Beyond Racist Dove Ad

My 8 year cousin actually brought my attention to this racist ad that shows a black women transforming into a white woman after getting "clean" using Dove.  I was shocked and looked online to see the store covered by Yahoo News.

"Dove apologized and pulled down an online soap ad in which a black woman pulled up her shirt to reveal a white redheaded woman underneath.

The ad, which has since been removed from Facebook, drew fire from beauty blogger and makeup artist Naythemua.

“An image we recently posted on Facebook missed the mark in representing women of color thoughtfully,” Dove tweeted on Saturday. “We deeply regret the offense it caused."

 Follow

Dove 

✔@Dove

An image we recently posted on Facebook missed the mark in representing women of color thoughtfully. We deeply regret the offense it caused.

11:27 AM - Oct 7, 2017

•  8,7878,787 Replies
 
•  3,1513,151 Retweets
 
•  3,6423,642 likes

But the Twitterverse was not impressed, decrying the ad and the brand’s history of questionable marketing for its products.

“My being black is symbolic of dirt? This is pure racism,” one tweeted.

“I don’t understand how global brands like #Dove & #Pepsi can be making epic mistakes like this,” added another."

I myself, am offended. I don't know how this could have been approved by their marketing team. It is clearly offensive and wrong. This happens so often, that is hard to keep say... aww, its ok.  Because its not.  Big companies need get get ride of any one in their company that can not appreciate the cultures of all of their customers. Not just one demographic.

Black Sheep by Camryn Mina

Important film by 14 year old Camryn Mina Camryn Mina.

 

Blog link of the Day - Why Some Men Despise Natural Hair

Check out this interesting blog post on Confessions of a Blog Vixen.

A Conversation Between Brothers: Why Some Black Men Despise Natural Hair

by West Parsons
March 8, 2015

by Ebrahim Aseem

“I love my thick nappy curls,” Eden confessed. “But I noticed when my hair is all laid & straight, I get approached way more by guys. Otherwise, black men treat me like my natural hair makes me instantly ugly. That’s kinda why I approached you first.”

She removed her headband & ran her fingers through her huge, natural curls, as her brown skin glistened in the daylight. I marveled at her beauty before replying.

“Some males who are hesitant to approach women with natural hair are intimidated by the confidence you’re displaying by wearing your natural hair & he cowers at the possibility of you rejecting him,” I explained.

“This is the same reason the corporate world does not fully embrace or always endorse women who wear their natural hair. You are seen as a threat. Too militant. Rebellious. Non-submissive.

An overly-macho, mentally fragile male can NOT handle a free thinking, conscious woman with her own mind. She does not even arouse him sexually. He needs a submissive woman.

A woman’s beautiful natural hair is a repellant for....  {See full article here.}

Blue Ivy's Natural Hair

I have been trying not to comment on this whole topic that has been circulating on the web, about the state of toodler's Blue Ivy's hair (daughter of Beyonce and Jay Z).  Because I did not want to bring attention to such foolishness. But to hear recently that an irresponsible and thoughtless person started a petition to get the famous couple to comb their daughters hair, has gotten me a little fired up.

I am so deeply offended by this petition. For one, you are bringing negative attention to a child.  That in itself is horrible.  Internet bullying is no joke and that is what this is.  Second, it is not your child - so it is NONE OF YOUR BUSINESS.  Third, there are so many people constantly criticizing Beyonce for wearing weaves, wigs and hair extensions. But she allows her child to wear her hair in a natural state and people still get angry.  I am sure that Blue Ivy is a healthy rambunctious child. I, for one, have a toddler at home.  I know first hand that when I do my daughters hair, she often messes it up with in a half hour of the style being done because she loves to play, wrestle, jump, cuddle, roll around, etc...  No toddlers hair is going to be perfect all the time.

I just think that internet bullying is so horrible. And for the creator of the petition to play if off as being a joke, is her not taking responsibility for doing something that could be hurtful to another person and family; and to focus on a child in any negative shallow way, is hideous.  To read more about this petition, check out the NY Daily News.

Blue Ivy, you are beautiful not matter what your hair looks like.

 

It's not a fad... My hair is beautiful!

As the hair care and beauty industry grows, so does the controversy surrounding black/ethnic and non-white hair. It has always been a global topic of discussion and subject of curiosity. However, at the start of this school year, it made headlining news and affected one of the world's most precious beings - children. In several states, and on one too many occasions, little girls have been either verbally reprimanded or told to leave school because of their "unacceptable" and "inappropriate" natural hair styles. In response to this controversy, TWELVE18 Media releases a very empowering Public Service Announcement sponsored by Aunt Jackie's Curls and Coils, encouraging young girls to love who they are AND the hair they are naturally born with. The PSA entitled "My Natural Hair Is Beautiful" addresses the messages that society and the media send to little girls about natural hair, presents the questions and insecurities they will inevitably be faced with, and offers a simple yet powerful and universal solution of non-judgmental acceptance.

 

Big Brother 15 Airs Bigoted Comments

For any one watching this season of 'Big Brother', you will know about last nights airing of some pretty horrible remarks made by some of the cast.  Aaryn Gries, GinaMarie Zimmerman, Spencer Clawson and a few more of the cast mates made racial slurs against African American and Asian people. There are also so gay slurs and comments promoting violence against women.

"GinaMarie Zimmerman, was heard insulting African-Americans and equating them to “tokens.” When she referred to an African-American housemate as dark, another contestant, Aaryn Gries, responded, “Be careful what you say in the dark; might not be able to see that bitch.” About an Asian-American participant, Ms. Gries was heard saying: “Dude, shut up. Go make some rice!” Ms. Gries was also heard criticizing an openly gay contestant, using an epithet to argue that no one would vote for the participant. Another contestant, Spencer Clawson, has uttered words, unpublishable here, targeting gays and women. During the live feed this week, Aaryn Gries and GinaMarie Zimmerman were caught making offensive racist and homophobic comments directly against black contestants and another of Asian descent. These comments included labeling one contestant a “queer,” saying of the Asian contestant, “she is the first Asian I know who doesn't do nails,” and calling welfare “n***er insurance.” "  - The New York Times & The Hollywood Reporter

Watch this montage of horrible comments and "jokes" from some of the cast - 

   

The news of these statements have traveled globally to places like Germany, France, Italy & Spain. Julie Chen, host of Big Brother, addressed the racist comments on 'The Talk' -

 

"In the meantime, the controversy has proved costly to Ms. Gries and Ms. Zimmerman. The modeling agency that represented Ms. Gries has dropped her contract — unbeknown to her, of course, since the people in the house don’t hear from the outside world — and she has been nicknamed “Klan Barbie” by some followers of the show. Ms. Zimmerman has lost her job as a pageant coordinator. “We are actually thankful that this show let us see GinaMarie for who she truly is,” her employer said in a statement, “as we would never want her to be a role model to our future contestants.”

Go to Change.org to sign the petition to have the main source of the hateful comments, Aaryn Gries, removed from the Big Brother 15 House.

Sources:

The New York Times
The Hollywood Reporter
The Inquisitr Article 1 & Article 2
Big Brother on Facebook

Meteorologist fired over natural hair comment

A black female meteorologist has been fired from the ABC affiliate in Shreveport, La., she told Journal-isms, because she responded to a racial remark posted by a viewer on the station's Facebook page. KTBS-TV's action against Rhonda Lee followed a previous response by Lee to a viewer who questioned whether she should wear her short Afro, suggesting she put on a wig or grow more hair. Rhonda Lee Lee messaged Journal-isms on Saturday, "I had a meeting with my ND [news director] and GM [general manager] Friday trying to get my job back. They told me the policy I violated isn't written down, but was mentioned in a newsroom meeting about a month-and-a-half prior. A meeting I didn't attend. So when I asked what rule did I break there isn't anything to point to.

 "The week I was brought in to discuss [the] last post, I was told by my ND that there were a few unclear things in the policy and that we were going to have a meeting with George Sirven, the GM about it. I was instead fired the next week — no discussion had. Sirven claims that even if a policy isn't on paper we as employees are responsible for abiding by them. There isn't anything in our employee manual talking about social media dos and don'ts. I was accountable for a rule that essentially isn't in existence." Sirven told Journal-isms by email, "We do not comment on personnel issues out of respect for the employee and the station." Lee provided Journal-isms with copies of the relevant Facebook postings to the station's website.

 On Oct. 1, a viewer identified as Emmitt Vascocu wrote, "the black lady that does the news is a very nice lady.the only thing is she needs to wear a wig or grow some more hair. im not sure if she is a cancer patient. but still its not something myself that i think looks good on tv. what about letting someone a male have waist long hair do the news.what about that (cq)." Lee replied the same day,

"Hello Emmitt--I am the 'black lady' to which you are referring. I'm sorry you don't like my ethnic hair. And no I don't have cancer. I'm a non-smoking, 5'3, 121 lbs, 25 mile a week running, 37.5 year old woman, and I'm in perfectly healthy physical condition. "I am very proud of my African-American ancestry which includes my hair. For your edification: traditionally our hair doesn't grow downward. It grows upward. Many Black women use strong straightening agents in order to achieve a more European grade of hair and that is their choice. However in my case I don't find it necessary. I'm very proud of who I am and the standard of beauty I display. Women come in all shapes, sizes, nationalities, and levels of beauty. Showing little girls that being comfortable in the skin and HAIR God gave me is my contribution to society. Little girls (and boys for that matter) need to see that what you look like isn't a reason to not achieve their goals. "Conforming to one standard isn't what being American is about and I hope you can embrace that. "Thank you for your comment and have a great weekend and thank for watching."

To read the full story, go to Fired over Facebook Posting.
Article & Images Source: Maynard Institute

The Unwritten Rules: Let's Talk Hair

The Unwritten Rules: Let's Talk Hair is a hilarious video, with a comedic spin on what happens in the work environment, when people react to a persons cultural differences. I love this video, because any one that has followed this blog long enough, will know that I worked on corporate America for about 15 years. Even though I gained a lot of expereince and learned some life lessons, during my time in the corporate world, I experienced a lot of ignorance based on race, my culture and my hair. So this video speaks to me on so many levels.  I must say that I have a wildly diverse group of friends and family, so racism is not a part of my vocabulary or way of thinking. But! There are indeed some misunderstandings that come up with another culture is introduced to something that they are not accustomed too.

The video stars Aasha Davis, as well as some other talented actors. Aasha has also been on Friday Night Lights, House, Grey's Anatomy, and more.  To learn more about The Unwritten Rules: Let's Talk Hair, check out the website, Facebook page and see the video directly on youtube. Also check out the main website to see other episodes. I look forward to seeing all the videos and want to say thank you to Kim Williams, who created and wrote the web episodes, The Unwritten Rules.

Love & Hate

Love & Hate…  I had a very eventful morning today.  I came into contact with two strangers – one that that expressed hate and one that expressed love. 

Hate Filled Rage:

While I was driving to work, a man was crossing the street going in the same direction that I was driving. I stopped at the stop sign and watched as the man and his daughter crossed the street going in my same direction. Suddenly, with out even looking to see of any cars were coming, he stop midway in the street and tried to cross right in front of my moving car. Thankfully I was not driving too fast and was able to slow down to stop as he and his daughter crossed the street.  Instead of looking my way and saying thank you (because obviously, you do not stop in the middle of the street and try to cross into  oncoming traffic) he looked at me with complete hate and started to yell out at me “You Ignorant  #%R*&!”   Thankfully I did not hear the end of that statement, because I rolled up my care window. But by the look of pure hate on his face, he was probably going top call me a  B*tch or a N*gger (he was not of the same race).  I usually don’t assume such things, but he had pure hate in his eyes, which was completely irrationally because he was in the wrong. My first thought as I drove away, is that they guy was probably already angry about something else and maybe even racist (who knows…). And most importantly, how could he put his child in danger by crossing into incoming traffic with out evening looking to see if any cars were coming their way. The whole thing completely threw me off guard. And my beautiful morning, at that moment was ruined by this person irrational hateful reaction towards me.

Unbiased Love:

After parking my car, I started to work towards the building I worked at.  A gentleman came to a stop as he saw me and a few ladies on another street walking by. He asked in a very genuine tone – “How can it be, that all the women in this city are so very beautiful?”   I instantly blushed and said I did not know and thank him for the kind compliment.  He then said with this beautiful smile and glow on his face “You are welcome beautiful lady.” It warmed my heart that someone would stop their day to give such a beautiful message. And he had such a look of piece and joy in his face that I knew he was a coming from a good place in his heart when he spoke to me.

Two completely different experiences, from two complete strangers. Both of a different culture and age groups. One filled with irrational hate and one filled with genuine love for others.

Alicia Keys - Un-thinkable (I'm Ready)

Alicia Keys has an amazing song out called "Un-thinkable (I'm Ready)".  Along with the song, Alicia made a very powerful video, that touches on the racial tensions that surround interracial relationships. The video begins in the 1950s, where Alicia's character faces anger and disapproval from her community for dating someone that is of a different race. The video covers over 6 decades, to the present day, showing that not much has changed since that time. 

This video really impressed me because I could feel a lot of the emotions from the scenes that reminded me of what I went through in my own life. My relationship with my boyfriend, who is a different race, is amazing - because he is amazing!!  Not because his skin is a different color than mine. Being a part of a interracial relationship is no different then being in a relationship with someone of your own race. The only difference is that there are people in the world that choose to treat you with hate, because of their own ignorance or self hatred.

"This is my and my boyfriend's song. Its unfortunate that others can't see the love we share for each other. instead they see a Latin and African American together and start to judge. Love is deeper than skin color."

- Nancy  

"In the video (from the 50s to the 2000s), people have not been accepting interracial relationships. She [Alicia] just shows that prejudice has not changed much since 60 years ago." - Caitlin H.

"It's crazy how not much has changed since back in the day. I use to think racism was dead until this summer when my mom found out my boyfriend was black. She freaked out. Race doesn't matter. Let's be more open-minded than previous generations and end racism! Finally." - MGL

"Interracial Love is beautiful! This song isn't attacking black men nor white men or anything just stating a truth, as to how it once was and in some areas, still is!!! Please grow up and recieve knowledge and understanding becasue IGNORANCE is not a pretty trait!!!" - Y.A.M

"I think that interracial love is beautiful, and also natural. We live in the 21st century, and I would hope to think that you would be able to date anyone, no matter race or origin, without being judged for your own decision. Just because you prefer white men over black man does not make you self hating, just as preferring black men does not make you a racist against white men. It's just preference, I think that the whole point of the video is, that LOVE is colorblind." - B.B.C

This song is one of many great songs off of Alicia Key's album "The Element of Freedom".

Stand up to Ignorance - NO to Six Flags!!!

I posted a story about Six Flags a while back. They have a new policy that they will not hire any one with dreadlocks, because they consider our hair to be "radical" and that it would distract from their image. This is absolutely ridiculous!  I am very sadden by this new policy and upset that I ever spent a dime of my money at Six Flags. Until they change their policy, I will never step foot in their theme parks again. So now it's our turn to make sure that Six Flags knows that this is not OK!

Sign the Petition!!!!! Six flags can not get away with discriminating against individuals with dreadlock's. They can't hire us but they can take our money... not gonna happen. This not only affects the Africam American community, but any beautiful individual that has loc's, dreadlock's or sisterloc's. I have already signed the petition, and this is what I had to say:

"Discrimination comes in all forms. Not hiring someone because they have dreadlock's is hateful and wrong. I have beautiful dreadlocks that are neat and clean. I have worked in a corporate environment where I have supported Directors of major companies. And never once did my hair become a distraction to my ability to a good job. I will not support or go to Six Flags until they have changed their policy."

What can we do to stop this policy?

Just say NO!: Do not support Six Flags by spending your money there.

Sign the petition:  Call to Abolish Six Flags' Discriminatory Grooming Policy
Read and Share:  Six Flags Discriminates and Washington Post Article
Join: Friends For Freedom
Spread the word!: Please share this story with your friends. Post this on twitter. Share it on your blog and or social network. Let's make sure that everyone knows that they are supporting this policy by spending their money at Six Flags!

If we say it is ok to discriminate against people with dreadloc's, what will be next??!?  What if they decide that any hair style that is culturally rich is too radical? Afro's, braids, twist...  What will be next?

The Colour of Beauty

“I need a Black model, but she has to be like a White girl dipped in chocolate.”

"Black Women are not our demographic."

Check out this short film called The Colour of Beauty. It talks about the blatant racism against Black models and the Fashion Industries favoritism for white models, locally and internationally. 

- picture and video source  ClutchMagazineOnline.

Can I touch your hair?!?

I originally saw this video on Holistic Loc's, and loved it instantly. I have gotten some of these questions. And yes, folks do just come up and just start touching my hair! Thank you Chescalocs for creating this video.

Six Flags Denied!!!

Sadly enough, my family as supported Six Flags by buying season passes two years in a row. But today, I read a post about Six Flags on a cool blog called Loc Rocker, that there is actual discrimination happening in the company against people with dreadlocks. Six Flags will not hire people with dreadloc's! I am appalled by this, and will not spend money with their park, until they have changed their policies. I plan to write a letter to them expressing my disappointment. And to let them know that this form or discrimination is unacceptable and they have lost a customer because of it. Check out the video below, that describes the incident that brought this news to light.

What would you do??

What if you had a daughter with beautiful curly hair; and you always made it a point to teach her to be proud of her beautiful natural texture.

One day, your daughter goes to a relatives house and is told by the relative that they want to straighten your daughters hair. Your child is then told lies like "you will like it because it will be be easier to style your hair." Or "It will be easier to take care of your hair when its straight" or  "If its straight it will be easier when its time for a trim."

Your daughter, thinking its cool and something new... goes along with the bull being feed to her and comes home with straight hair.  You of course do not want to upset your child by reacting unfavorably, but is disappointed that the relative would be so shallow and thoughtless to tell your child that - any thing other than her natural hair is beautiful.  And to also put your child's hair through a damaging process of altering its natural state. Other than cussing out the relative in response to this act... lol. What would you do?!?

US Senator Dianne Feinstein Responds

Hello everyone,

A while back, I did a post on US Air Force Discrimination against women and men, that are on active duty and have dreads / loc's. There is a current ban, that states that if you do have dreads or loc's that you have to cut them off in order to follow regulations. From what I have read, and from what a few people that are on active duty have told me, is that the US Air Force considers Dreads to be a unprofessional and untidy way of a person wearing their hair. In other words, who ever created the ban (and ignorant person in a place of power), doesn't like Dreads because they think they look bad.

I signed a petition to change this regulation; and below is the response I received from US Senator Dianne Feinstein response on Friday, October 2nd, 2009:

Dear Mrs. .... :

Thank you for writing to express your concerns about Air Force regulation 36-2903, titled Dress and Personal Appearance, which was recently updated to include a ban on dreadlocks. I appreciate hearing from you on this topic and welcome the opportunity to respond.

Like you, I have great respect for the role that African American women are playing in our Armed Forces, and understand your contention that the updated regulations governing hairstyle force these women to choose between cutting their hair and chemically treating it in order to conform to the regulation. You may be interested to learn that according to the Air Force, braids, micro-braids, and cornrows that are neat, clean, and professional are acceptable ways of maintaining hair and are unaffected by the new ban on dreadlocks.

Be assured that I have noted your views, and will keep them in mind should the Senate have the opportunity to discuss the appropriateness of this regulation.

Again, thank you for writing. I hope you will continue to keep in touch on issues of importance to you. Should you have any further comments or questions, please feel free to contact my Washington, D.C. office at (202) 224-3841. Best regards.

Sincerely yours,

Dianne Feinstein
United States Senator

I am happy to see that there was some sort of response from the Senators office. I has not solved the issue, but at least I voiced my opinion. The petition is still alive and well. If you have not signed it yet, please take moment to sign by clicking here.

"Did you Add to it?"

I got a really interesting question this past Saturday at my daughters Soccer game. I try not to dwell on the negative, when it comes to creating content for this blog. But the comment keeps nagging at me. The best way to get something out of your system is to talk about it. It was not a extremely major incident, but none the less, it stood out to me as odd.

So I am sitting down with my fellow soccer moms, and a lady (mother of a family friend) that I have not seen for a while recognized me before I saw her. So she starts to say hey... I almost didn't recognize you. Then she makes her hands go up and down as she looks at my hair and says "You added to it!"

I at first I froze... lol. I didn't quite understand what the hell she was talking about. But then I realized that she somehow thought that my hair was artifice and that I could just add to it to make it longer. I decided to give her the benefit of the doubt, and assume that she did not mean any harm. Ignorance often comes from just not being educated on certain matters. So I just turned to her and politely said "It's growing." And she then said "Ohhh....." as if that was an odd theory; and then went on her way... lol. So it was not a huge thing. I just needed to get it out of my system. Thank you for reading!

Acceptance

I just decided to reject a really negative comment that someone left today. I think everyone is beautiful. All races and all cultures are beautiful. All skin colors and all hair types, are worth praise.

So I always find it very odd when someone has hatred or racism against other cultures, but that they still fill the need to read our blogs. I just don't get it. If you don't like dreadlocks and have issues with our culture: meaning any one with natural hair - why waste your time visiting our sites, that are about this subject. I respect all opinions when they are constructive, useful and positive. There is no place for hate-filled messages on this blog. If that is where you heart is, please click next to go to another blog.

Much love to all of my positive, intelligent blogger friends and faithful readers.

Say what?!?

I received an email message from a fellow natural hair wearer, recently; and I read a quote from a talented loctician's page on Facebook. Both of these messages got me to thinking. So I thought I would share these following experiences with you all, and see if any of you could relate?

From Tammy: “I have been wearing my hair natural, on and off for about 17 years. I have had every hairstyle, except a jheri curl and a weave. I notice there is a superiority level, within the natural hair care world. I have 21-month-old locks. A women, wearing twist, in the super market hold her purse, as I walked by - as if I was going to rob her. There seems to be a negative ignorance with a lot of people, I notice, as if there is a fear of loc’s. A lot of people associate loc’s with crime… I’ve experienced negative attention from people looking directly at my loc’s and turning their purse and holding their wallet.” Tammy ends her message by saying she wishes everyone would “embrace difference.”

From Theirry Baptist: "Why does a sister who is natural, feel comfortable with giving a perm sister a compliment, without feeling inferior. But sisters with perms compliments to natural sisters, have to be piggybacked with self-hate. For example: “Your loc's r beautiful, but I couldn’t do it because of my man, church, career, or texture is too nappy.” So my suggested response is “Thank you and F*** you…" lol. On the real, prayer for them."

Both of these messages brought back many memories for me. I have had many folks cross the street when they see me coming. Hold their purse tighter and or even grab their kids as I approach. Is it really that bad? Me, a mother of 2, that has never committed a crime, never been in a fight. Very kindhearted. But my hair and or color seems to give others a certain impression of who I am... wow. And I have also got tons of the back sided compliments. "Your hair is cute, but I couldn't do it cause..." etc, etc. Lol... I tend to tune out the excuses that are given and try to just focus on the positive part of the message - which is that the person can at least admire the beauty of natural hair.

US Air Force Discrimination

I received an email from Biany, about a regulation that US Air Force has, regarding dress code, that clearly discriminates against women wearing their hair in a dreadlocks / loc'd style, or in a short afro style. Oddly enough, I am not surprised. But non the less - this is unacceptable! Please read Biany's email below and find out how you can help stop this type of discrimination from continuing.

Greetings Sister Karen:

I am one of your biggest fans. I have been following your website and blog for months. Thank you for this great avenue for women of color to share their thoughts and celebrate their natural hair. I was hoping that you can share this link below to friends of your blog/website One of my close friends who is in the US Air Force is being forced to chop her locks and relax her hair. We are asking everyone we know to sign this petition and also send a letter to your state representatives. Here is a brief synopsis of the matter at hand. Please share with everyone you know. Thank you in advance for your support!

It has come to my attention that the United States Air Force has a regulation, AFI36-2903 DRESS AND PERSONAL APPEARANCE OF AIR FORCE PERSONNEL, which in part, discriminates against African-American women serving in the Air Force. The code was recently updated to include a bans on a common natural African-American hairstyle, which the Air Force has called "dreadlocks". Female personnel with neat, clean, professional well-kept hair are being forced to choose between cutting their hair and treating it with chemicals to conform with this regulation which I feel unfairly and unnecessarily discriminates against African-Americans. The regulation itself does not define "dreadlocks". This leaves women with hair that is in no means a distraction or a detriment to their duties, subject to disciplinary action.

Copy and Paste the link below:

http://www.rallycongress.com/treasuredlocks/937/

Peace & Blessings,

Biany