"Good Hair" documentary by Chris Rock

[stormkeeper_lovedoris]

I've been watching the documentary "Good Hair" by Chris Rock, about African American hair. It's a topic of interest to me since we might be adopting a Black baby. I'll never forget the time when I was a kid and I was talking with a Black girl, and she told me about all the stuff that she had to do to her hair. I asked her why on earth she did all that, and she was like, "If you don't, then you have an Afro!" Prior to that, I had not realized all the time, money, and pain that goes into African American women's hair.

The documentary covers a wide range of subjects. The ones that stood out the most for me:

- A white scientist talks about the chemicals that are in relaxers. He says they are dangerous and he wouldn't go near them.

- I learned that hair weaves are popular. They can cost from $1,000-$3,500 and can require weekly salon visits to maintain them.

- The hair from hair weaves comes from...India! Many temples in India shave people's hair as a religious ritual. They then sell it to vendors, who clean it and ship it to the US for big profits.

- There was a hilarious segment where Chris, inspired by the Indian hair merchants, tries to sell Black hair pieces to vendors. They look at him like he's crazy. One vendor says that the Indian hair weaves are better and "more natural".

- There is an annual expo of African-American hair products, in Atlanta. On the huge convention floor, only two rows of the venodrs are Black-owned businesses. The vast majority of businesses that make Black hair products are owned by whites or Asians. (Near me, there is a beauty supply store that sells wigs and other hair products for Black women. Everyone who works there is Asian.)

- Chris interviews young female students, and all except one use relaxers or have weaves. They say they can't imagine getting a job in a corporate environment with natural hair.

- By the way, I work with a lot of Black women, in a corporate environment. A few have braids or cornrows. I guess everyone else is doing weaves and relaxers. (Once I saw a woman with natural hair. Next time I saw her, the hair looked relaxed. A wig maybe? I wasn't going to ask.)

- One guy said, "If your hair is relaxed, then white people are relaxed. If you're nappy, then white people are unhappy." Why should one group have to burn themselves and/or go broke to look a way that appeases another group??

- Chris interviews many Black writers, actors, etc. Unfortunately Ice-T is in there and his attitudes towards women are odious as always. He's balanced by some more sane voices like KRS-One. (Not sure I spelled that right). Chris does focus a bit too much on how expensive paying for "your" woman's weave can be, and not enough on the damn pressure that some men put on women. On the other hand, he does talk to a few men who say they prefer a woman with a natural.

I am learning a ton. If the baby is a girl, I wish I knew what to do. I think for now, it will be - no chemical relaxers, definitely not while she is a child. Maybe we take her somewhere and get nice braids or cornrows? I do expect that when she's a teen, she'll want relaxers or a weave. I guess we cross that bridge when we come to it. The weave at least seems safer (though expensive).

Comments

[maddiec24.livejournal.com]

I have learned a lot from my friend and ex-coworker Elouise about black hair. She says it is a huge pain. I've never seen her with a weave, but she does use relaxers and perms. And this:

Once I saw a woman with natural hair. Next time I saw her, the hair looked relaxed. A wig maybe? I wasn't going to ask.

is very common. Elouise owns several wigs, and Dyshon, one of our cashiers, has tons.

A lot of people still iron their hair here.

I know there's at least two beauty supplies near me owned by Asians.

As for your baby, if it's a girl, I think braids are adorable. As for later, I think I agree with you - - weaves sound safer, but wow, that is expensive. It's cheaper here, even at a salon, and there's always someone in the neighborhood who does hair and will braid it or put in a weave cheap(but this is with cheaper weaves also, usually synthetic hair). Maybe by the time she's a teen these ideas about beauty will change? We can hope.

[stormkpr.livejournal.com]

Thanks for the reply! I don't know much about hair-ironing since the documentary hasn't yet covered that. Do you think it's safer than chemical relaxers? But I imagine there is a big risk of burning the scalp and ears.

Maybe wigs help side-step the issue. Do you think they are easier to take care of?

Maybe by the time she's a teen these ideas about beauty will change? We can hope.

I want to hope, but as far as I can tell, this stuff has been going on forever, and attitudes don't seem to be changing. When I look at Black women on TV, they are light-skinned and have straight hair. If I do end up adopting a black baby girl, I need to think of ways that she can feel beautiful with dark skin and whatever her hair be like!

[scribblemyname]

Ironing with a clothes iron will eventually deaden and dull your hair. My aunt on my mother's side had absolutely gorgeous hair, but she ironed it all the time and it lost all its health and lustre.

The newest flatirons are supposed to help your hair rather than harm it. Always try to get one that is good for hair. Too much heat in the long run will permanently denature your hair; it's just like cooking it.

[stormkpr.livejournal.com]

So it sounds like if you know what you're doing and you have a good iron, then ironing may be ok?

Thanks again for responding.

[scribblemyname]

Yeah. Like the Numé or any other that is specially designed not to cause heat damage. But if it's not specially designed, use rarely.

[scribblemyname]

Being a girl with mixed black hair, my first suggestion is use fabulous conditioner and style into braids or a bun while wet. Relaxers are rough, but that Numé straightener I linked for you is designed for thick, coarse, and/or kinky hair. If you tighten out while wet, you can straighten after it dries to barely damp (the next day) and take tiny sections at a time. It's not that it looks prettier to me, why I kill the afro. It's easier to maintain. One night sleep will destory any prettyness of my hair worn down if I don't straighten it first.

[stormkpr.livejournal.com]

Can you tell me again what percentage of your ancestry is Black? I would imagine it does make a difference in terms of the hair, right? So, when you say put it in braids when wet, what do you mean by "tighten out" while wet? Are you saying take the braid out when the hair is wet and then apply the Nume?

I am so going to need step by step instructions - maybe we can find someone to come to the house to show us what to do. Neither Doris nor I has ever done anything to our hair other than apply curl enhancers on wet hair (Doris does occasionally use the In-styler on hers).

[scribblemyname]

I believe I'm a quadroon. One of my grandparents is black. The rest is mostly Mexican and a teensy bit of almost everything else. But my grandmother, father, and I are also the only ones in the biological family whose hair literally afros if we go au naturel. Needless to say, I usually don't.

Ah! Tightening the hair while wet. Thick, kinky hair often has marvelous hold. When I first wash my hair, I comb it through with conditioner while the comb will still go through my hair, then I braid it tightly, wrap the braid into a bun, and add a scrunci to hold it in place. At night, I pull it down from the bun and leave the braid, using the scrunci to tie it off as a normal braid. Sleep on it. In the morning, I let it down, brush it through (do not comb! you'll tear the hair).

To straighten, I take a tiny section in the front of my head on the right side, comb that through gently, starting at the bottom and working my way up the strand until I can run a fine tooth comb through it easily. I run the Numé over just that strand, starting at the top and working slowly down it. About halfway down the strand, I turn the iron sideways so the bottom will have a curl in it. I clip each finished strand at the front of my head until I'm done. Do top layers of the hair first and then the bottom layers. When complete, spot-check.

Never apply heat to truly wet hair. It will damage the hair. Keep to ever so slightly damp or totally dry.

[stormkpr.livejournal.com]

All I can say is...you have my utmost respect for doing all this!! I can't even imagine.

Thank you for the explanation; I really appreciate it.

[scribblemyname]

No prob. It really doesn't take that long eventually. I can comb my hair at the end of a shower in 5 min. and it only takes about 30 min. now to flatten it. When I first started, it was about double that.

[denisia.livejournal.com]

There is a great kids book called Nappy Hair that is all about having pride in natural hair. You should get it for her.

The one thing I have learned from my black friends is that however they do their hair, it culturally important to do it well. tThey said that if their mothers saw a kid with messy hair they were horrified and thought that the kid had a bad mom. :)

The kids I knew growing up...a lot of them had natural hair and wore pigtails, or really nice braids, or short Afros.

[stormkpr.livejournal.com]

I will add that to our books to get list - thanks!

I am glad that pigtails, braids, or a short Afro might work.

At my company, there was a Black female director who had very, very short hair...like shorter than most guys' hair, nearly bald. She always wore big, bold jewelry, make up, and had nice clothes - and her look worked. But I know not every woman can or wants to wear her hair nearly bald.

[denisia.livejournal.com]

There is also a whole Sesame Street song and video called "I love my hair" that covers the same ground. :)

I bet that if you took her to a salon or asked around, someone would be wlling to show you how to do some simple hairstyles for a child. There was one girl who always just had her hair up in pigtails but with really fun, interesting bows, I remember.

[stormkpr.livejournal.com]

I will YouTube that vid and play it every day!

And I bet you are right; we just need to find a nice stylist who will help us. Fortunately given where we live, there are a lot of Black-owned beauty shops.

[denisia.livejournal.com]

Totally. :) You won't be the first parent to ask for help with a child's hair, and there will be stylists who will be delighted to help you learn. :)

[shar-bernadotte.livejournal.com]

I have a friend who is black and she goes natural. Keeps her hair relatively short but she has a 'fro. I love it. But I imagine that it would be a pain in the ass to take care of. A lot of black women that I know keep their hair short-as in buzzcut short. I've been contimplaiting chopping all of my hair off. It's hot...

[stormkpr.livejournal.com]

That is awesome about your friend. Maybe a short, smart natural is very possible.

And I hear you on the heat. With summer here, I am glad I got mine cut short.

[shar-bernadotte.livejournal.com]

Short usually works well on black women in a way that it doesn't always work on white women.

I don't want to cut it and then regret it. But if I cut it I could always wear wigs....hmmmm....

[stormkpr.livejournal.com]

It will always grow back. Or you could try something that's not short short but mid-range.

[rivulet027.livejournal.com]

A lot of my friends have mutiple wigs.

[stormkpr.livejournal.com]

Although I'd think a wig isn't a cure-all either though, right? They seem like they could be hard to maintain, plus hot in the summer. Just guessing.