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Black Women's Hair Is Fashionable -- But on Whose Terms?


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twisted.jpgNow when @Pioneer1 and I said the things this sister is saying in the book. We were excoriated as being mansplainers and clueless about Black beauty and women's hair.

 

So I learned to just keep my mouth shut on the subject.  I did not know that Beyonce was also known as the "Queen of the Weave." Again, if a Brother said that he'd be dismissed as a sexist misogynist 😉

 

At any rate, I discovered this sister, Emma Dabiri ,through a book she has coming out next month, Twisted: The Tangled History of Black Hair Culture.

 

Sure, the subject matter is well trod, and I'd be surprised of there are any revelations for Black women over 10, but it made me think of conversations on this forum.  Perhaps it is written for white women... I dunno.

 

Does Emma Dabiri's complexion, in contrast to the woman on the book's cover, say anything to you?

 

 

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Beyonce is being....and has been for some time.....hyped up by the Caucasian controlled media as being THE "Black woman" to represent AfroAmerica.

This is no accident.

This is just another psychological ploy designed to begin replacing ACTUAL AfroAmericans with Caucasians CALLING THEMSELVES AfroAmericans.....like they did with many Native Americans. They first start off with the Beyonces, then the Mariah Carey types, soon you'll have women looking like Gwenyth Paltrow calling themselves "Black".....lol.

Anyway......

I'm curious as to what @Chevdove Chevdove has to say about this subject (not the one I mentioned but the actual subject of the thread) because she's often talking about the hair texture of Black people and how it can range from kinky to bone straight.

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I put Dabiri's book into the newsletter as a recommended read, it got a lot of clicks and a lot of people watched the video, which is not surprising.  

 

@Pioneer1, as you well know "caucasian controlled media" is responsible for any person who represents what you call "Afroamericans." Black people no longer wield that kind of power.

 

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On 5/14/2020 at 2:50 PM, Troy said:

Does Emma Dabiri's complexion, in contrast to the woman on the book's cover, say anything to you?

 

Hey @Troy! My answer to this question; Absolutely not.

 

I watched the video and she did a perfect job in this brief explanation!

Her complexion did not stop her from the deep issues of Colorism as it applies to issues about 'Black Hair'.

 

On 5/17/2020 at 11:37 AM, Pioneer1 said:

Anyway......

I'm curious as to what @Chevdove Chevdove has to say about this subject

 

Thank you @Pioneer1! Yes, this is an extremely important topic that always peaks my interest. 

Actually, I feel that you explained it so well in your comment about how media uses women like Beyonce to define Black African American women today.

But as far as being 'fashionable on the terms of White America's approval today'; I am not sure I believe that.

I think that because 'Black Hair' is our DNA, a dominant aspect, that links to our African origins, no matter how White Supremacist has had movements against our traits such as hair as being negative, however, they cannot keep it up continually. So at times, I believe that certain Black African-type people will reject the lie and others have no choice but to follow along and agree that unique African traits are indeed present and beautiful. Maybe at the point when White Supremacist recognize they cannot convince a majority Black people to believe they have 'Bad Hair' then, they perhaps attempt to make it seem that they are the ones that are ones that started the awareness. No, I think the awareness of Black Beauty starts with someone or some group within our own kind at some point. I believe that there are a lot of White people who join in though, and acknowledge this reality and are just as indignant against the negative hype against African people as well. 

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I obviously think she did a good job too. 

 

I asked the question because I don't think a Black man, as I described, could deliver the message.

 

I asked about the complexion because I also wondered who else could not deliver this message. Could Gabourey Sidibe have delivered the same message?

 

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2 hours ago, Troy said:

I asked the question because I don't think a Black man, as I described, could deliver the message.

 

Well, maybe. I guess it depends on how it is delivered. 

 

2 hours ago, Troy said:

Could Gabourey Sidibe have delivered the same message?

 

Truely, I understand why you would ask this question because of Colorism even within our Black world.

GOOD QUESTION! Again, I think it depends. This questions kind of goes along with what Pioneer1 wrote about how White media controls 

us--and you too pretty much said the same thing!

 

I think that at times, when Black people become confident about our own traits, then the White system steps in and tries to control it again--manipulate us.

So, if this same White System wanted to use Gabourey, then she would be acknowledged for giving this message. 

 

At any rate, she sure is pretty!

 

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1 hour ago, Chevdove said:

At any rate, she sure is pretty!

 

@Pioneer1 what d you think?

 

 

@Chevdove, your answer to both of my questions was essentially, "It depends."  Of course this is true, it depends of upon this being a fundamentally racist country where eurocentric standards, and people, determine what is beautiful.  So colorism and Black hair need to have book written on the subject. 

 

I believe the messenger often just as important as the message.

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12 hours ago, Troy said:

Of course this is true, it depends of upon this being a fundamentally racist country where eurocentric standards, and people, determine what is beautiful.

 

Yes, @Troy This is so true but, do you think that some of the eurocentric standards upheld is due to many Black people too?

 

12 hours ago, Troy said:

So colorism and Black hair need to have book written on the subject. 

 

True again. BOOKS need to be written on these subjects.

 

12 hours ago, Troy said:

I believe the messenger often just as important as the message.

 

Oh, and to add to this point! Even though it is NOT well received when the messengers are sometimes NOT Black women speaking about HAIR, nevertheless, I believe that this is a subject that others should also address as well because we all in some way have been affected by negative standards about Black women's hair styles and Black traits (in general) and need a catharsis process. 

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6 hours ago, Chevdove said:

...do you think that some of the eurocentric standards upheld is due to many Black people too?

 

Of course, that is the only reason way this nonsense has persisted so long.

 

We have been trained to seek the validation and approval of whites for so long, and on so many, levels we engage in hairism and colorism even when white folks aren't around.

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Troy


Black people no longer wield that kind of power.


Hmmm......
It's interesting that you say Blacks NO LONGER wield that kind of power.
Can you expound upon that?

 


 

@Pioneer1 what d you think?


Maaaan.....you better STOP trying to get me in trouble, lol.

 

 

 

We have been trained to seek the validation and approval of whites for so long, and on so many, levels we engage in hairism and colorism even when white folks aren't around.

 

I'll go a step further than that......
It appears that after having exploited (an in most cases established) the colorism that exists among our people for centuries......today many AfroAmericans see Caucasians as the FAIR ones!

Many times very dark skinned AfroAmericans.....after being harassed, made fun of, and called "ugly" by other AfroAmericans through out their lives....often times find love, friendship, and romance among Whie people!

I'm sure you've met many very dark skinned AfroAmerican women who say they were dissed and ignored by Black men and only found love with White men!

 

 

 


Chev

I think that because 'Black Hair' is our DNA, a dominant aspect, that links to our African origins, no matter how White Supremacist has had movements against our traits such as hair as being negative, however, they cannot keep it up continually. So at times, I believe that certain Black African-type people will reject the lie and others have no choice but to follow along and agree that unique African traits are indeed present and beautiful. Maybe at the point when White Supremacist recognize they cannot convince a majority Black people to believe they have 'Bad Hair' then, they perhaps attempt to make it seem that they are the ones that are ones that started the awareness. No, I think the awareness of Black Beauty starts with someone or some group within our own kind at some point. I believe that there are a lot of White people who join in though, and acknowledge this reality and are just as indignant against the negative hype against African people as well.

 

Perhaps you're correct in your assessment.
Perhaps they merely EXPLOIT the divisions that have already existed among us and use those divisions to their advantage.

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10 hours ago, Troy said:

...we engage in hairism and colorism even when white folks aren't around.

 

 

So true.

 

8 hours ago, Pioneer1 said:

Perhaps they merely EXPLOIT the divisions that have already existed among us and use those divisions to their advantage.

 

Yes, and although, some of the division does also have to do with opportunity! 

I some cases we as Black people cause divisions but it also has to do with intrusions into our environment.  

 

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Many of the divisions and dysfunctions that so many Black people exhibit today has been with us....for the most part suppressed....for trillions of years of our residence on this planet.

The Nation of Islam teaches that the reason why Caucasians were made in the first place was because they were the evil/recessive part of ourselves that had to be brought out of us and made manifest so that we could see what was in us.

We had existed for trillions of years without knowing what was REALLY in us making us do the bad things we did to eachother (not as bad as this current era....but bad enough) but with the making of Caucasians.....the weaker and recessive part of ourselves...we can see it plainly.

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12 hours ago, Pioneer1 said:

Maaaan.....you better STOP trying to get me in trouble, lol.

 

😇 whaddya talkin' 'bout?

 

12 hours ago, Pioneer1 said:

Can you expound upon that?

 

We used to own more platforms and had more control over how we were portrayed in the media, but much of the is gone today.

 

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Troy


A society dominated by oligarchs and a legacy of structural racism


Wasn't this the case 100 years ago when many of these Black publications were started?

Back during the 10s, 20s, and 30s you had the Fords, Rockekellers, and the Carnegies just like you have the Musks, Bezoses, and Gates of today.
And it could be argued that the racism was MORE ingrained in the structure back in those days that they are today.

Perhaps it's not the environment that has changed so much as it was something ABOUT US that may have changed.

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Why? The oligarchy has grow stronger. Racism has not gone away. The conditions that hold use back have not dissipated they have only grown stronger. 

 

I know plenty of booksellers who started selling books on the web before jeff Bezos. In fact i only started AALBC after i offered to improve the of one if those sites and they declined.  None of those sites are around today and Bezos is a trillionaire.

 

We have not changed; the rope has just been tightened around our collective necks.

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