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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.

Bill:

The “billions” figure quoted in the movie stopped me in my tracks too. just think of the things that money could be used for.

And yes, self-esteem issues are present. people may get defensive about it, but we spend so much money on fake hair, relaxers, creams to get rid of frizz, oils to make our hair grow and for what? the average black woman is not satisfied with her hair.

not many people want to discuss the role of natural hair in this debate, but if we are honest with ourselves, if more women were natural, these asian beauty supply businesses are getting rich off of our insecurity and they would take such a hit if we rejected all of their fake hair and straightening products!

btw, most people who are natural care about the quality of products they put in their hair and avoid certain ingredients (like mineral oil), so as a result,we already tend to buy black (i.e. carol’s daughter, oyin, etc.). thank god for the internet.

#74:

negative people come in all shapes, sizes and hair textures. so, people should not put women who are natural on some kind of artificial pedestal. those women obviously were not nice, but i don’t see how their hair texture is relevant.

now, a lot of people say that natural women look down on others. it may just be a perspective thing. to be natural in this country is very difficult. blacks don’t support you, society in general does not support you. so you have to be very clear in your decision and really learn to love yourself and feel beautiful and confident from within because society is not reflecting your image back in a positive way.

My hair has been natural for almost 4 years. I thank god for that, but now, I’m checking out the products I use. Thank you for whomever posted the listings of black owned products. ALthough some are quite pricey, I’d rather support them than anyone else. It’s on baby…it’s on!

@70 Ms_Mac1:

I just read it! My mistake. LOL I knew you’d be like WTF is this?!? LMAO!

I think we all get heated over topics like this. We’re constantly yelling, “Why aren’t blacks improving as a race?” and the reality of the situation is that we only have ourselves to blame. I, personally, don’t want reparations just for the simple fact that most of the money will go away from us. The only things most of us will have to show are exactly what you wrote of (rims, grills, Prada bags and more ish that has no REAL value to your future generations).

@ Coffy:

You ain’t never lied! I love being natural. I haven’t had a perm in over 8 years (I started going natural in HS) mainly because I hated the burning. Why go through that when you don’t have to? Yes, being natural is high maintenance (my hair is super curly, long, and THICK), but it is well worth it. People love my hair not to mention that Koreans sell it too! lol I can’t believe they are actually selling us our natural hair. Now tell me that isn’t crazy.

We need to be more innovative. Hmm… I think I’ll look further into corporate law classes. Being a Corporate Attorney for Black-owned businesses has just now become an option.

you know what:

I ain’t even mad at Koreans.
Koreans are Hustlers….
That’s what Hustler’s do :Take from YOU.

I just learned a VERY valuable lesson from this documentary….
* Aron Ranen did a EXCELANT job. This is “60 minute” quality. What a expose !!

Me & my family are about to do something with 99 cent stores….

I’m going to reach out to Lucky White of Kizure Industries and work with her. She can probably tell me who to by my mechandise from for the least cost.

NuStar Industries Korean Owned) just TOOK OVER Southern California…

Damm..That’s …Gangster

Found this during a google search. I think it’s about the same video with all 4 parts. This discussion has been going on for almost a year.

http://izania.com/forums/...hread.php?p=3605#post3605

Food for thought to spark even more debate:

In an attempt to go natural, a lot of sistahs braid or twist their hair (with Kanekelon) in order to make the transition smoother. Everyone isn’t born with superfine or manageable hair so growing out a perm can be ROUGH. I have thin hair and it was hard for me when I tried so I know it can be rough for some others.

So, here’s my question for anyone who condemns the use of perms and weaves and believes in the all natural state of hair: Is it OK to use these Korean hair products when it serves as a means to an end only?

just a quick note to the readers,

We always ask how these foreigners can set up shop in our neighborhoods? Well first off they don’t have to pay taxes until they become citizens you have to live in america atleast 7-10 years before you become a citizen or get married to a citizen so guess what that’s tax free money and they don’t have to go through anywhere near as much red tape as an average American would with setting up shop so they find the easiest places with the least resistance in government to try their ethics. 9 times out of 10 that’s urban communities.

If you want to start protesting the invasion of people setting up shop in your neighborhoods then PLEASE start attending some council meetings in your local neighborhoods and voice your opinions. They are not always for old ppl that like to complain, council meetings are set up for the community at large and those ppl REALLY do care about your concerns but they’ll never know them if you don’t attend meetings and make your requests known.

So these are some tips to starting with making a change. You may not have the investment backing or you may not be educated yet to the point of starting your own businesses but you can do SOMETHING. Boycott those asian and korean stores and buy from black owned companies, check out sallies or walmart and some of the companies that I listed above that bill gave an expansion of the information for. Get a paypal account and make decent purchases so you can feel like you’ve done something for your community. Then attend a council meeting. Check your community’s municipal centers and the public access channels shoot you can google it to find out when they have them and attend atleast ONE meeting and make your concerns known

Remember knowledge is power but wisdom is application!

i wish i could read most of these and comment accordingly because I know the posts are insightful
esp from bill, ms mac and im not her (do enjoy reading your comments) but i actually have work to do today

so ill make this very quick
i think one solution is to start with our kids
its always about the kids…they are our future
and if we cant move mountains in our lifetime maybe they can in theirs
we have to get them to see all the hype of american material wealth there is out there, teach them the importance of investing and assets vs. liabilities
most kids thing having a car is an asset
especially a flashy one
they dont understand the concept of depreciation the minute you drive off the lot
how to budget etc…
these things (as far as i see) are not being taught to many of our kids and they too become consumers like the generation before them

This is so sad be true and you no what ?
I dont even live in the states. I live in Europe and the same thing is happening over here . And it is not the koreans who owe all the black hair companies but it are the people from india. In every country you go in europe wheter it is england , the netherland , Germany almost al the black hair shops are owed by idians whe need to stop this nonsense and keep are money in the communtiny not only in the states but also in Europe and Africa black people need to united because if we dont were gonna be finished and be stuck in the ghetto forever not just in the states but al over the globe.

Thanks for posting this. I appreciate that concreloop also keeps us in the loop about social issues that plague our people as well as gossip.

I’ve stopped shopping for products as Asian owned places long ago. Not because of this documentary, but because I noticed they were selling the same products a their store for so much more than Sally’s or another place. Now from seeing this, they won’t see another dime of my money, ever! Another problem I’ve read about is that black owned places get ran out of business because they lose so much money because of theft. That’s right. Shoplifting aids in running our OWN people out of business also. It’s time for us to wake up.

It’s funny how something like this can be posted and won’t see 200+ comments, but a damn Beyonce post can clock 200 in a matter of hours. That’s saying alot…

ms mac I wear my hair naturally but I don’t condemn perms or weaves. I just don’t use perms on my own hair as a personal choice I have my reasons.

I have used and will continue to use weave as a means of giving my hair a rest maybe during winter months or just from the monotany of everyday wear but my biggest obstacle will now be where am I going to purchase it? Because if I’m true to my word than my boycott will be my boycott and I will want to purchase based on the owner and the supplier. unfortunately I don’t have any answers on that one. We shall see how it turns out.

I love to see my women with her hair done !!

I give her EXTRA money to go and get her Hair done, her nails & toes…

Why…. Because it Makes her FEEL GOOD about herself !
……And, I like the results!

When she comes home from the Beauty Salon, she has a bounce in her step, she feeling sexy, and acting sexy !

* She’s rocking the Kelis Cut now..
.Man, I appreciate that !!
Lord, she’s looking good…
Can’t wait to get home….

Scuse me..Back on topic.

My Point is this: Don’t all of y’all get mad & stop going to the Beauty Salon !!!

Natrual ain’t for everybody !

The HAIR is a Woman’s Crown !!!

God intended for you ladies to have Beautiful Hair !!!
Long or Short, Weave or Extensions…Braids… whatever..

ALL of God’s Daughters are Beautiful Flowers !!!

And All of God’s Flowers are DIFFERENT.

Differant Hair Textures..

So..It’s okay to get mad (about this documentary)

Just CONSIDER and ASK your Hair Stylist what products they are using !!!

MOST Hair Salon OWNERS are VERY EDUCATED as to the products they purchase for THEIR Hair Salon’s.
They go to a LOT of Trade Show !!!!

Peace

Bill, I notice that when there are “deep” discussions on here you are always one of the few brothers who give input. I don’t always agree with everything you say but sometimes you make a sister not want to give up on the brothers. I appreciate the fact that you’re giving us a male side because this issue is bigger than HAIR.

Now, if only you could recruit a few more of the homies to balance things out!

@85
i think blk people are the underdogs no matter where
i cant speak for other caribbean countries but i know for a fact in trinidad (even though blk people are the majority) the east indians and syrians come over and run shit.

and let me repeat blk people are the majority
not like here in america
oh and while we are on that here’s another suggestion for the kids
i’m a mentor for HS school students through my company and I also speak to the kids around my block cause im a kid at heart and i want to make sure they are on the right path
and alot of them have no idea that this country is about 77% (and i know this number is not exact) white
they only can visual as far as their eyes take them and not many have traveled across this country
they dont know about the red states
they just see metro NY and think the percentage may be smaller…real talk
but yet we spend more than they do how does that figure out
these are the type of things we need to discuss with them
because the schools damn sure aint

I made the decision a long time ago to stop buying my products from them. I did that when I was accused of stealing. I put the can of grease in the wrong section of the store and rushed out when I got a phone call I was expecting. She approached me at my car and asked me where the grease was. I told her where the grease was placed and informed her that I wasn’t going to even risk going to jail for fucking three dollars. I let her know that I would never spend my money with her store again, luckily I have a black hair supply store around the corner. I don’t know who distributes for her store, but I do what I can. They don’t really know our hair.

It’s ashame that they can barely speak english and their taking over an entire market. This was really eye opening. it’s not only Korean’s, Asian, Indian and Middle Eastern people have been taking over the black hair care market for decades.

on Friday, September 8, 2006 @ 3:26 pm

lalita said:
——————————————————————————–

This is so sad be true and you no what ?
I dont even live in the states. I live in Europe and the same thing is happening over here . And it is not the koreans who owe all the black hair companies but it are the people from india. In every country you go in europe wheter it is england , the netherland , Germany almost al the black hair shops are owed by idians whe need to stop this nonsense and keep are money in the communtiny not only in the states but also in Europe and Africa black people need to united because if we dont were gonna be finished and be stuck in the ghetto forever not just in the states but al over the globe.
——————————————————
on Friday, September 8, 2006 @ 3:38 pm

Nix said:
——————————————————————————–

@85
i think blk people are the underdogs no matter where
i cant speak for other caribbean countries but i know for a fact in trinidad (even though blk people are the majority) the east indians and syrians come over and run shit.

——————————————————

Bill Said:
That’s WHY I LOVE talking to you guys on Concreteloop !!

I can geta GLOBAL Viewpoint from My Trinidadian Sister (by way of brooklyn) Nix, & my European Sister Lalita !!!

Wonderful Discussion !!!
I’m loving This !!!

Oh yeah thanks for the cut and paste bill!

Now go recruit some brothers to come over here and share their opinions so we don’t sound like we’re clucking in the hen house LOL!

@ MrsDawsondn - Thanks for your feedback. The reason I brought that up was not to attack people who go natural. I just want to know if the real issue for people is about looking good, taking care of their hair or protesting the common European beauty standard. I know this debate has been fought on here before but this is a great forum to revisit it. (I wasn’t in the first debate, just read it).

I find that people who go natural sometimes associate it with a direct connection to their African heritage. I also find that some of those same people can come off as haughty and just as uppity as people who wears weaves down their backs.

The other side of the story is that not all people who wear weaves or relax their hair are any less connected to their heritage or feel any less “African.” But this debate about loving one’s self and being “nappy” vs. wearing a perm and being “European” is a continuous one that is so fascinating to me so I love hearing people’s take on it.

Hair texture really has nothing to do with the topic at hand. It doesn’t mean you have to go natural or stop perming etc.. it just means to be aware of the products and where they’re coming from. I like my hair straight.. natural just doesn’t work for me but regardless of how I wear my hair.. I will not give a cent of my money to anyone other than black owned hair businesses. What REALLY just gets under my skin is how the koreans are copying EVERYTHING from the Kizure company! WTF! I wonder if some kind of infrigement rights are being trampled on here?

Has anyone see the Barbershop episode on showtime about a clothing store “Niggaz” trying to open up in Calvin’s neighborhood and turns out it was owned by asians?

I would like to dedicate this video to my sisters,
Ms_Mac1
Nix
MrsDawsondn
and all the BEATIFUL women of ConcreteLoop

it’s called
I am NOT my Hair, By Indie Arie, featuring akron
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6LhPE_Nft0k

If you check the TOp of this page look for related posts, I am not my hair - Indie Arie

and thank you for feedback as well ms mac. Well to comment on your question:

I just want to know if the real issue for people is about looking good, taking care of their hair or protesting the common European beauty standard.

My real reason for going natural was because my hair was being overprocessed and I had a stunt in growth. Now me I like to look good but i also had to take into consideration the health of my hair and why it was always not doing what I wanted it to do so I decided to go natural. That was my personal choice and reasons for it. In the process I learned alot began to understand my hair and work with it. And I might at it looks real good to me and my dh lol.

I don’t look down on anybody else for their choices with their own hair and I hope to not be looked at in that way (in real world and on the net). What I do to my hair is my decision I don’t find it necessary to beat another person down because they ain’t feeling my flow I just do me and keep it moving. To each his own right? Hope that helps with answering from one sista’s point a view

Solution: Buy from black faces only black-owned products. Maybe highlight a product a week here in concreteloop that is created for black hair by blacks. College students and everyone can learn more about distribution and business. Black people are really uninformed, myself included, about how distribution works.

@ #74 Katz26:

That sucks how they treated you. I can only speak from my experiences and other people I know. It sounds like you just ran into some women who felt threatened by you. That’s how I take it! But good for you for not letting them put a halt to your mission.

@ 75 Jade:

I love wearing my hair natural now. I used to always wear it straight or in a bun for work and people used to always ask about my nationality (Indian and even Arab) as if black people can’t have pretty hair. It’s crazy. Wearing my hair natural gave me a chance to educate the ignorant folks in my office who loved to ask questions!

@ #82 Ms_Mac1:

Black-owned companies/products make products too for women with natural hair. You can straighten it to help with the growing out process. My Mother has long, thin hair and is growing out her perm now. Boy are her roots something else! It’s difficult for me to comb it sometimes. She usually keeps it in twisties or really small twists (like when we were kids), so she doesn’t have to comb it everyday.

I am LMAO @ Bill #88! Natural isn’t for everyone! That is funny. I’m certainly not telling every woman in here to go natural, that’s just a matter of preference. Being natural versus having a perm doesn’t make you any more African-American than the next sister. I do believe that most of the young mothers out here today don’t even give their daughter’s hair a chance. I hate seeing 4-year olds with weave or getting a perm.

awwwww thanks bill
that was sweet
i think your a beautiful person too

life should be just like this
you speak to people and know their minds before you ever see them

mimi_ga said:
——————————————————————————–

Solution: Buy from black faces only black-owned products. Maybe highlight a product a week here in concreteloop that is created for black hair by blacks. College students and everyone can learn more about distribution and business. Black people are really uninformed, myself included, about how distribution works.

Mimi_GA

EXCELLANT, SUPERIOR Ideal !!!
Gold Star for Mimi_GA….

Please email this ideal to Angel.la
RIGHT NOW !!!!!!!

hey nix..I see you..
Love ya like a Play cousin !!

I am sure that there are black weaves being made. We can’t solve the “wear your hair natural” argument. But we can find black manufacturers. What companies make black weaves? I don’t wear them, but it would be a start for those who do.

I’m glad to see serious issues being aired - and its been great reading the responses! Sorry for the long post but…

This issue is bigger than hair…and I think that the posts are pointing to that as much as the issues raised in the video.

My mother and her neighbors have seen ALL the businesses in the local shopping strip near our family home back in the States become Korean-run and on top of it they ONLY cater to Koreans - in a suburb that is predominately Black… Koreans from the City take private coaches up to our neighborhood to do their shopping… I remember clearly a time I went into the Korean supermarket there when it hadnt long opened and was told flat-out that there was NOTHING for me in here - and damned if they werent telling the truth after I walked around with two of them following me! So instead of a short walk two blocks away I had to take a bus pick up a few groceries before a snowstorm hit when before there had been a fully functioning supermarket that served EVERYONE in the community. Im going on 41 now and this was the late 80’s… we’ve seen this explored somewhat in films like “Crash” and even “Boyz in the Hood” touched on it a bit through one of the talks that Laurence Fishburn’s character gave to his sons and his friends if my memory hasnt completely gone…

And with the hair thing: Here in Britain its the same thing; except its not Koreans that run things its Pakistanis and Indians (the groups referred to when we say Asian over here). I lived here for about 6 years before I discovered I could get all my products I left behind in NYC right here - and guess where I HAD to go? To black areas with stores that once again cater no one but Africans, Afro-Caribbeans and minute numbers of other ethnic folks (including token Native Americans like me) but which are owned by British Asians - no different to home!

For the past year or so I have lived in a part of London that is 95% Black. When I walk down the local High Street there are no less than half a dozen HUGE beauty supply stores within walking distance of each other - all completely owned and operated by Asians…no locals are employed in these stores. And dont get me started on Paris - same thing. You can have a HUGE immigrant community of “people of Black Origin” (as the Brits put it) - and yet its Asians and Middle Easterners that you have to do business with…

Now having said all that - this isnt really anything new - we all know this and its been commented on. But one thing I have noticed with British and French Asians and Middle Easterners is how many of them pool their resources to set up these businesses… They look out for their own definately - but surely the Black community can manage to do the same? Perhaps a part of the problem for many is the belief that it’s not possible - that once the underdog, always the underdog. Yet there are fine examples of black-owned businesses on a large and small scale - and some of the posts here and the video show that. But more needs to happen definately…

Yall have just about said it all. It’s a shame that this stuff is happening. In my area, I don’t know of a black-owned beauty supply store. The asians have them all. Ever notice how when you go in there, they watch you like hawks??! That’s reason enough to take your business elsewhere.

Hey just looked on BB and found that they also make a perm, there’s a start.

this is nothing new to me. i’ve only been to a “korean owned” hair supply store once. last yr right after hurricane katrina, mi mum’s work sent stuff and they had a list of shih that people needed. well they needed hair supplies so we got combs,brushes,borretts, hair oil, u know basic shih.

well when i went to the bak of the store and saw that it was “korean owned” i flipped out, i was like momma let’s leave i’m “too thru” and she was like naw lets jus get this stuff. @ the cash register and there was a blk cashier i was like “do u hav a prob with workin fi koreans?” she sed now it’s paying my bills or something smart like that.

well anyway i’ve always been opposed to spending money outside the blk community, but i don’t live in a huge city, so the number of blk/african/carribean owned stores is limited. i mean wuh is there: blk barbershops,a carribean foodstore, and an aehtiopian restaraunt?? needless to say they are all very successful, but we need more!!

personally i dont spend money w/ people of middle eastern descent or asians, b/c i feel like they are very disrespectful and nasty to all their customers, and they don’t appreciate our bussines.

one last story and im done “gushing”. up the street from my house there’s a middle eastern owned conveniece store, well i went up there and this guy of middle eastern descent was watching me the whole time following me around (mind u its a tiny store) anyway while i was countin out the money for wuh i purchased, i was like “can u put that in a bag?”, he looked @ me as if i asked him to translate the dead sea scrolls, so i sed if it’s that hard for u to put my snaks in that bag it’s even harder for me to find the money to pay u, so jus like that iw alked out and left that shih on the counter

J.M. PRODUCTS, INC. COMPANY HISTORY

ISOPLUS is another option. J.M. Products, Inc., (J.M.), based in Little Rock, AR, is the manufacturer of ISOPLUS®, ISOPLUS® for Kids, ISOPLUS® Natural Remedy®, ISOPLUS® Natural Collection® , ISOPLUS® PROSYSTEMS® ISOPLUS® UpTURN®, Healthy Solutions® Plus, Oil of K® and Black Magic® brand products. The Company is one of the largest manufacturers of ethnic hair care products in the U.S. and is the largest Black owned company in the state of Arkansas.

well atleast most of us do support blk owned barber/beauty shops

aight i got another story….lol

aight so i was like 13 @ the time and mi dad (RIP) sent my bro and i down to “subway” fi get lunch,(it’s middle eastern owned) well anyway when we got down there they made all the subs and shih and rang us ^ and i didnt hav enough so i was like “throw” my subway away i dont hav enough fi pay for it. the owner of the store looked @ me w/ such hate in hhis eyes, then as i was leavin the store he sed here take the sub, but dont pull that again haha jus thought it was a funny story lol

This is nothing new to me. Blacks dont own too much of anything. Its the result of generations of programming self hate, and crab mentality. When ever I get a chance I purchase black. They have Korea town and we have ??? They embrace their culture and we ???

As usual, this shit is OUR FAULT. Blacks were always known for being real, now we changed that by getting all these fake-ass weaves. I don’t see why we get weaves, colors, braids and other stuff because I have NEVER seen one that looks better than just going NATURAL. That shit is soooo ghetto and ugly! I don’t even Holla at a sister all weaved and braided out, I holla at sisters that look NATURAL. Our priorities are f*cked. We could have spent those BILLIONS on something else. The irony of it all is that ya’ll are PAYING to:
Make Koreans rich
Look fake and ugly with those ghetto styles
Damage and burn up your own hair beyond repair!
I ain’t made at Asians because they are smart enough to beat us at our own game and use our VANITY against us.

on Friday, September 8, 2006 @ 4:38 pm

NativeMoon said:
——————————————————————————–

I’m glad to see serious issues being aired - and its been great reading the responses! Sorry for the long post but…

This issue is bigger than hair…and I think that the posts are pointing to that as much as the issues raised in the video.

My mother and her neighbors have seen ALL the businesses in the local shopping strip near our family home back in the States become Korean-run and on top of it they ONLY cater to Koreans - in a suburb that is predominately Black… Koreans from the City take private coaches up to our neighborhood to do their shopping… I remember clearly a time I went into the Korean supermarket there when it hadnt long opened and was told flat-out that there was NOTHING for me in here - and damned if they werent telling the truth after I walked around with two of them following me! So instead of a short walk two blocks away I had to take a bus pick up a few groceries before a snowstorm hit when before there had been a fully functioning supermarket that served EVERYONE in the community. Im going on 41 now and this was the late 80’s… we’ve seen this explored somewhat in films like “Crash” and even “Boyz in the Hood” touched on it a bit through one of the talks that Laurence Fishburn’s character gave to his sons and his friends if my memory hasnt completely gone…

And with the hair thing: Here in Britain its the same thing; except its not Koreans that run things its Pakistanis and Indians (the groups referred to when we say Asian over here). I lived here for about 6 years before I discovered I could get all my products I left behind in NYC right here - and guess where I HAD to go? To black areas with stores that once again cater no one but Africans, Afro-Caribbeans and minute numbers of other ethnic folks (including token Native Americans like me) but which are owned by British Asians - no different to home!

For the past year or so I have lived in a part of London that is 95% Black. When I walk down the local High Street there are no less than half a dozen HUGE beauty supply stores within walking distance of each other - all completely owned and operated by Asians…no locals are employed in these stores. And dont get me started on Paris - same thing. You can have a HUGE immigrant community of “people of Black Origin” (as the Brits put it) - and yet its Asians and Middle Easterners that you have to do business with…

Now having said all that - this isnt really anything new - we all know this and its been commented on. But one thing I have noticed with British and French Asians and Middle Easterners is how many of them pool their resources to set up these businesses… They look out for their own definately - but surely the Black community can manage to do the same? Perhaps a part of the problem for many is the belief that it’s not possible - that once the underdog, always the underdog. Yet there are fine examples of black-owned businesses on a large and small scale - and some of the posts here and the video show that. But more needs to happen definately…

ConcreteLoop..It’s a GLOBAL thing…
One last commercial:
BRONNER’s Brothers Makes everything you’ll EVER need for you Hair.
Have a Great Weekend
Peace Love & Hair grease………..I’m OUT !!
:Bill has left the building !

Its God’s fault, if he hadnt given black pple nappy hair then none of this would be an issue

So we have BB and Isoplus that both make perms and hair products. Some of us don’t have access to black-owned supply stores, so the smartest option would be to buy from the locations that benefit less from it. For instance, we could buy from Walmart’s and Target’s who benefit the least from our money and less from the Korean-owned stores that focus on hair.

114—thats part of the problem. I think we miss the forest for the trees….A broader view needs to be taken. The Documentary is a fractional representation of our lack of ownership.

I mean the same case can be made for the death of the black farm and black coops, black local stores and boutiques as well as hair supply stores.

I think part of what is killing us is this very VERY narrow view that we take WITH EVERYTHING.

PEOPLE THIS IS NOT REALLY ABOUT HAIR. WAKE THE FUCK UP.

Jqueen I will email you tomorrow.

I’m late to the discussion but, I watched these videos about three weeks ago and the Asians are trying their best to block Black owned business (did anyone notice when the Black man said the Asian’s believe he is one of them, when he purchases items over the phone. DAMN – I could never take away someone’s livelihood, I just don’t have it in me and I also believe in healthy competition.

BILL, what you know about Steak n Take (you bringing me back) and thanks the info on Bronner Brothers – I did not know it was Black owned.
* you learn something new everyday*

MEZZO - Thanks for the link and what symbol to look for.

MS MAC 1 - *PREACH*

COFFY - I’ve never heard of the term “fire cream”- I like that term. I call perms “creamy crack”

Damn you, MS MAC 1 :0) – I’m going thru the transitional phase w/my hair and I am questioning my methods of growing out my perm. (use weave or let it all hang out)

Side note - I’ve heard NIGGAR is the name of a store in Africa.
And an Asian Professor told me when a family comes from the Philippines – they get together and each individual family raises $1,000 until they have $10, 000 for the new arrivals to start a business or buy a home. - I love this concept

# foxxy380 said:

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?

____
im quarter asian and i know for the fact that they do not enter “hood” to target blacks, how narrow minded is that for you to say. whites dont want near ” hood” because they are intimidated even thought its a cheap slot. im a marketing student, and dont generalize. i know how hard it is to make it out there being an african american. so please know your facts before you type those made up things, someone will read it and run their mouth thinking its true. this is why society is messed up.

im half korean and yes its the country that makes most of the hair products. DONT SAY ASIANS, SAY KOREAN, because they dont really deserve the heat when they most of the country are not as advance as korea, HENCE MOST COUNTRY IN ASIAN are so called THIRDWORLDCOUNTRY meaning they dont have money.

Hmm okay. I use the products that are good on my hair therefore I could careless who makes it. So yeah…

they dont buy it!. when the sales are not good they cancel the products.

idk who makes the product, as long as it works, my mom is a marketer, and said sales goes beyong race, so whatever sell they sell it. like the lady in the end of the video said , they didnt mean to take over the industry but thats whats happening.

lmao of people here being hypocrits, you know damn well you dont buy every products made by our people. this is a business , not even about race. you would start a business that makes alot of money too.

i’m late in this discussion too, so i’ll keep it short.
this sort of stuff don’t just happen in the states, it happens in England too, only stores are run by the other asains (indian/pakistani/bangali etc…). As now most of them own the wholesalers as well, when a black person trying to set up their own business for their own people the asains block them. [off topic] i remember there was an incident where a black girl got raped by some asains in a hair shops which resulted in riots and hair shops getting burnt down.

I’m done with getting pent up and angry about it. there’s no point sitting around doing nothing. i’ll be 18 soon and i know you’re never too young to start a business, i’ll do whatever i can to make sure OUR community reclaim what is OURS.

We can still create the best. We create the best fashion for people to jack. The best music for people to jack. At least in hip-hop you can point out black millionares. You have a ton of black stylists, why not the chemists to go with it? We turn our nose up at education- that’s why.

i dont really comment here, but to this post i will, wonder why we are the least owners in the business? because our people are too ignorant to know that Education is the key. Knowledge is power.

I don’t think Black women’s love of ‘doing our hair’ is a self-esteem issue for the most part.

if anyone has ever watched a documentary about any African tribe that still lives in the bush, you’ll ALWAYS see African women with some kind of style to their hair (i don’t mean perms and fingerwaved styles).
I’ve seen documentaries showing the women styling the hair (usually in some type of lock or twist), and putting different things on it to change the color and different things as ornaments for the hair. It was something that the women of the tribe took VERY SERIOUSLY.

THE SAME WAY WE ARE ABOUT OUR HAIR.

i think our love of our hair is a cultural thing that goes back to our ancestors. Our African ancestors LOVED their hair and the women spent alot of time keeping it styled in some way shape or form…

so now, we still have that same love for our hair…whether it’s permed or natural

#105 said something very interesting. In her last paragraph she said “But one thing I have noticed with British and French Asians and Middle Easterners is how many of them pool their resources to set up these businesses…”

HERE’S HOW THEY DO IT…

My dad worked with an Arab man who’d been in the states for less than a year. Within that time, the guy was able to get a loan and open a business…my dad asked him HOW WAS HE ABLE TO DO THAT SINCE HE’D JUST GOTTEN HERE???…this is what the Arab guy told my dad…

He (the Arab man) had some family that had gotten to the US before he did. What they did was, BEFORE the man went to the bank for the loan, he opened a bank account, and his family lent him thousands of dollars, JUST TO PUT IN THE BANK…NOT TO SPEND…so, then he went and applied for the business loan…when the bank checked his bank account, and saw how much $$ he had in it, THEY APPROVED THE BUSINESS LOAN…

As soon as the loan was approved, the man WITHDREW THE $$ AND GAVE IT BACK TO HIS FAMILY MEMBERS THAT LOANED IT TO HIM…

And foreigners have been doing this mess for YEARS…THIS IS HOW THEY’RE ABLE TO OPEN BUSINESSES SO FAST…

This is just ONE IDEA…I know that not everyone has family that’s in the financial state to lend thousands…but some people do have family that can do this…for those that can do this I hope you all take this idea and run with it

This is just ONE IDEA…I know there are millions more, but I just wanted to let people know what the other races/nationalities are doing.

Its fucked up on how the Koreans have us hooked on their products. Some of their shit don’t even work. When you look at the box or the bottle of the product the person’s here be lookin all nice, then when you try that shit, you realize that shit was a waste of money.
I’m a dude so I just use that wave grease(that barely works) or hair spray when I’m growin my fro. On the real that crap dont work neither, I be madd as hell when I be waitin for the results and Nothin happens. I’m glad I don’t buy those shits no more. I ain’t stressing that shit tho. They got that.

This is messed up but as one of the women interviewed said we are not helping the situation any we(myself included) will continue to buy things from the koreans because they are cheaper.

And another thing we truly do not recognize our power. We are the #1 consumer yet we continue to be disrespected… u do the math.

I never buy from Asians because I know they jack up the prices and I am cheap. I believe a lot of people have great passion but I know 5% won’t do much about it. THat is just how people are. But as a black woman I personally don’t mind helping whomever out just as long as I don’t have to deal with “the attiude” If you give me a product at a reasonable price I will support you. Look at Tyler Perry. Don’t tell me black don’t support black! You just got to do it right.

aint no surprise. we’re the next generation, we can change things. again, we need to work together and on ourselves, thats when we’ll find success for real. angel.la thankyou for posting this up. keep them coming!

I love Carol’s Daugther as well! It is nice to see a black owned company doing well! Although I am a black woman I do not limit my self to “black hair products.” I try everything! I think it is a matter of what works for you’re hair type. Many people would be suprised the the supposed white hair products actually do quite well on various har types

We can stop this bullshit if we all just come together. Black women GO NATURAL! If every Black women grew out of her relaxer, grew out her natural hair and went without weaves, etc., do you know how much that’ll cripple the Asians grip on this market? There wouldn’t really be such a booming business then, because the two hot buys at these stores are what? WEAVES AND RELAXERS

So not only has the world made us feel that we are not acceptable if we don’t have long, straight hair, they capitalize on this insecurity. This is a damn shame. I made the choice to go natural for other reasons, but this damn near takes the cake. NAPPY IS BEAUTIFUL! GROW THAT SHIT OUT!

Why can’t more of us learn to make weaves on our own and learn how to make relaxers, and own the shops that sell them? That can be done, too.

Well, the truth hurts. We say we are hurt but what do we do about it? Nothing. We perpetuate this hair issue by calling each other nappy headed (a dated term but true). This is why we run to the store in a frenzy to buy a weave. We don’t want to be called dusty, jiggaboo, bummy, etc., so we have to get our hair “did”. The guy said it well, “Brothas won’t get at you unless your hair is done”. A lot of us are not comfortable with going natural because our own people, family or friends would not understand. So we are brainwashed and continue this ignorant cycle. Sorry folks.

I rarely comment, but I have to say thanks for posting the info on this video!!! I’ve known for some time that there weren’t a lot of black-owned hair care products, but I didn’t know the lengths to which blacks were being cut out of the back end. After watching all four parts and the two updates, as of today, I’ve started my own personal boycott (shop and buy black-owned hair care) and I’m definitely going to spread the word!

going natural was the best thing i’ve ever done. i support black business for my hair/ skincare even if it means me paying more. inkylovesnature.com and carol’s daughter.

i know those people in that clip. the first clip is from Van Clef Hair Salon in Chicago. Full service, black owned and all about enpowering our people. not surprised Rahni (the owner) allowed the brother to film.

those Kizane (?) curlers are in high demand. it’s a shame.

White companies are buying up the last of the big black owned hair suppliers. I believe there’s only 3 large distributers left.

L’Oreal had built a “Research Center” in the southside inviting blacks to come and have their hair/ skin studied. AIN’T THAT SOME SHIT?!! and black people work there and go in there! Where’s the rage and the feeling of being insulted? They dropped in our neighborhood and asked to study us! This ain’t Gorillas in the Mist! Studying us to make products so they can make money off us!

As the sister said about the Pride flag. It’s our flag! That’s like suing anyone for using the American flag. Black owned should use the latter flag to trip them up.

I’m angry beyond words everytime I think about it. This isn’t new and we did nothing as the convient stores and supply houses cropped up and they started following us like we’re going to steal activator.

we shit on our own people too. i’ve seen many times blacks prefer the others to black owned of equal standing: they want a discount. they think everything cost too much. they think you think you’re stuck up. all sorts of dumb shit.

they would never walk into a white owned business coming out of pocket. why do that to ourselves?

going natural is good but there are black owned distributors that supply sisters with straighteners. so putting them out of business wouldn’t be cool. plus the others are trying to distribute products for natural hair too.

The reason why the Korean stores are in Black neighborhoods instead of White is exactly b/c of what the Korean man on the tape said…Black women change their hair every week. White women do not get their hair done at the salon as often. Asians are smart business people and they know who is going to buy their products the most. If some women didn’t spend so much on their hair or learned to do it themselves, there wouldn’t be such a market for them.

I personally have not relaxed my hair in probably 10 years and it is long and curly. When I want it straight I flat iron it myself. I rarely visit a salon. I also buy the products that work in my hair, and none of them happen to be black owned products or claim to be specifically for black hair.

@ 90 NIK

I really agree when you say black people are the underdogs but we can make a change and it is really is pissing me off black people every where are beeing the underdog I have friends and family that live al over the world , Europe , The states , Africa , South america and i have been to some of thoes places and its al the same ,same problems same drama we need to start making a change its like a battle and were loosing it.

Here in the Netherland where I live how ever we are not the mayority but there isnt rasims here so I really dont see why we arent doing well . We get a lot of changes ,equeal rights ect. But we dont take the chances we are gettin and I just cant figger out why like for example here in Netherland we have 3 school systems low,middle,high .
(When you finish the Low school you get to do a job with your hands , When you finish middle you get to become a teacher, policemen , nurse ect . when you do high you get to be a law yer , doctor , architect ect. )

Im in high and im the only black student in my class the low is filled with black students and it is rediculess because i know thoes kids are also smart and they could do much better . And it isnt about rasism ,things are really calm down here we get so many oppurtunies and we just fuck them up i just dont understand why .

@112 ZV

Yes you are right this shit is are fault and are priorties are indeed fucked up . One time is was watching the oprah show and it was about america poor there was a black women in the show no money totally broke no hope of change in the situation and can you believe it her her was done perfectly .
you mean to tell me that you have no money for nothing not even food for you and your kids and your hair is done ? Come on it really shows were your priorties are. The woman in the video said the same :
they rather go hungry then not having their hair fixed .Think about al off the billions we spend on hair product that money could have been used for much better cause it just so silly and it doenst make any sense .

@ 114 Develicious

Wtf are you talking about its gods fault ?????? Its are own fault we should like the way we are and stop trying to look white . Because that is acatually what we are trying to do when we are getting are her straightend and when we are getting are weaves ect.
I started to think about this a long time ago . I picked up a magazine and it was called black hair.
I sqoopd trough it needless to say that only 5 % of al hairstyles where natural . The magzazines
should be called “‘How to get you black hair as close to white hair as possible’”‘

@ 116 Im_Not_here

Its true it not about hair and people need to wake up and realise that the problem is much bigger .
We really need to start making changes beause the way we are living is not working . And it so funny because black people arent the only minorities in most countrys if you think about it : Jewish peole,arab people ,indian people they are al minorities just like us .
The only differents between them and us is that they alway stick to getter they always try to do the right thing for the community . If one of us black people starts to do well for them selfs there is always like ten other black people trying to put them down to pull them back as fast a possible.

black people generally dont like to see other black people doing well . We need to stop hating ,the brother or sister next to us who is doing well we should encourage them and then think for our self what can i do to help my own sitation get better.

@ 120 Kendra
what does that has to do with the topic ??
and mabye if you dindt notice Africa is also a
3e world Continent and Asia still has
more money than Africa so your statement isnt correct.

Anyways it was kind of a long story LOL . Appolgize for my englisch i know it isnt perfect but it isnt my first languash so cut me some slack

Well after reading these comments I agree with a lot of you about our situation as black people, but this has gone on for years and yes it is down to us to change it as we’ve said time and time again. The situation is the same here in England with indians owning most of these businesses. So how much more waking up to things must we do? then what happens is this will all blow over and we will be back in the same position come next year complaining about the same thing or something else. A lot of black people don’t want to address the the deeper issues that affect us. They are happy to be ignorant and so be it. We need to be re-educated both young and old and understand how to make the system work for us and not everyone else. The few of us who won’t allow other races profit off us in this manner aren’t enough to make a difference. With this hair situation, the problem is that black women have become dependent on these products i.e weaves and relaxers and these non black businesses . Pple are making money off us because of our own insecurities, we are not taken seriously as a race, why should we when some of us make a mockery of ourselves. We put hair from other cultures in our head, we dont even know where or who it comes from. We talk about the attitudes of the black businesses which is true some are like that but then if you get the same attitude from korean or asian (indian) shops we still go back to them. The madness of it all!

Did anyone find out if I was right about Aron being an old caucasian man?

Nevermind, ARON RANEN IS A WHITE MAN! I’m cool on buying the dvd. People made it seem as though purchasing the DVD would some how go back into OUR community.

god, everything is not a conspiracy. so what if the film maker is white. does that dilute the message? we’re talking pure economics. south koreans have a virtual monopoly on not only the maufacture of hair but are increasingly edging out competition in all facets of the blackhair care market. i’m not hating because they’re in the market but as a result of their monopolisitc tactics; that’s wrong but that’s capitalism.

but people we have choices as to where we spend our money. while it may be few and far in between, where there is a black community there are black businesses. speand your money there.

but let’s not fool ourselves into thinking that just because hair products are made by a black company they are good quality. look at the ingredients. many of the lower end products in the stores are trashy. period. i personally buy dominican haircare products which i find in latino-owner mom&pop stores.

lastly, it’s interesting how little discussion there is on the vast amount black women spend on our hair compared to other ethnic groups. it’s kind of disgusting. where are our priorities? perhaps we should channel all the money spent on caring for our hair towards proper nutrition, education etc.

@ adorkable - I interpreted it that way at first too but then I realized she was just sayin support him for the simple fact that he’s trying to bring light to a situation that involves us. It really doesn’t matter what race tells the story as long as the story gets told and truth is spoken.

I read the remaining comments and have to agree with most of what was said. As I predicted, this didn’t even hit 200 threads, much less 300, so that is sort of dispappointing.

Nonetheless, I’m glad that at least a handful of us cared enough to share, educate each other and pass on useful information. It only takes one person oe one event in one moment to change history so maybe this will be the catalyst.

nyp said:

but let’s not fool ourselves into thinking that just because hair products are made by a black company they are good quality. look at the ingredients…

*** You’re 100% on it there. And a lot of people fail to realize that the first ingredient in the product is the most prevalant. So if water is first, then petroleum, what are you really getting for your money? Watery grease!

——————————–
nyp said:
lastly, it’s interesting how little discussion there is on the vast amount black women spend on our hair compared to other ethnic groups. it’s kind of disgusting. where are our priorities? perhaps we should channel all the money spent on caring for our hair towards proper nutrition, education etc.

*** NYP, this was one of the first things I mentioned when we started this discussion. I priorities are JACKED. I myself get a professional haircut at the Hair Cuttery every six weeks ($12) but I cannot tell you the last time I visited abeauty salon. That “every two week appointment” does not work for me or my pocket books. We really need to spend our money more wisely. I’m not against getting your hair did but when the baby can’t eat and the rent ain’t paid, you have a problem.

^ our priorities…

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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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.