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our third contestant this morning is
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number one for Xero and she will be
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informing us about the birds and the
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weaves the talk before whether your
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parents at you down to tell you this
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story or you heard it in school the
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story of the birds and the bees there
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was a bird and there was a bee and they
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loved each other long story short they
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lived happily ever after
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while it's important for parents to have
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this discussion with their children
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there's another talk that isn't
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discussed as often I received this talk
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at the Marriott hotel after using the
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complimentary shampoo the outside of the
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bottle red shampoo but what it should
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have said was white people shampoo
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that night my mom explained to me the
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differences between black and white hair
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but it seems my Caucasian friends have
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never received this talk and this has
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led to some pretty awkward encounters
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black woman's hair has long been the
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subject of intense scrutiny and
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offensive comments if we truly want to
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memory shil tensions in this country we
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must start at the root of the issue so
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today let's have a little talk I like to
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call the birds and the Wiis first by
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learning a little black hair 101 then
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discussing the history of black hair
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before finally examining its effect on
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our youth and community because frankly
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this seems to be a very hairy subject so
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I think it's about time we called Becky
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with the good hair to get our class
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started today a relaxer a process where
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tightly coiled strands are chemically
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relaxed to create straight hairstyles a
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hot comb similar to a flatiron
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straightens your hair while combing out
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curls along the way braids our hair can
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be braided with or without extensions
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hair braided with extensions can take up
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to eight hours we've touchy subject this
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is the addition of the hair that you
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bought to the hair that you already own
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and to save you some trouble don't ever
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ask your black friend if that's your
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real hair after spending hundreds to
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thousands of dollars on her hair
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of course it's hers she bought it
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dreads tightly coiled strands that hang
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down let's dispel a myth
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yes dreads are clean and wearing them
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does not mean you smell a cell or smoke
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marijuana you may see her black friend
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put on a funny-looking cap when she
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comes to sleep over a satin cap is used
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to maintain these hair styles and many
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others that she has worked for hours to
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achieve and your cotton pillowcase will
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definitely frizz it up The Miseducation
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of black hair has led to many myths and
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misunderstandings this has sparked a
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recent movement called you can touch my
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hair where african-american women allow
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passers-by to touch their hair and
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answer questions in order to defuse
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misconceptions what they have concluded
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is once people take the opportunity to
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touch black hair they realized that
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their hair is a lot like ours and
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apparently it's a lot more than just
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African American woman who are taking
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part in this wonderful movement The
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Huffington Post explains the biochemical
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composition of afro textured hair is
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identical to Caucasian textured hair its
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morphological difference is its
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elasticity and comb ability which
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requires afro textured hair to have
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different needs
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this explains why I can use that Hotel
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shampoo because my cuticle doesn't lie
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flat due to my curly textured hair my
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hair requires a shampoo that contains
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more oil in order to successfully reach
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my scalp every ethnic groups Cop
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requires two things water and sebum
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sebum
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produced in the sebaceous gland is an
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oily substance that lubricates our hair
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follicles water and sebum work
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hand-in-hand to moisturize our hair
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however when water and sebum are not
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able to drive directly down our hair
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shaft it leads to dry hair the form of
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afro textured hair does not leave a
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straight path for water and sebum to
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drive down as a result african-american
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textured hair lacks moisture which is
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why black women don't wash their hair
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every night this has nothing to do with
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cleanliness and it's not
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mass when you wash your hair you are
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detracting oils from your hair follicles
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and since african-american textured hair
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lacks moisture washing our hair every
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night can be harmful this is why
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according to the headlight Center only
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0.3 percent of African American students
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in school get lice compared to ten point
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four percent of whites whose nasty now
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due to the products and
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african-americans out to their hair it's
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more difficult for lice to attached to
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our hair follicles but there is a lot
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more than oil that's dripping from the
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ends of black hair there's a lot of
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history tangled within our roots as well
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it is estimated that over eleven million
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six hundred and forty thousand Africans
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left the continent between the 16th and
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20th century due to the transatlantic
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slave trade when Africans were brought
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to the new world they were forced to
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accommodate to European standards which
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viewed straight hair as the highest
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standard of beauty and in an attempt to
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blend into their new society Africans
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took extreme measures to achieve these
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silky strands in 1905 Madame CJ Walker
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created a line of hair products called
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the Walker system consisting of iron
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combs known today as the hot comb
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relaxers and other types of lotions
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these products were used specifically to
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straighten black hair which led Madame
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CJ Walker to become the first female
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millionaire in the United States so
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african-americans wore their hair
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straight well that is until Angela Davis
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broke the status quo with her beautiful
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black afro her afro was a reminder that
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African Americans should love their
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natural hair despite society's standards
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of beauty the throw was a powerful
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political sign that further moisturized
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the civil rights movement that pushed
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for African American culture acceptance
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and worth but unfortunately wearing hair
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styles such as Angela Davis from has led
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to many misjudgments in our society then
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and even now African Americans are being
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taught to wear their hair straight to
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land a job a promotion or to even be
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accepted Hampton University a
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historically black University placed a
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ban on dreadlocks and cornrows in their
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classrooms in 2001
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despite the outrage from the African
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American community this ban was
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successful and earning students jobs in
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corporate America but this doesn't start
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in college
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elementary school students have been
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suspended from school for hairstyles
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that quote distract from the learning
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process when we ban such hairstyles we
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fail to see the underlying impact on our
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youth for example melissa harris-perry
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former talk-show host of MSNBC who wore
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her hair in braids received an email
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from a viewer about her daughter her
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daughter watched the show not because
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she wanted to see the news but she was
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excited to see someone who looked like
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her on national television the viewer
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later stated that watching melissa
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harris-perry stalk show kept her
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daughter's dream of becoming a model
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alive the lasting impression was
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beautiful smart and accomplished black
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woman could wear their hair in braids
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too or meet five year old Jacob
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Philadelphia when he met President Obama
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yes to touch his hair because he wanted
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to know if his president's hair looked
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and felt like his own these may sound
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like too simple silly stories but in
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Melissa harris-perry words if you were
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the little black boy who could never see
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himself as the leader of his country or
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if you were the little black girl that
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has grown up in a society that bashes
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little girls such as Beyonce's daughter
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Blue Ivy for wearing their natural hair
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if you've been the only girl at the pool
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explaining why your hair shrunk up like
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that or if you've been asked if that's
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your real hair if you are that person
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the physical embodiment of the president
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and the first lady matters the hair of
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the president and the first lady
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and hair is ultimately what holds the
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black community together
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and as it is done so for years men and
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women spend hours in hair salons and
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barbershops and not just to get their
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hair done historically barbers have been
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leaders within the black community
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choice balls berry
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a psychiatric epidemiologist and health
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educator writes that the role of the
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black barbershop within the black
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community has been a safe place for
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african-americans to gather to create
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strategies and promote unity within
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their communities barbershops were
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places of refuge for African Americans
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during our country's most oppressive
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times they were a central part of the
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black community then they continue to be
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today I mean I guess you could say
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barbershops are a part of our heritage
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black hair is unique in all forms and it
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should be embrace like any other
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hairstyle the more conversations we have
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about black hair the less these
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misconceptions are to prevail so just
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like they told you in the story of the
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birds and the bees it's the same for the
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birds and the weaves the more you know
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the safer you'll be
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but it's not what's on your head that
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defines
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it's what's within thank you
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you
