The GAIA Health Blog

Hi Bobbi,

I always loving your unique perspective in your comments.

The “Why” of this is like a rabbit hole, there are a lot of cultural dynamics that may be hard to see if one is not within the so called “African American Culture”. But kudos for simply “asking”. I’ll try to give you some perspective, since I flow in and out of all these “sub cultures” with ease, and can see them all, at least to a certain degree.

One area that I personally think Black Americans need to WAKE UP, as you call it, is that we don’t understand as a collective unit the power of our collective buying power. For example, going back to the complaints last year about “The Oscars” because there were no Black actors and actresses nominated, all Black People have to do is stop paying Cable Bills and stop paying movie theaters for 6 months until we got a product that represented us better. Same with Nutrition and Bodycare products, in that Black People need to understand and collectively use the power of the almighty dollar will dictate what we want to be sold to us. As mentioned in this article, Black people spend billions and billions, and with Bodycare and Beauty products, each individual spend twice as much is spent compared to American as a whole.

Black people, in all of our diversity in many ways of thought and deed, in general are mostly consumers in this country, and very seldom producers (even though we are more than capable of producing our own intellect and wisdom, which is all you need in order to produce anything else), but the tragedy of the current condition is that the Black People often consume whatever is fed to us, with no sense of awareness of the how’s or why’s of what is given to us. One of my issues with so called “Black Culture” (not “Black People” of course, cause I love my brothers and sisters) is the Black Culture is often created, shaped, and defined by people who are not even black, people who are in it to make a buck off Black Culture. So as pertaining to these African Beauty products, many of them have nothing to do with historic African Bodycare and Beauty Care ingredients, they are just some toxic, cheap chemicals thrown in a jar, given an African Kinte Cloth looking label, and mass marketed as “Black Cultural Products”.

There are individuals (like myself) and smaller groups of black people taking control, I have connected with many and supported many of these types of small business and enterprises, but it feels to me like the “powers that be” are doing everything in their power to stop Black American Collective Consciousness from thriving. It’s more profitable for them to keep Black Americans tied to the current way of doing business.

On the positive side, there is a Holistic Movement springing up in certain segments of the “So Called” African American Community, as some blacks are starting to learn more of who they really are historically, and learn more about holistic African healing, Native African foods, cosmetics, and beauty products from Africa. I touched upon some those African Beauty Secrets in the “Beauty Secrets from Africa” article. The reason it is important is that African holistic medicine, foods, and body care historically evolved to accommodate melanated skin. So I know personally of many African Americans who [like myself] are winning their individual “Games of Life”, it’s just not a collective reality, though I predict that will will change over the long haul……

Let me finish with this quote from German born Dr. Albert Schweitzer: “On my arrival in Gabon ( Africa ) in 1913, I was astonished to encounter no cases of cancer. I saw none among the natives two hundred miles from the coast…I cannot, of course, say positively that there was no cancer at all, but, like other frontier doctors, I can only say that, if any cases existed, they must have been quite rare. This absence of cancer seemed to be due to the difference in nutrition of the natives compared to the Europeans…”

You can celebrate your heritage and celebrate at the same time celebrate your place in the melting pot of all cultures and heritages in the USA, but it’s a hell of a mental game to get yourself into that mindset, but I think I’ve done it, so I know it’s not impossible to take control over you own life without living in hostility and anger, you can have “Black Awareness” and at the same time be at peace with everything around you, but you have to do some serious “Brain Surgery” on yourself to figure all this out.

Thanks for reading and commenting…..

Doug at GAIA Health Blog

Hi Bobbi,

I’ve heard of the “Good Hair” movie, but haven’t seen it. However the whole concept of “Good Hair” is deeply embedded in the collective psyche of every black person in the USA, along with light vs. dark skin. In the end, black women have traditionally had more expensive Hair Care and cosmetics costs because they are often trying to create hairstyles that are emulating White Women. However, I  read that in Ancient Egypt, they found hieroglyphs of Egyptian women with hot combs (a.k.a., “straightening combs”), so the need to straighten coarse hair has been going on for thousands of years I suppose.

Black men have had this dilema as well, going back to the 50’s with the “process” hair do’s, which is just an emulation of straight, wavy, white men’s hair, it eventually evolved to “Jerry Curls”, using chemical relaxers to have a softer, curlier grade of hair. I have use Jerry Curl formulas, feels like setting your head on fire for an hour. Eventually black men have given up on all that and are comfortable with our hair for what it is, we are very comfortable with short hair, cool haircuts and designs, or even bald heads. In that respect, we set the trend for bald heads, to the point where we made it In Vogue for all men of all races to feel free to shave their heads. But in general, men spend less on hair and body care than women, I doubt if Black men spend more on Skin and Body Care than white men.(Bald heads is almost zero cost and zero maintenance, except for razor blades and maybe shaving cream, maybe bout $10-$15 a month)

Henceforth, my decision to us the lovely model Nerrisa Irving with the ankle length dreadlocks, was merely because I always wanted to feature her in an article, simply because of her natural beauty. However there is a subtle point that she is making that didn’t hit me until I finished the article, a subtle hint that Black is beautiful as it is, and we should express it naturally and organically.

Black people simply need to let go of societal standards of beauty, express our natural beauty and glow, and not get so wrapped up in how society sees us, and be more concerned about how we see ourselves. I don’t personally believe in making an effort for societal acceptance, a big chunk of society sees Black as beautiful, even some people who hate black, hate it because of [arguably] deeply rooted envy of black beauty, athletic power, and so forth……I mean, if we can really talk here, and I can express my opinion, with assumption I never say or write anything with any hostility. 

When you talk about African products like Shea Butter, there are enough products in the USA for Black Women to take a healthier, more holistic approach to Beauty Care and Hair Care, but it still comes back around to awareness an knowledge of what is in those toxic products being shoveled to us, to abandon them, and start over with holistic products.

There is an awakening I can see it all around me……..but a long ways to go.

Doug at GAIA Health Blog.

Hi Bobby,

Yeah good point. I think in the end when you look at it from the right perspective, its not a Black-White thing, it’s a human nature thing. If you went over to Bangladesh in Asia, as an arbitrary example, and there was some person in some minority group trying to get a job, the Majority group Bangladesh person would have an innate biased-ness to stay in control, and because it’s human nature to have a preference to deal with people the same as you, and have subtle fears about people who were culturally different.

Most people don’t know the story of how in the 1800’s three was a small project, which never fully took off, of shipping blacks back to Africa to be resettled and start their own country. That’s how the African nation of Liberia was founded. The point is, the Blacks that got shipped back started treating the native Liberian tribesmen as slaves almost, and these sons of American slaves had the same oppressive mindset as was placed on them in America, as they became the ruling class in Liberia, and their descendants rule to this day, like I said, it’s just a human nature thing not a black-white thing….

Once you see this reality from a high level, I stopped getting so wrapped up into Black vs. White. And I’m lucky to have lived in the great Northwest for nearly 6 years now, and though there are typical American problems, I find the “Sub Cultures” in Washington and Oregon to be much more open and relaxed and engaging towards each other. White people up here look you in the eye and talk to you……..

When you say “Where Does it end?”. Anyone can make it end in the next 60 seconds if they want. I’m having some problems on my job, I call it the “Obama Syndrome”, where peope struggle so hard dealing with a professional black man with some intellect. But I told my boss point blank in a heated discussion, after he gave me a not so favorable review….”You control this company, but I control my own destiny and life out here in the real world, so as far as I’m concerned, were on equal footing here. I’m going to survive and thrive in this life no matter what you do, so you do what you need to do…….”

….Once I realized I had that mindset, any concept of oppression ended in that minute.

The antitheses of that story is that my boss at Columbia Sportswear [a white dude] in Portland Oregon, was so non-racist and unbiased, he actually freak me out until I simply just accepted it, but my last day of work I had to sit that guy down and just let him know he was the greatest of bosses and the best of men. So maybe I’m just lucky to have run across a good number of great people, not perhaps a majority, but enough to force me just deal with individuals one by one a as I meet them…..

The point I’m making there is I had to start looking at the all the madness as like I don’t really care about the negative things people are doing or thinking in the work environment or the world at large, the job is only a means to get to the point where I don’t need a job, and I’ve learned in this 7 year odyssey since I left Chicago that the divine powers will get me a new job if I need one. Furthermore, I never feel like the oppressors have a heck of a lot of intelligence, so I don’t give them much credence or mental energy anyway, so from a certain point of view, a lot of what goes on around us, like news stories that get everybody all charged up on all sides don’t really affect me at the core.

….because I know what I am and who I am at the core.

Like that line Tim Robbins said in “Shawshank Redemption”……”There’s something inside a man that they can’t touch…….”

I was determined to write a short note this time, but you tricked me again…….   🙂

Doug at GAIA Health Blog

Hi Bobbi,

I did have to reword one comment near the end of that last “long winded” response, in when I implied I don’t care what people are thinking on the job or the world at large.

I reworded it to “I don’t really care about the negative things people are doing or thinking in the work environment…..”

I’m always caring about my fellow man and woman, that’s why I put passion into this site. The negativity however, I’m blessed to let if roll off of me for the most part, though I hate to see so many people on all sides consumed by it.

FINALLY!!!!! a short response {chuckle}

Doug at GAIA Health Blog