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Let the church say AMEN!!!

Can't the reality of racism be that it is a flawed concept?

It has nothing to do with intellect. it has to do with priorities. And yes, i am telling your that people forget what they did or did not do 34 years ago. Furthermore, Democratic congressman Bobby Rush from Illinois who was once a Black Panther and said a lot of bad things about honkies, has never apologized for this - because it wasn't expedient. That's what's important to politicians.

None of my doctors are white men. So this is mot a consideration of mine. White boys/men do a wide variety of dumb things they are a product of their environment. The school who published the photo is just as responsible. How do feel about Black men wearing wigs and dresses to amuse white people?

@Chevdove At least braids are not imitating anyone else. If you wore braid extensions then I don't see what the problem was. I feel that when black women wear hair that is not native to their appearance, they are indeed disguising their hair. If a sista feels the need to wear an Afro wig or black textured weave like braids, I do not have a problem with that. Other women don't get a pass. They simply don't count. And I believe that this is what we truly disagree about. Weaves and wigs are not enhancements. They are not enhancements when clowns wear them and they are not enhancements when black women wear them either. The natural hair is the enhancement. It's just too bad that enough black women don't realize that. And for the record, sistas aren't wearing Afro's to parade them around white people. The sistas who wear their hair natural are doing it because they value their natural hair. It makes plenty of sense sista! If black women wear hairstyles to attract black men, then black men have a duty show black women that we appreciate them as they are. Black women were made specifically for black men. It's not a natural occurrence for black men to reject the natural supreme beauty of black women. I don't believe that black men have oppressed black women by not wanting them to wear weaves. I also believe that if black men started to wear wigs or weaves that looked like Brad Pit hairstyles, black women would not be oppressing black men if they protested. But I am pretty comfortable in saying that I don't think black women would like that and I can only hope that I am correct by assuming this.

Troy For years many people thought I was Thumper Well I think you might be Cynique, lol. But atleast no one has accused you of being a gay white mason....yet.

@NubianFellow this article, written by @Cynique almost 1/2 century ago may give you some perspective https://aalbc.com/authors/article.php?id=16

Not sure how many different ways I can say "Yes." Yes, multiple races exist in Pioneer's reality. Again, this is not a reality shared by the scientific community...

@NubianFellow You repeatedly stress how blacks were uprooted from their African roots. To this day they are still America's step children. Everything that you are claiming and advocating about black hair is nothing new. It has been a subject of discussion for at least a century. Back in the 1960s, a "black is beautiful" craze swept the country and Afros were in. But gradually things leveled off and what black women did with their hair split out. So, why was black brainwashing unable to permanently uproot white brain washing when it came to hair? Possibly because that ol adage about "when in Rome, do as the Romans do" permeated the subconscious minds of black women who are aware that their hair is a manifestation of their past. But, perhaps because the past is so depressing, they want to live in the present where they can exercise their freedom to wear their hair any way they choose. Yeah, i know we are supposed to learn from the past. But maybe that's what the lesson is. And I wouldn't bet on little black girls not choosing a Nikki Minaj doll over a Lady GaGa one or a Michelle Obama picture over a Melania Trump one in today's America. Give it rest, handsome. (why did you delete your video?) You also have choices, and there are plenty of bushy-haired sistas out there, ready to rock your world!

Ida B. Wells is a Chicago treasure. Her descendants still live here and she is buried here. i went to the U of Illinois with 2 of her grandsons. A large housing project once bore her name but was eventually demolished. Recently her great-grandaughter was instrumental in having a major thoroughfare in the city named after her. A great woman, indeed.

O black woman, do you know who you are? It is you for whom the birds sing when the dawn opens itself for inspection. It is the glow in your eyes that the stars imitate when they sparkle. It is the color of your flava that makes the rainbow dull in comparison, and it is via your beauty that we can physically witness God’s artistry.-Gibran-• O black woman, do you know who you are? You are the secret that only reveals itself when a man is truly ready to experience the joy of having his dream transformed into reality. You are God’s private blessing to men who know what to do within the point between birth and death. To dwell within the kingdom of YOU is where heaven begins. -Gibran- • O black woman, do you know who you are? You are both the starting point and the finish line for everything I could ever aspire to be. You are a force of nature that has broken my shackles so that I can walk freely. You have erased my doubts so that I can think clearly. You have repaired my broken wings so that I can soar beside you. -Gibran- • O black woman, do you know who you are? You are the magic that awes the universe, the splendor that amazes the earth, and the glory that makes men heart beat with pride when they attempt to possess u. -Gibran- • O black woman, do you know who you are? You are the beautiful gift that God left on the doorstep of my heart. You are that special moment in time when nothing else matters but most importantly, you are YOU! Unmistakably YOU! -Gibran- • O black woman, do you know who you are? You are the sunshine that lights my life from within. You are the fire that warms every fiber of my being and that illuminates my path so that I am never afraid of the darkness. -Gibran- • O black woman, did u know that when I stare in the skies the stars spell your name? I feel your touch in the wind and I see your face in the clouds. And when I stand under the shadow of your smile, I find shelter from the storm. -Gibran- • O black woman, do you know who you are? You are that warm safe place where all roads lead at the end of a day when I have slayed all my dragons and find that all of my strength comes from you. You melt on my life and I become complete. -Gibran- • O black woman, do you know who u are? You are chocolate, dipped in mystery, a specially-designed flava whose smile is brighter than the rainbow. -Gibran-

@NubianFellow I don't feel that 'Shaming' is ever warranted or necessary coming from Black men about this particular issue of Black women wearing 'false hair'. And so, now, they've gone from Jerry curls and perms to obsessively SAGGIN!? WOW! That showed them! Black men have now been so shamed that they now wear their pants low to the point it is an obssession all across America. LOL. It has power alright, the power that it carries keeps us extremely suppressed. No other culture does this attack, gender attack, on a wide-scale but Blacks. And yet, we can't see the damage it has done to our existence. This oppressive behavior of demeaning each other is so affective and has sooooooo much POWER and completely helps this government operate freely without having to deal with us unwanted people in their higher sectors. We grapple on the lower realms of society getting the crumbs while others look on, laughing at how we attack each other, destroying self images amongst each other rendering us completely unable to fight other important issues that would help to give us relief and freedom. Freedom to see a better positive image that other human beings express because they are not constantly being shamed by their men. I think I know what you’re getting at, here. You are comparing Black women wearing false hair to CRIMINAL BEHAVIOR being downplayed. You’re equating gang murders to Black women wearing false hair. And, you are taking it a step further and saying that we, Black women, do acknowledge that it is a CRIME TO WEAR UGLY FALSE HAIR but we want Black men to overlook this obvious crime and look at our other insignificant attributes such as our intellect or our curvy physique or etc. Nappy hairstyles count much more than anything else that we could possibly look like or do. Well, I for one am happy that some Black AfroAmerican men do speak out against the obsession with Black women wearing hair weaves and extensions but however, the issue of ‘shaming’ is absolutely not good. I also agree with you that Shaming [ie. joking, mocking, ridiculing…] Black women for wearing weaves, wigs and extensions would be a big part of our culture and I also believe that has been used by this oppressive system to further their cause. I don’t know how to completely say what I believe and think that an expert on human behavior might do a better job than me in giving a more complete breakdown on what I am trying to say, but because as a Black woman, who becomes the recipient of such ‘shaming’, many of us can give some good feedback on this subject. I think that because we have been ‘conditioned’ to believe that this aspect of our culture is normal adds on to our detriment. Although Black men who do throw down Black women and use this issue as an excuse for their Self Hatred don’t need no help from White Supremacist society but it helps to the cause of both. And, I think this ‘hair issue’ stems from part of the conditioning of the past Chattel Slave System whereby the slave yard ‘Buck’ was used to attack and totally demean the Black helpless slave women first and then came the White attackers. No, I absolutely do not feel that you have done anything like this intentionally, but it would be the conditioning of this system that would be a deceptive part of the intense position of ‘shaming’ that some Black men have taken against Black women on their choices in how they style their hair. You may feel that your approach may not be this or that or may not be ‘shaming tactic’ but I guess this is subjective and based on individual accounts. Your approach may be taken as well meaning by some and not others. And your approach is well intended and so, the outcome regardless, will be good because it’s heartfelt in how you appreciate and adore Black women, but there are other Black men that may use your same approach and don’t mean Black women any good at all. So, therefore, let me offer a personal story that may help to better understand this issue: ========================================================================================================================== Decades ago when I worked as an Environmental Scientist at shipyard—MY HAIR!!! I became so tired of having to style my natural hair everyday and go to work. I worked outside in extreme elements a lot. I had to work in high temperatures in the summertime or based on the type of job I had to cover, sometimes, I sweat profusely and then went out into the cold winter weather and then back into my office building with my hair soaking wet. So one day, I impulsively decided to braid my hair and added extensions over the weekend. I didn’t give it much thought because I had done it before at another job. But when I came to work, I was confronted with a blow to my person, that I knew was wrong. The setting of the building was as such; After punching in the code to get in the building, and walking mid-way down the hallway to swipe the time-clock, and then walking further down the hallway past other office spaces, then, I entered my office space on the left. It was a rather spacious area and there were six (6) employees including myself who was the only female scientist for the north zone office that covered the environmental monitoring for the northside of the entire shipyard. My desk was straight across from the entrance to the back so when I sat, my back was to the windows and I faced the entrance. I sat in the middle of to men on either side of me, and their desk faced my desk. I faced forward and so, they were able to look up and view me in profile during the work shift. [1] On my left side of the office against the side wall area was the desk facing me of one man, a tall slender built, straight-haired Native American man, a single man--John. [2] On my right side of the office against the side wall area was the desk facing me of another man, a tall slender built dark skinned, single African American man--Doe. [3] Towards the front right was another tall slender, dark skinned, slender built, married African American man-Sam and [4] next to him was the desk of my supervisor nearest the front door, a married, tall slender White man—Clark [i.e. all of these names superficial].[5] On the left front side was a tall, slender, older senior White man—Jim. So, Monday morning I buzzed myself into the building, punched the clock, walked into my office and sat down at my desk and I was usually the first one in the building. The second one was usually Black-Sam, the married Black man and he walked into the office and sat down and immediately, I sensed that he was alarmed and seemed cold in his initial body language. Usually, he would give the usual ‘Hey’ how you doing this morning, but he said nothing. So, I spoke, and inquired why he didn’t greet me. To my surprise, he was abrupt and blunt. He said to me, “I don’t like your hair”. And, his face was very stern as he glared at me, then he turned away and was dead quiet. Oh God, it hurt so bad. I couldn’t believe it. But I said nothing as usual. Its never been my nature to be an outward and vocal person, so I just remained quiet. And, he was never usually a vocal person either but was professional and he usually kept out of the shipyard conversations that could sometimes get vulgar. But, this morning, he shocked me. He was embarrassed by my presence with the ‘ethnic hair style’. But, in less than about ten minutes, in walked the tall and tan Cherokee man-John and he briskly walked over to his desk and sat down. After only a few quiet seconds, he said, “Damn! I love your hair! Sexy!” Well, I was still too hurt to say much to him. But, I snickered a little, and said, “Thank you”. Then about five minutes later, my supervisor-Clark came in and sat down, looked up, and immediately said with a smile, “Hey, I like your hair!” Then a few minutes later, the last one that came in that particular day, was Black-Doe, and he came in and sat down and said, nothing. Then after few minutes, Cherokee John took a call for a job assignment, he immediately jumped up and put on his hard hat, grabbed his shipyard backpack and said to me, “Come on, let’s go do this job assignment together.” So, I leaned over, got my hard hat and put it on, and I grabbed my backpack and through it over my back and out we went. … During the morning and after I got back to my desk, all day the other White men from South zone office, next door, would pop in our office and tell me that they loved my hair. They leaned against my desk and chit chatted as usual from time to time. I was the first African American Environmentalist in that building and in that huge ship yard ever and there was my friend, in the South zone office, a married, White Woman—Christian, who was the first ever women environmentalist in this shipyard ever. This shipyard was the largest in the world and second best only to a shipyard in Japan at that time. After lunch, Black-Sam picked up the phone and took a job assignment and then he grabbed his gear, and said to me, “Come on, I want to do this assignment with you.” So, I really didn’t want to go with him, but, I grabbed my hard hat and gear and went out the office with him and out the building and got in the passenger seat of the company jeep and he backed out of the lot and drove off. Inside, I was furious, but I was quiet. With in minutes, he said, “I am sorry. I want to apologize to you the way that acted this morning. I was wrong about your hair. It looks good. I am really sorry.” I said, “okay”. … At that time, I really didn’t need anyone to validate me, because, I was already confident in my appearance. I already had validation long before that point and I knew that I looked gorgeous in my youth, with or without hair extensions but, for that Black man to make a comment about my presence, and my braids, unsolicited, was wrong. It was an attack, but I am happy that he apologized. And later, that day; how many other Black men on the shipyard complimented me about my NEW-DOO!? LOL. Many! A lot of the Black men saw me in the yard that very day, with Black-Sam and came up to me and told me how much they liked my doo! LOL. But it took a very gorgeous Cherokee Indian who had women constantly falling at his feet, and other White men to ‘shame’ Black-Sam and Black-Doe that day. But I do want to say this; there is so much pressure put against Black men on accepting any and everything negative about Black women and this does put Black men in a terrible position and vice-versa. And for this reason, I did not hold this experience against the two brothers in my office. There is more to this story too, though… in the tune of job sexual harassment that I endured from both Black-Doe of whom, I did have a crush on, and Cherokee-John… I did have a crush on Black-Doe, but I did not want the relationship to go anywhere at that time, because I was stressed, very depressed due to my situation with my mother, and trying to prove myself, professionally, on the job. But, this personal story about how Black African American men feel about Black women and their hairstyles is complex for a lot of reasons, IMO, but ‘shaming’ Black women is definitely not the answer. All this type of PUBLIC Black-on-Black self-demeaning attacks only resulted in SAGGIN PANTS styles and etc that we have as part of our cultural definition today which means we are being conditioned to define our culture in extreme behaviors including excessive wearing of hair weaves and extensions and etc. but these extreme behaviors are not ours! As I have said before, White women wear hair extensions and weaves at the same rate that Black women do and white society have their extreme styles too, however, they come behind a movement furthered by Blacks and so, their social behaviors are not targeted. Black people become the trend setters and the 'fall guy' for promoting whatever it is, good or bad, in the world. White men do not attack White women publicly for issues that they may view as detrimental at the same rate the Black men do because it is not the right thing to do. Period. If Black men cannot find a way to address the issues that they feel are bad for Black women by encouragement then, let someone else do it. There is another example based on an old movie that I had just saw recently. The Black man in this film, IMO, is so gorgeous, like WOW! Mind blowing. In the movie, Phatgirlz, he tells the character played by Monique [paraphrasing] that she should not use certain explicative words and phrases to address other women because it takes away from her glory. Now, that is what I define as encouraging. In this world today as it has been in the past, we are always going to have this existing alongside of our cultures: RAHOTEP & NOFRET in Ancient Africa By Djehouty - Own work, CC BY-SA 4.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=51203600 Rahotep & Nofret 2600s BC; Nofret is wearing a wig, her real hair, bangs, can be seen under the wig. By Djehouty - Own work, CC BY-SA 4.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=51268686 So therefore, to just ‘shame’ Black women for wearing wigs and false hair enhancements in an environment whereby White women like this ancient White woman, NOFRET, who existed in ancient Black African civilization about 2600 BC is given ‘a pass’ to do this, is wrong. There needs to be a better way to address the issue of Black women who do go to the extreme though in wanting to portray White traits due to Self-Hatred.

@NubianFellowOK, we cool. @DelI was a wife, but i aint never worn one.

I am a little miffed that you would request an explanation for something that is so obvious. In spite of your opinion, head wraps are not my thing. I wouldn't be caught dead wearing one. They are what's comical to me. The wigs i wear replicate the way i wore my natural hair. But since i am now old and retired i don't spend a lot of time or money fussing with my hair and i take the easy way out. I am well aware of your fixation on the significance of black women wearing their hair natural in order to make a defiant statement to the white world but, as previously mentioned, i don't relate to Afro-centrism and feel no obligation to do so. To me, it's a superficial affectation. I prefer to debate white folks when it comes to black grievances, not parade around showing off my frizzy tresses expecting them to be be filled with respect. And , yes, rejecting natural hair is, indeed, about going with the flow - of manageable hair as opposed battling unruly kinks. If that offends you, sorry. I do me, because i am who i am; my own individual. Below are pictures of me in wigs. The color of my hair is now gray which is as natural, as i get. And if the way i look in my wigs offends you, well so be it.

I guess I am either not a guy or I disagree with this post. @NubianFellowWhy not respect and listen to other people's choices.

So i was brainwashed into buying a wig whose convenience has been well worth the purchase. Gullible me. Well, you are the one who decided to use a phone as an example. Choose your examples better and don't depend upon me to read your mind. I was speaking about this panel. Until Chevdove joined in, everybody who discussed and agreed upon this subject was a guy except me. And nobody said the subject wasn't important. But it is worth noting that no one came up with a viable solution. Just redundant conversation between people commiserating with each other. And i ask you, when has brainwashing not existed? It is interchangeable with exploitation, indoctrination, and propaganda. We are just being subjected to a version of it that is aligned with the times. Brainwashing is a consequence of living in a capitalistic consumer society. And i'm sure you will agree that it will be the source of our doom! But continue the dialogue. Since it's such a effective tool, maybe this brain trust can come up with a way to brainwash the people who are brainwashing the masses. Whatever. Excuse me, while I go look out the window at the pure snow that is inundating my environment as the temperatures plunge into record-breaking sub zero degrees. They're talking about it on the TV, brainwashing the dumb audience with subliminal suggestions in order to make them think they need shovels. I am leaving this discussion in Chevdove's hands. She is doing a good job of giving it a woman's perspective.

I will never forget, how one day on the 6 o'clock news one day, a few years ago, the reaction of a national news reporter. He was an African AMerican man and sitting next to him was a Blonde-haired, White woman, anchor news reporter. And for some reason, the subject of Black women wearing hair weaves came up briefly. The Black man jokingly said, that he could easily tell when Black women are wearing hair weaves or hair extentions, and the news woman responded and said, "Really? I am wearing hair weaves and, I have always been wearing hair extensions because my hair is very thin." LOL. I will never forget that Black man's reaction. His head snapped to the left, and his jaw became unhinged. He was so shocked. And the White woman news anchor continued to look straight forward into the camera, with a slight smile and he said, "REally?" ... ANd, he said nothing else, he was just speechless... LOL. Some Black men are so shallow and do not even realize how they have been conditioned to view Black women in a negative light and they are used as tools to oppress Black women for issues that are not even thought of in any other culture. Black African women have been depicted in ancient times wearing braided hair extensions and wigs and, White [ie ASiatic] women have also been depicted in ancient times doing the same. I have roomed with several White girls and etc. and know that they wear hair extensions a lot, but they do not become ridiculed on the level that Black women have been in sitcoms and such. Today, just about every White women and non-African actresses you see on television probably has hair extensions because their hair can get very thin. The actress beauty queen, Daisy Fuentas [sp] became a norm on tv as she demonstrated how easy it is for straight-haired women to put in hair extensions. It is so sad to see how some Black men have been used to exploit Black women. I do believe though, that some Black people have an obssession for wanting to have non-African traits though, not only when it comes to hair, but other things too, and I believe that this should definitely be addressed. But in many regards, women wear wigs and hair extensions as an enhancement and not because of having issues with SElf-Hatred.

Does brainwashing always exploit people? if they are seduced into buying something which brings them a lot of enjoyment and fulfillment, how bad is that? Does anybody have to be brainwashed into buying a convenience like a phone? Who is brainwashing the person when they can't part with the phone? Simple explanations for complicated problems don't always jibe. Talk is cheap. When all this gaseous garrulousness dissipates, what remains? A group of guys in agreement, brainwashed by each other's rhetoric with no way to make things different Do i care? Umm, not really. Gotta go wash the over abundant crop of hair blooming on my head. My granddaughter is coming to corn row it so the wig that saves me time and money and that i was undoubtedly brainwashed into buying, will fit better when i go out into the world. Okaaaay?

This is good news. Access to capital is always a problem for Black indie businesses so it is good to see a community step up and support an institution. The previous owner of Wild Fig, Crystal Wilkinson is an accomplished novelist. @Mel Hopkins, it was refreshing to see read article you linked to reference AALBC as the source of the count of Black owned bookstores. The article reference another article which writes on WUKY's site which says, "Publisher's Weekly reports at least 108 were open in April of this year." Publishers Weekly is not, nor do they claim to be, the source. However WUKY attributes PW. This is sloppy journalism at best and racist at worse. Again I'm glad to see this data correctly credited for change.