Women of Color: Are You Loosing Your Hair To Get “Good Hair”?

This weekend; my wife and I watched “Good Hair” starring Chris Rock. In the movie Rock visits beauty salons, hairstyling competitions, science labs and India to get various perspectives on the hair weave industry. He also interviews a bevy of celebrities, salon owners and their clients.

At first I thought this was just another low budget “let’s watch this because nothing else is good out” movie but I was wrong—the movie was actually entertaining and enlightening. It also got me to thinking. Here are just a couple of tidbits I picked up from the movie:

• Black hair care is a $9 billion industry.
• 30% to 34% of all hair products in the U.S. are purchased by black women. And weaves, worn by women of all ethnicities but especially by black women, account for 65% of hair-care revenue!
• The hair comes from a variety of sources: India, Asia, Russia, Brazil, Mongolia and Malaysia.
• There are only a handful of black hair care product manufacturers—most are international conglomerates.
• Korean vendors have cornered the market on the sale and distribution of hair weave through their beauty shops.

But I bet there’s something you didn’t know… and it wasn’t discussed in the movie. Did you know that your quest for good hair could be contributing to a rising health problem among African American women? Well it is and it’s called traction alopecia.

What is Traction Alopecia?

Traction alopecia is loss of hair—most commonly in the outer regions of the forehead and face—caused by excessive pulling of the hair. Has your beautician ever mentioned this risk?

What Causes Traction Alopecia?

Traction alopecia is caused by damage done to the hair follicle by continual pulling and tight tension for very long periods to the hair. It occurs in people who wear tight braids, especially dreadlocks that lead to pulling, tension and breaking of hair. Of note, many men suffer from this problem too. In addition chemical processing of your hair can cause traction alopecia that can be irreversible if prolonged damage has occurred.

This type of hair loss has been on the rise among black women and children. Yes kids, the movie “Good Hair” asked several women how young were their children when they first braided their hair—one woman said her child was three! I believe on of the beauticians said a mother asked her to add extensions to and braid the hair of a two-year-old! How young was your child when you first had his or her hair braided?

What Are The Treatment Options?

Much of that depends on how long the problem has been going on. If you’ve had this problem for a long period of time your only option may be a hair transplant. Your Dermatologist may also try Minoxidil (Rogaine) or Finesteride. But I believe the best option is to opt out of this hairstyle. I mean, is it really worth you loosing your natural hair?

This issue has really hit home in my family—my wife has just been diagnosed with this disease.

“A women’s hair is her glory” or so the old saying goes. This is a disturbing trend that’s perfectly preventable—just wear your own hair. After all, do you want to look like this?

How about it; are you suffering from this disease?

How are you dealing with it?

What treatment option(s) have you tried?

Have you had success with any particular dermatologist?

Technorati Tags: culture,African-American,women,hair,consumer protection,briads,hair extension,ethnocentricity,cosmetology,race,gender,weave,hair weave

News Flash! We Don't Live In A "Post-Race" World

Let me clarify something: we do not live in a post-race world.

Remember the election? Have you forgotten about all those red states? And what about conservative talk show hosts like Rush Limbaugh who has repeatedly said he wants President Obama to fail? And let's not mention the hate groups out there. In fact, the Los Angeles times just published a story about the racial tensions in Paris, Texas. Eye-catching was that the perspectives of the two sides couldn't be more different.

Some issues should be addressed from a racial perspective. For instance, did you know that HIV disproportionately affects African-Americans? What, are we going to not talk about this issue or not use the words African-Americans, or not try to get at the root causes of why? Of course not. African-Americans are also plagued by diabetes and high blood pressure. Many believe it's due to a diet high in fat from the fried foods many of us like. What, are we not going to talk about it because it's politically incorrect to focus on the victims--namely us?

My point is there are still folk out there who judge others based on the color of their skin. The election of Barack Obama as President and selection of Michael Steele as GOP Chair has not changed this. I also think that in order to solve some issues, we must look at the demographics of a particular group--sometimes this means race.

I'm growing concerned over the increasing amount of traffic I see in cyberspace declaring an end to race as an issue and some even questioning the need for African-American websites. While we've come a long way, we just haven't come that far.

That's my opinion, what's yours?

Study Finds African American Contributions Left Out of College Textbooks

Well, if you’re one of those parents who feels school just doesn’t teach your kids anything—you might be right…and wrong. A recent study of college introductory textbooks and African-Americans coverage in them revealed that our contributions, if mentioned at all, were very superficial.

Sherri L. Wallace and Marcus D. Allen found the following:

African-American participation in American’s political development is treated separately from the rest of the country’s development, often only including a chapter on Civil Rights.

Very little thought was given to the political differences among us.

Narratives were limited to historical-institutional discussions of famous court cases or well known black institutions or figures—all were dealt with in the past tense.

Discussions about women were based on the historical worldwide view of white middle-class women with little mention of the contributions of African-American women—there were a few references to famous figures such as Anita Hill, Barbara Jordon, Condoleezza Rice, etc.

Very little research the authors used to write about us was taken from works by African-American political thinkers.

So, if you feel your kids aren’t learning anything is school, you’re right—they aren’t learning about themselves. Equally sad; white kids aren’t learning about the tremendous accomplishments African-Americans have made to this country and the diversity of our race.

This is very troubling. As Wallace and Allen put it, books do more than just deliver information, they serve as a template for how people are viewed and expected to act. They are also written by people with ideas, interests, and agendas—“they help create what a society recognize[s]…as legitimate in its political culture.”

Parents, be warned, this is racism at its deepest level—our institutions of “higher learning.” that’s why it’s vital you teach your kids their history. What if you don’t know? There’s nothing more fun than going to a public library as a family and reading it together! And for me, it also settles the debate over the relevance of our historically black colleges and universities because at them, our children can learn from us about us.

The Biggest Problem Facing The Black Community!

About a year ago, a fellow activist, brotherpeacemaker, said that the biggest problem facing the black community is our inability to come together at times of adversity...

I must say I agree. Although brotherpeacemaker made this bold revelation in 2007, the problem of diviseveness is still with us today...the victories of Jena Six and Barack Obama aside.

So, tell me black folk, how do we go about coming together as a people?