like Chicago, Oakland, etc), but we have enough black people to have more than 4 stores. The problem is black people are stubborn and cheap with their money. Saving $1 is more important than spending $1 extra to support our own black businesses. I think it’s a mental check. Just like we talk ourselves into saving a few dollars we need to talk oursleves into supporting black owned businesses. We could start in the hair care industry by contacting BOBSA (Black Owned Beauty Supply Association) http://www.bobsa.org and finding out where the black owned beatuy supplies are located in our local communities. We can start by referring black owned suppliers we know of to join BOBSA so other people can find them and patronize them. We can start by educating our youth, buying this DVD and showing it to our children and their friends and opening up dialouge. Even our children SEE and FEEL that lack of unity we have towards another and WE need to INVOLVE them if we are going to see long lasting change. And we need to love ourselves and realize that supporting our black brothers and sisters is not going to make us look bad. SOme black folks think with this crab in the barrel mentality “MR. JOHNSONS”S FAMILY HAS ENOUGH MONEY AS IT IS, WHY SPEND WITH THEM WHEN I CAN SAVE $2 WITH THE ASIANS”….. We feed ourselves too many self destructing lies that hurt us. The truth is, we bring more money back to our community by supporting MR.JOHNSON b/c more black families eat (black distributors, clerks, janitors, black newspapers/radio, landscappers, tax preparers)all benfit from MR. JOHNSON’s business if he supports black owned also. And maybe Mr. Johnson’s kids may go to college off the money you spend w/ him and become the next doctor that cures aids. We think way to narrowminded. We spend our money based on emotion instead of business sense. In this economy we have to be STINGY with our money. I have my own personal boycotts against certain companies that do not do business with our community or treated me like shi**t in the past. When this Korean chick got an attitude with me about my order at this local Teryiaki place, I snatched my $20 out pf her hand and said “thank you, but that’s ok, I am canceling my order, I don’t like your attitude.”

Also, a word to the wise…A lot of times though you can find out where the black business are by subsrcibing to your local black weekly or daily paper http://www.nnpa.org, this link has over 300 publications in the US of black publishers and newspapers.

If there are certain companies that you are personally or collectively boycotting in your community (it could be small or big corporations) send me a message and why. I want to personally start investigating this issue. Thanks, Black People, I love YOU….to God Be the Glory.

Yes and Aaron is a white man. Here is a link to his interview …..

http://eurweb.com/story/eur27288.cfm

Ok, I hate to go here, but Idewild was whack…I gave it a chance, as I do all OUR films, but that shit was terrible.
Right on #159….I can’t tell you how many times I’ve had to tell their asses, “Look, I have a car and other places I can go, give me back my fucking money.” They come to our neighborhoods and treat us like shit, yet we take it.

#112, last time I checked, braids were natural and beautiful.

#142…Well, that’s good and damn well for you, but you aren’t helping the cause. I don’t care why Koreans say they do what they do.
I don’t know what kind of hair YOU have, but many black women can’t just use white hair products, because it isn’t made for us and our hair texture most of the time.

#119,,, “A quarter asian” Girl please…You’re a sister, just like the rest of us and your “quarter” people are getting over on black folks because we’re letting them. Don’t let your personal feelings come into this.

I understand a lot of folks frustration with the way things have been/are in the black community. Can’t front, a lot of what has been said is true. However, this is a problem can be fixed.

If we buy directly from black owned salons and distributers, folks can get their edges laid with a clear concious. We may have 2 pay Shaniqua a little extra mark-up but in the long run, it will be worth it.

We have a lot of black beauty shop owners, not enough beauty supply owners. For forward movement, their must be community support, period. Just to say, “I’ma buy from Ching Lee Soul Beauty Supply House cause black people don’t want 2 do nothin for themselves” is just adding to the problem and not being part of the soloution.

I don’t think anyone is saying Koreans can’t sell black hair care products. What I’m saying is that is is unfair for them to shut out Balck distributers and keep them from selling to their own market. They need to understand that Black folk won’t tolerate that, or will they?

Shame on Black Hair Care industry for letting this get this far out of hand. Would it have killed Luster Silk or the like to take out an ad or put up a website describing the delima? What gets discussed at these hair shows?

Kind.

Thank you Concrete Loop (esp ms mac 1 and i’m not her)for this discussion.I’m a 23 year old student but not alot of people around me talk and think this deep.things like this have bothered me for a while and u guys have definitely given me some ideas on how i can do MY part.But it also makes me wonder if we dony wake up where will we end up as a people?Also this is sooooooooooo much deeper than straight or kinky,to perm or not to perm.

@ Shunte - U R Welcome ;0)

We need to stick with Carol’s daughter products and that Chicago line, Essence of Nature, Nature Basic whatever the heck it’s called, I forgot. But I’m GUILTY–I am hooked on Molton Brown Healthy Hair Wash (made in London)–that is a must for black hair and scalp. Don’t be fooled because it’s imported shampoo. My hair is the healthiest it’s ever been. You can get it at Bath and Body Works for $19.

And I agree with what #75 (Jade) said–AFRICAN BLACK SOAP is the best! I use the Shea Butter/Coconut Bar–it evens my skin tone, my childhood scars on my legs are almost faded out. People, stop buying that Oil of Olay, Dial, Lever, etc Body Washes–they are all skin-drying crap. They contain Methlyparabens, which cause cancer. (As a matter of fact, look at your lotion bottle–I’m sure it contains parabens.

However, i use the lever multivitamin bar to clean certain areas..lol.

Did u guys know that the director added 2 Bonus parts?

http://www.youtube.com/wa...;mode=related&search=

http://www.youtube.com/wa...;mode=related&search=

We should still support the film though.

kind.

WHY NOT START A PETITION LADIES OR A BOYCOTT!!!!!

GET THE WORD OUT

CAROLS DAUGHTER IS THE BOMB YALL

I agree that we can not get mad at the Koreans. They saw an opportunity and capitalized on it. We all know the problem, we need to take action.

I was in South Korea from 2004-2005 and I was introduced firsthand to Korean business practices. I hate to generalize, but I will. The Koreans for the most part are very, very greedy when it comes to making money. They do not believe in giving breaks at all. You may think they are helping you, but you can best believe that they will get theirs. I will admit, I bought jerseys, blankets, leather jackets, and purses when I was over there. Hey the prices were pretty good. Now my attitude has changed about buying from them. I am very upset with them squeezing us out in America. I did not realize that they were that big in the US (I am a male and I am bald, so hair care is not a priority). Given how they were acting in Korea, it is not surprising that they are taking over the black hair business. Koreans are very aggressive people and love money (As aggressive as they are, how did Japan rule them for so long). They also like to stay homogenous, so they really could care less about giving back to blacks. We have to realize we have a lot of power and that need to discover it and apply it.

I think another reason why it is so easy for them to take over is that they have their own country. They can always go back and get resources from their country and still enjoy the benefits of being an immigrant in the US. If you think about it, every ethnic group in America know their home country, the language, food, dances, and all sorts of traditions. We got cut off from our roots and I really believe that is still hurting us today. Do not get me wrong, we can still achieve, we have been doing it for a long time, but imagine the power we would have if we really knew our roots.

BTW, I know I made some strong comments about Koreans. I did meet some very good Korean people over there and they treated me nice. However, I stand by what I said in my previous post. I just wish they understood you have to give a little in business and that they can not take over everything. Also, I was wondering, if they have such a monopoly; why can’t we file an anti-trust suit against them for having a monopoly?

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Antitrust

I looked up the definition of antitrust and I believe the Koreans are very guilty of this practice.

I do not know if I am being too harsh, but I can not understand why the Koreans want hurt us so bad. We did not take over their country like the Japanese and we were not the ones that made plans to occupy their country for over 50 years (I know da brothas have served over there including me, but I do not think it was our idea to go there). It makes me so angry that we open our arms and our wallets to these people only to be disrespected.

It’s me Aron Ranen, I am blown away after reading this page…As most of you know there are actually 6 parts to this film..all can be seen at no charge at http://www.blackhairdvd.com

Including a new July 2006 update. I will be posting more updates.

Does it really matter who we blacks go to? yall got the nerve if we would get off our lazy asses and do somthind didint it wouldnt be like that. all we do is bitch and bicker.. thats y the hispanics takins all our jobs now cuz we too good to for low wage or this and dat, yall got alot of nerve, i aint even mad at the asians or wuteva, we need to step our game up instead of going on sites being racist or wuteva. If u wanna see that us blacks expand u must be willing to go the extra mile, ne ways peace..

#172, 173, 174: You said it yourself - we can’t blame the Koreans for seeing an opportunity (that was open to everyone and not just them) and capitalizing on it. Who doesn’t want to make a lot of money?? And who wouldn’t go after it aggressively?? When are we going to stop making it personal (the Asians and Arabs and Jews didn’t open stores for the purpose of putting down blacks…they wanted to make money just like we do! But they went and did something about it and we’re here complaining about it now!) and start making moves?? We sit on our asses and expect the others to help us. Why would they?? We need to go out there and at least try to make things happen!! The more that we keep blaming the others and try to stop them from doing what we didn’t even want to do in the first place, the harder it’s going to be for us to make it in - what is now - their world!! Stop with the ignorance!!

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this is interesting but say i want to do something about this can any1 i mean any1 out there tell me anything about how weaves are manufactured from raw material to finished product ….. let me know

There were many Black owned hair care businesses as well as other successful Black owned businesses during segregation. It wasn’t until integration came about, that the White man started offering Black business owners money to buy out their businesses, and many Black owners foolishly fell for that and sold their businesses to the White man; and as a result, Black businesses have almost become extinct because of that and they have never recovered. That was just the White man’s way of taking businesses away from Black people, so that the Black community couldn’t continue to prosper and so that Black monies would no longer circulate in the Black communites. They knew that Black monies would have to be spent with them. And that’s exactly how everything turned out. And now Black people are doing nothing, and they are at the mercy of White people, Asians, and yes, some Hispanics. And that is really really messed up!

This is an issue that runs so deep. It’s not just simply an issue of capitalism at its best for me personally. I have been in these Korean-owned beauty shops and followed like I was about to boost a perm kits. I don’t like it. Almost always, there’s some steretypical ghetto girl arguing with the Asian store owner while steadily slapping her products on the counter, steadily complaining–CHA-CHING! But then again, I was in the store to witness it, right? I’m not mad at the Koreans for being business savvy. They did their homework and they KNOW that black (women) spend more on their haircare products than any other race. Hey, if I was part of the a group that was organized and stuck together, I would get my people together and set in motion a plan to make millions. But alas….I’m not. It’s a part of our history not to trust and support each other, since the days of slavery-divide and conquer, that’s how you maintain power. Unfortunately, it’s still prevalent in the black community and a major reason that Koreans have been able to dominate the market over the past few years. Sure, many blacks have been denied business loans, but do you really think that if we stuck togther as a people that we could own more businesses in our own community? I don’t mean to simplify the problem, but we have to take a look at ourselves before anything else. There in lies the problem. That Oprah comment was sad but true. I’ve seen that many times myself where black folks living in poverty, but they always got they hair “did.” That money could have gone for anything else, but we’ve conditioned ourselves to believe that that’s more important than anything else-like mabe food or to pay a bill. Instant gratification instead of looking at the big picture or what may happen down the road. That’s why there aren’t that many black owned businesses in black communities and why in black communities, many of the houses are being sold to new immigrants. This bothers me so, I’m starting with me. I don’t shop at these Korean beauty supply places. I purchase most of my products for my natural-kinky-curly nappy hair online from black owned businesses and like the previous blogger said, most of the products of these Asian beauty supply places are petroleum and mineral oil laden. Just think if 20,000 other black women decided not to shop at these stores-if they visited these stores 12 times a year, which we all KNOW is a conservative estimate, that would be the beginning of the end, or at least put a hurting on them. As a Psychology major, I understand that many blacks suffer from learned helplessnes and we think that any attempt to change the way things are is an exercise in futility. We HAVE to get out of this way of thinking and look at the big picture and prepare for the future of our children. That’s what the Koreans do–so, why shouldn’t we? Damn, I feel like not only are we not getting ahead, we are losing ground that we gained during the civil rights era. It’s like this, if you’re not part of the solution, you are part of the problem. We have to be willing to put our money where our mouths are. I made the choice to support my own people-I will pay more to support black businesses if I have to. The Korean business people have put a lock on the black hair care industry and have shut African-Americans out-it’s so ironic, considering that their hair is COMPLETELY different from ours (a fact that may not be totally relevant,well it is a little, but still ironic) . I’m telling you, now even Filipinos are getting into the black haircare biz! I can’t control what other people do, so I’m taking responsibility for my own actions. If everyone felt the same way, there wouldn’t be Asian owned beauty shops in our community.

The underlying reason why these Asian people make so much money on black hair care is that black people in general hate their natural hair and seek to change it with chemicals or cover it up with wigs and weaves.

If black people realised their uniqueness and loved themselves enough to be happy with the hair that they were born with and work with that hair then the Asian hair care industry would die.

I personally wear my hair natural and I don’t go near any hair stores. I don’t use products with mineral oil, petrolatum and alcohol. I buy my hair products from a majority-black-owned company called Carol’s Daughter. I live in Canada but I buy it online either from http://www.carolsdaughter.com or http://www.sephora.com. If more African Americans were conscious enough to support black businesses like Carol’s Daughter and to love the hair they were born with, they would be a lot better off mentally and financially.