Saturday Retrospective: Should we support BLACK haircare business?
My daily life brings me into contact with all sorts of people; black and otherwise. And when I’m buying things, I’m not really thinking about whether my products were made by a black person, or whether I’m buying from a black-owned store.
And why should I?
If we’re trying to get to a ‘post-racial world’, why should I maintain a fierce commitment to my “race”, which some might call zenophobic?
This is a question I’ve been struggling with lately as more and more information comes to light about the inequalities in the beauty industry. Chris Rock uncovered it at length in his film “Good Hair”. Basically, the black hair care industry is not owned by blacks. It’s owned by whites and Asians.
The sell the products. They manufacture the products. The own the stores.
So the question is: Should I care?
I would like to feel that I am autonomous, that I make my decisions out of reason — not loyalty to race.
But then again, isn’t it reasonable for blacks to take back the beauty industry? If only to rid it of its inherently exploitive nature? But then, even if we ‘take back’ the beauty industry, who’s to say that it will cease to be exploitive?
So what do we do? Where do we go? What are your thoughts on this?
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BGLH now has a forum! Check it out HERE.
In the pursuit of a “post-racial world,” I think that it is important not to over homogenize the melting pot. I see “post-race” as more of “recognition of the fact that we are all the same being that evolved different physical traits based on the environmental conditions in which we lived.” However I do not want it to become an overblending of so many rich cultures and perspectives into one common being. We already have modern examples of the problems with trying to broadly categorize many groups with different customs, values, belief systems, and standard practices under one umbrella existence (much of Africa and South Asia) and it does not go well.
Also, our differences is what makes life so rich! Why would I travel to London, India, and Lagos if my experience is going to be the same as what I have here in the US? (I once spent a summer in Buenos Aires which is the most homogeneous city I’ve ever been to and it was absolutely miserable after a while!)
Long story short, in the “post-racial world” I hope there will still be different cultural groups. We just have to work on breaking down the boundaries and ending unnecessary conflict between them.
When it comes to the “buying black” question, I do not see this as an issue of race, I see it as one of community. We’re stuck with being described by a racial description b/c African and American have been taken, however the “black/African American” community is a cultural group/commuity of its own just like the Koreans, Indians, Christians, Muslims, FOBs (fresh off the boat) and assimilated. Even within the black community, you have sororities and fraternities as well as churches who support their members through patronization. The creation and maintenance of these groups is not detrimental in itself. It serves one of the basic needs of Maslow’s hierarchy: belonging.
I consider the black American community to be one of my cultural groups. As a young woman who has, since college, had more exposure to whites and Asians socially, it has never been more clear. I support my cultural group so that there will always be a place for me to go to when I don’t want to small-talk over beers at a bar with total strangers I’ll soon forget. Sometime I want to hit the club and dance with someone who’s really got the moves and hang out with a bunch of loud-mouthed black women and over-exclaim over the smallest thing and bowl over with laughter.
If I were looking at two equally-qualified contractors to work on my house and one of them went to my high school: I’d hire Mr./Ms. Viking Pride. If one of them was Guyanese, I’d offer some sorrel while he/she worked. And I’d DEFINITELY hire my cousin’s boyfriend’s brother’s somebody…it’s kinda the whole “pull up the people around you with you” thing.
So,…long story short: not a race issue. It’s about community. And the breakdown of the community is bad biz, so please support yours.
(Sorry so lengthy!)
I don’t understand how it’s zenophobic to support black businesses. I think there has been a push for black people to support black businesses because there is an assumption that no one else will.
We should be appalled that in black communities, many small businesses aren’t owned by people who look like us.
At the same time I think it’s important to support business with good practices (i.e., those that pay fair wages and are giving back to the communities that support them)
I tend to buy products from black owned and operated businesses because they’re the ones that make products that work well for my hair.
That’s it. Plain and simple.
Does it help the inequality that’s in this business? Yes.
It’s important to support Black owned business because no one is supporting us. I would like to see a post racial society too, but until then, I want to see the Black community thrive economically. I would like to see us graduate from just being consumers. Because we have not, we still rely on white people for our jobs, and therefore, are still dependent on them. Malcolm X said it best, “If we own the stores, if we operate the businesses, if we try and establish some industry in our own community, then we’re developing to the position where we are creating employment for our own kind. Once you gain control of the economy of your own community, then you don’t have to picket and boycott and beg some cracker downtown for a job in his business.(The Ballot or Bullet)” One would think that the discrimination in the job force would motivate us to support each other, but we still depend on a discriminatory white system under the assumption that it will come through for us. You can’t live as if America is the post-racial society you want it to be. You must recognize it as being racist and advance your own community until its culture changes (which, as we can see from history, is extremely gradual).
I think you can still support your people/racial community and be accepting of society becoming more equal but let’s be real, we still have a long way to go before we have complete racial equality. We have a black president and racism is still alive and well.
We’re, Black Americans, one of the few communities that don’t support each other. We give our money to communities that don’t (necessarily) give back to us. If we kept more of our money in our community, we wouldn’t have to ask the gov’t to do for us, we could rally up our own dollars and do the dang thang. I go out of my way these days to support black ownded businesses when I can b/c it’s also part of the way that we preserve and celebrate our culture.
Quality products should always be given preference over low-quality products. I think if those of us of African descent were better educated about the kinds of products that we should be putting in our hair and the stuff we should be staying away from, then we wouldn’t lay a finger on 99% of the stuff that is sold in Asian beauty supply stores.
Right now only black-owned businesses like Oyin Handmade, Curls (etc.) and organic companies are making quality products. They need to stick to what they’re doing, but at the same time, find a way to (slowly but surely) inform more people to make better choices about their hair and health.
Shopping for quality products made by people who KNOW our hair should lead us back to black businesses ideally. That’s a niche they should focus on and carve out for themselves.
On a sidenote: In my whole town, I only know of one black-owned beauty supply store (compared to maybe 4 Korean-owned ones) and the only thing I need from there is Marley braid hair for when I get my Kinky twists done. I only shop at virtual (black-owned) businesses and whole food stores for hair products now.
I think it’s possible to want a post-racial world, but to also expect your particular group to survive and thrive. That’s simply human nature,and everyone else seems to get it except Black people in the U.S. Everyone else supports their own, why shouldn’t we?
Personally, I LOVE supporting Black woman owned businesses such as Kinky-Curly and Hairveda. Of course, the fact that their products are high-quality is important as well. But all things being equal, I’d rather support the Black business. Hair is one of the FEW industries that Blacks are trying to make strides in, and I will support that as long as I can.
@ AdriB, word to your whole post.
@Alice, That’s a huge part of my reasoning as well. The products work well because they are made by people with hair like US. That’s how it should be.
@AdriB and Black Bot – I am also in agreement.
I think this is less of a problem in the natural hair community because most of our hair lines (Oyin,Carol’s Daughter, Kinky-curly, Miss Jessie) are black owned or many of us make our own products from raw ingredients. Really the all white/asian owned problem is part of the Weave/Relaxer industrial complex. It is no coincidence that the products that are meant to make us feel our hair is inferior are not owned by black women.
It is important to by black owned products because it puts money back into our communities and creates companies that will hire black workers.
@ thelady…. i agree that this is more of an issue within the relaxed community. but even among naturals, like, should we feel bad when we buy herbal essences? or suave? how far should we take this?
i think you should care about where your money ends. i am not sure if you have noticed that most hair products for natural hair are produced by black owned companies. i believe in supporting black owned companies not because of a percieved racial solidarity but simply because i love diversity and i’d like to see more successful black-owned companies. similarly i’m a bookworm and i made it my mission to support black authors a few years ago when i realised that 95% of the books i read were written by white authors. in the end it is really up to the individual.
We should support black businesses. We are the only community that wholeheartedly consumes goods and services made for us by other people. It’s insane. We complain about what we don’t have, but then send all of our dollars outside of the community. Billions and billions of dollars. Who’s to blame?
On the flip side, black-owned businesses need to do a better job when it comes to customer service. I will not support any business where I am not treated well. Greet me when I walk in the door. Get off the damned phone and see if I need any assistance. Give a damn about the way the store looks. Just give a damn period. All of these things can be applied to businesses in general, but I’ve seen all of them too often at black-owned establishments.
I love thelady’s answer! Most natural haircare is black owned. Most of the weave/relaxer haircare isnt and I personally don’t care because a lot of them frown upon natural hair so no it doesn’t bother me at all that they’re not black owned. I could truly care less. When I was in the theater watching “Good Hair” yesterday, a lot of people gasped when the Asian beauty supply store owner was talking about natural big hair from Africa and how customers want straight hair..blah..blah.. A lot of people in the theater gasped as though they were offended by his comments but honestly black people say the same thing all the time and it’s okay but when other races talk about our “natural” hair, blacks get mad. Its so contradicting!
I buy products that work for my hair and my pocket. At the moment the herbal essences conditioner for about $5 works great.
I care about fairtrade products too but I noticed while in America this label is relatively unknown. Yet in the natural community, we use sheabutter from Ghana, coconut oil from Kenya and we don’t care enough to guarantee the supplier a price?
I think if black owned lines could be more affordable, accessible and effective then no doubt, I would try them. I don’t think anything though would make me buy a bad or expensive product. For me effectiveness and price comes first.
My personal gripe in the UK is that almost every single hair shop is owned by Asians (specifically Indian & Pakistani). They don’t hire outside their own families, they do not treat their customers with respect and they aggressively remove competition from others by bandying together (as recently happened to a black owned hair shop I used to go to).
It wouldn’t be so bad if we could find brands of haircare products in mainstream shops, but we can’t. I often search for black owned hair shops, but it’s hair today, gone tomorrow. Brands such as Beauty Queen in the UK are a national franchise and from what I can tell, they are all owned by Asian families and found in every black commmunity in multiples (one was at the heart of the Birmingham riots in 2005).
I can’t offer any solutions, but I know it’s tragic and its humiliating that the black community is backed into a corner by this type of activity.
As for the haircare products themseleves, we have to move towards make your own as far as I can tell. I don’t see any benefit in having Fairtrade products, it is a social conscience brand but it’s real benefit to the producer is limited. Know that the retailer has added a huge premium and the so called ‘fair price’ is only an inch above exploitative.
I agree with Jc though, a lot of black owned black hair products are too damn expensive. Like Carol’s Daughter is way overpriced in my opinion!
a) I love the new site
b) Great question. It’s most definitely not xenophobic to support black-owned businesses. I’m a huge proponent of that b/c if we don’t, NO ONE else will. “Post-racial” my butt lol. But, the hair care industry gets really dicey. It is very exploitative, disgustingly so. Ethnic products are made specifically for us (I guess they’re “separate but equal”), we spend billions, yet our hair is more damaged than everyone else’s. Clearly, a lot of these products are not getting the job done. Enter the black-owned brands. They have far better ingredients, but are way more expensive (too expensive).
I grew up in Brooklyn; my mom and Lisa (founder of Carol’s Daughter) had a mutual friend. My mom and I got turned on to her products even before she opened her first store. The products were heaven and CD gained popularity quickly. But, then the prices went up, the sizes went down as did the quality (ugh, mass production). I don’t mean to pick on CD, but this is a product line I supported since its inception, and I can honestly say that I stopped supporting that black-owned business b/c of what I felt was less quality for higher prices.
For me, I find natural oils etc. are far more economical than many black companies’ hair products and surpasses the quality of white-owned/asian sold products. I guess after my initial statement about supporting black businesses, I should hang my head in shame b/c the conditioner I swear by is by Aubrey Organics (a white company that makes hair products for everyone). But, he’s an organic chemist, uses great ingredients and is about 50 cents less per ounce.
If a black company fit that criteria, I would be more than happy to give ‘em a shot
Yes we should support black businesses because no one else will. Black people have been targets of exploitative financial and economic practices for centuries. Yes black businesses are more expensive but I don’t mind paying more for better quality. QB and Oyin ARE better quality hair products. Well when it comes to blacks exploiting blacks; I think the only time that can happen is when the product quality is inferior or there is some type of scam involved. You can never buy totally black anywhere in America because black people don’t make it their business to own what they create. They would much rather sell it off to a businessperson of another race such to make a quick buck.
You HARDLY EVER SEE any other race frequently black businesses, but we flock like fools to anyone who isn’t black. SMH. BGLH don’t buy into the hype; ‘post-racial’ just means underground racism. There never will be a ‘post-racial’ world
I use what’s good, what works, and what’s affordable. I also try to support businesses that are fair trade and environmentally friendly; though I admit it doesn’t always happen. I don’t think you have to be black or white per say, but you have to know what your clientele wants, make it good, and provide it to them at a price they can afford. However, not everyone is an informed consumer and more often than not the most important color when doing business is green (or whatever color your money is).
“Post-racial” is the new “color blind”. If it absorbs and then erases my people from the face of this earth it is another form of genocide. We are of course all human but we are a beautifully diverse species and that is our gift. What we need to strive toward is respect for the cultures, contributions, histories and genetic variety of our species not to be blind to it or dissolve the variety and diversity of our species. To answer your original question, of course we must support black business. What good can come out of ignoring or financially starving those businesses that contribute to the diversity of products. Every voice every creative human being that has something to contribute of value to the market place should receive support, that includes us. There is no doubt that we should support black businesses. There is no need to feel guilty or imagine that you are supporting racism by assuring that the contributions of your people continue to enrich humankind
I live in Germany so I get in where I can fit it. Basically, I buy what works for me from whomever and wherever I please. I only have three products (a sheabutter and coconut oil mix, and some Miss Jessie’s) that I purchased from a black-owned business. Quite honestly, I like what I like and stick with what works for me. I do not go out of my way to find other hair products just because they are made by black-owned businesses. Also, what about the prices? They are crazy! I have a head full of really thick hair and I just can’t see droppin $20 on a 4oz bottle of spray/butter/moisturizer (ie. Oyin Handmade), that will last me like 3 uses.
Like most people said, what’s most important to me as a consumer is the quality and price of a product. The problem within black communities is mostly a lack of education when it comes to proper and healthy hair care. Most people on natural hairblogs are somewhat educated and enlightened to what to use in their hair to adequately manage and maintain it, so the products they use tend to be more natural and unrefined oils, and mostly products that do not come from these asain beaty supply stores. I do enjoy supporting my people (blacks, women, Africans, any group I identify with, not just racially), as long as they are up to par on what I want. The issue with some of these black owned haircare lines is their high prices and most are unavailable in store. If the black masses could get quality products that were readily available to them at a reasonable/recession proof price that was black owned coupled with proper education of our hair, nobody would be buying from these other companies that exploit us.
I stopped supporting Asian owned hair care stores last year due to my business not being appreciated (it almost got nasty), the lack of products marketed for my hair, and the realization that this business is for me (and people like myself) yet I’m supporting businesses owned by people who do not share my hair textures and the attributes that go with it. I just got sick of it.
I currently support either black owned hair care businesses or other businesses such as ULTA and Sally. I’m all for taking back our businesses, but it has to start with us, for we are our biggest hindrance.
If most of us learned to do without all of the many products we own and don’t need, that would be the beginning of a solution. With all I’ve learned from this and other natural sites, I’ve gotten my monthly product needs down to 1 bottle of shampoo, 1 bottle of conditioner, 1 bottle of aloe vera gel & 1 tub of shea butter (which lasts longer than a month). I spend less than $10 a month on my hair. When it comes to deep-conditioning, I know how to use ingredients from my kitchen. It is possible, especially for natural women, to take fabulous care of your hair on a simple budget without supporting businesses that don’t support us.
This weekend I drove over an hour to see “Good Hair” and to patronize a black-owned beauty supply. Sadly they didn’t really have much in the way of hair products (they did have a wide variety of weave hair, which I might have bought if I were into weave, which I’m definitely not) but I did buy some plastic caps and some earrings. The two young ladies behind the counter were both very pleasant and helpful. So I feel I did my bit for black-owned business that day.
Sadly, these days my budget does not allow me to patronize black-owned natural haircare companies on a consistent basis. I would love to find a conditioner that does the work of Hello Hydration at or around the same price point. And what about the ingredients we use as kitchenticians? My shea butter comes from a black-owned company but my aloe vera gel, olive oil, honey, etc. don’t. There’s only so much we can do IMO.
As for black-owned salons…again, my budget doesn’t allow it, but even if it did, the stylist would have to practically walk on water before I’d let him/her in my (thick, fine, nappy) hair. I’d be happy to support a black stylist if he/she were truly EDUCATED about my hair type.
(OT: I like the new site!)
Seriously, what “industry” by and large are Blacks really in control of as OWNERS? One would hope that we would be financially autonomous when it comes to something as personal as our own hair. Does anyone else think that it’s embarrasing that we as women need to buy something (hair) we literally can grow ourselves?
We can make all kinds of parallels and justify the farming of hair as if its a fruit or vegetable… but to me i’m always going to feel to some degree like its the equivalent of selling ice back to the eskimos. I probably would wear a wig if I felt like the industry wasn’t exploiting… and we as black people weren’t feeding into … the assumption that our natural hair somehow isn’t good enough or worthy of praise like every other race of people on the planet.
White people started that lie, Blacks bought into it for survival at the expense of our self-esteem, and Asians are capitalizing off of it. When that changes…and we all work together to reverse the lies and exploitation, maybe i’ll rethink the whole buying hair thing…
I’m all about supporting black businesses (in general, not just hair care). As AdriB said, I do it for reasons of community, not just race. This whole autonomous thing is truly an American way of thinking (not just for hair, but in so many other ways). Most other societies are far more community oriented when it comes to everything from healthcare to education and they’re the better for it. I can’t truly be doing well if the majority of my community (and not just racial community) is living in poverty, dying because they can’t afford healthcare, etc. I certainly don’t purchase all of my hair products from black businesses, but I try to by them as much as possible because I know that it will have a positive effect on the greater community, even if the effect is only that other people will become inspired by seeing a successful black business.
I’m late on this issue but Jc just brought me to this post. I had just done a post on 40 black owned hair care companies. I agree that people should buy what they can afford and what works for their hair. If it is possible that you find yourself purchasing from black owned that’s great but it should not be the most influencing reason.
I buy from Black Business when it comes to hair products. Even if it means taking a longer drive. Hell there is a hair supply store walking distance from my house and you know what, most of the people there don’t speak a lot of English yet they are trying to sell me something that is for me and my people only.
What other race allows this? If I were to go into a Chinese neighborhood and try to open a Chinese restaurant they are going to look at me like I’m insane and not a soul would come in. If I went to Malibu, CA and opened a tanning salon then would think I was insane. So why are we allowing outsiders to sell us OUR products? That makes no sense and it shows how we as a people are easily taken over. I support Black Owned Business because if we don’t support our people no one will.