Ageism in the natural hair community is also an issue. I am 48 and following several mature ladies on YT but have notice their subscriptions are low. These ladies have great content but they are 40 and over so it seems to be harder for them to get a larger following.
I’ve definitely made it a point to follow content creators with my own hair type. If we don’t think it’s beautiful and worthy then why would anyone else?
Such a great topic! I realize that I am drawn to 4c and dark skinned natural hair content when they are able to grow their hair really long. There’s the issue of colorism, texturism, and “lengthism” if that’s a thing. I need to support our 4c hair at all lengths.
Texturism is definitely a thing and I know that it was deeply embedded in our community whether that's in America or the islands or anywhere that imperialism happened... But I honestly feel so grateful to God to have 4c hair primarily, and even if I had a lot of awkward days and bad hair days I could never imagine being one of these people who think that them having a 3 texture hair is so fckn special that they literally will sht on their own blackness....
It's like it's like we grow up thinking that the thinner hair is good hair but really having a four texture of hair is so golden because when you get older and your sht start thinning out you're not going to have to worry !!!you're still going to have a head full of hair! God gave us our hair on purpose or hair is special our hair supposed to look how it looks
I feel so saved and blessed from the brainwashing of our community like I spent my whole life thinking I was ugly my hair could never I could never get my hair right but I would never change it for the world I would never want to be a brainwashed ass btch thinking that my hair is fckn special because it's a mix texture or it could be a . I would be betraying my ancestors walking around on that bs. Mfkas do it daily! I get.so.tired.of.it.
Is that really a problem though? I have low-medium density myself. I understand if people were to outright treat you poorly because of how you look, but I don’t think there’s anything wrong with being ignored for something that people more generally prefer. Aren’t certain features/traits going to be generally favored among humans for whatever reason? With the case of less opportunity to potentially make an income through being a natural hair youtuber or natural hair brand marketer, I don’t like that argument because depending on the phenotypes you have, you may not have certain opportunities open to you. If you’re not tall, you probably won’t be a famous basketball player. Not beautiful, probably not a model. Why should hair be any different? A part of me also doesn’t want it to become pity views or pity compliments, you know, stuff they don’t really mean.
@@Claredon1 I think its problematic as women with lower density maybe not you, will watch dozens of videos on how to thicken their hair, how to have ''more'' hair when its a genetic trait that can't be enhanced. Reality we all dont have a mane , remember how people went on a uproar over that young black girl in the h&m because of her hair? Reality she looks like many kids, no perm but still not that ''much'' hair. How many did you see with that head? All you see is hair extensions, tight buns.. It felt good because it was real.
That's very true. I've found one woman, she happens to be light skinned, who has fine, low-density hair like mine. Even with that, I can't do a lot of the things she does with her hair because I also have scarring alopecia. I've noticed that all of the scarring alopecia videos show women getting weaves and such and there's never any discussion about treating it. I'm getting treated for it, so I have hair on my head. The only scarring alopecia videos I've found that talk about treatment and such are strictly medical.
Thank you for saying what needed to be said about racial ambiguity and mixed-ness being privileged in content creation spaces. Thank you. I've been seeing this so much in the last 5 years and it's been really challenging. We need "more variance in our representation," AND every natural is welcome and to be celebrated. Period.
What I want to see from the natural hair community is the path to self love so that when you put your texture out, in all its glory out there, it becomes part of the landscape. A lot of 4B/4C influencers decide not to wear their hair out. The language used to described the hair would change as well : it's extra extra dry, it tangles when I talk, it can't do this,it can't do that. It's super negative, as if God had made a terrible mistake. I follow mostly 4b/4C channels but only really watch the videos of those that LOVE their hair, wear their hair and whose language of others is respectful. The journey to natural hair is a journey to self love,it's the way in. Great vlog💙
I am so glad you’ve made the distinction between colorism and texturism. It baffles me that in 2020, people-our own people-still assume a specific hair texture is singular to a specific tone of brown. This restriction in the expectations and beliefs of our expanse of features and beauty is just goofy. We have so far to go towards loving who we are. It may not be the intent or the belief, but I still come across videos where influencers are not making that distinction and it feels like a light skin/dark skin battle. Silky curls aren’t limited to the crowns of lighter skinned black women, nor are tight curls and kinks limited to only darker skinned black women. 😒 Sometimes we forget to present our words in ways that highlight and praise the differences amongst us; instead, we end up further fueling the divide. As always, you said it just right. Love the hair and appreciate the content!
Wow what a way to start vlogmas off with a bang. I can totally relate to everything you said as I am a darker 4c African American woman. I often see companies come out with new products but are often advertised with a fairer skin looser texture model and I simply won't purchase the product because I want to see how a product performs on someone similar to me as a result I will wait to see if an influencer similar to my skin tone and texture to try the product. What you said makes a lot of sense and it's unfair for darker skin, tighter textures to purchase products and do reviews to make money for companies that don't see their worth while their fairer skin , lighter textures get the paid sponsorship so as a consumer I will do better at asking companies to show me how their products perform on individuals similar to myself. Thank you.
I do get annoyed when I see natural hair care lines that only feature models loose curl patterns. I made several comments on a CurlMix ad about this and they responded saying the creator has 4C hair but I pointed out that not having models with 4C hair is the issue. Later I began to see more models in their ads with 4C hair. I know it was not my comments alone that made the difference but the multitude of comments they received made change happen. So we need to remember even though we may not have a social media following our comments do matter, so please speak up.
This is a topic that needs to be discussed and I agree with you that it begin with us. From my observations of hair videos on this platform, there are a lot of videos of 4C hair tutorials done by people who are not 4C. Surprising those videos get the most views and those individuals who are actually 4C don't get the same level of support. Colorism is so ingrained in us that I don't think that we are aware of it.
There is an influencer who put down singer Amara La Negra because this influencer decided sbe didn't have black enough features. When I mentioned that the Latin community was even more
Didn't finish. I was saying that Latin American countries are even more racist than the States, I was blocked because of that statement. How Black do we have to be for some folk? Amara La Negra was publicly made fun of for her afro and called derogatory names because of her rich, dark color, and yet, this influencer put her down for not having Black enough features. What kind of nonsense is that?
We really have a lot of work to do and no I definitely couldn’t find 20 and yes I don’t necessarily follow bigger channels, it’s hard to compute why the folk I do support are not bigger. I also need to stop watching stuff on my phone - your fro and what you said (Angela part) is just🔥🔥🔥🔥🔥🔥🔥🔥🔥🔥 I need to really digest all you said - keep talking...🙏🏾
But when it comes to community color struck I’m still wondering why in 2020 it exists to this extent . We can accuse so many factors but as you said what’s our actions?
I am mixed with 3C/4A curl pattern. I love your content and I follow other RUclipsrs with predominantly type 4 hair because I learn so much more from all of you on hydration and taking care of my hair. I feel like the people with type 4 hair gives their hair a little extra love on RUclips. Thank you for creating real and honest content!
You hit the nail on the head. I see alot of creators who should have way more subbies, such as yourself. You are so knowledgeable. We have come a long way as a natural hair community but yet we still have ways to go... sooooo far to go. It's really sad.
It is an issue that is deeply rooted in almost every aspect of black life. Messaging to darker skinned women particularly with kinky hair experience colorism starting at a young age everywhere at school, in the workplace, in friend circles, dating lives. We see it music videos, the wives of the elite wealthy black actors, athletes, musicians, how movies and even how families are casted in television shows. You tube is only an extension of that.I really wish we could really see the beauty and value in each other for who are and be done with the nonsense.
People with looser curl patterns should be repping and pushing to expose tighter curled content creators period. Cause tighter textures certainly do share their stuff and give them exposure
I agree. I actually do this, but sometimes the disrespect and hate towards women with looser textures is unbearable. I had to unfollow one page in particular because I was told that I didn't belong there and that the natural hair movement wasn't for me. I would like to see us appreciate the support of one another. BTW, I'm a black woman with 3b hair, but I love all black hair so I follow black influencers of all hair types.
@@nikkis.9747 not saying your feelings arent valid but 3b hair is literally everywhere in the world and the media and has always been accepted in black communities. by default you didnt need the *movement*. maybe the community, sure.
@@shellygarland8766 I respect your opinion, but it's because of the progress of the natural hair movement that it may seem that way now. That's not how it was back then (2005-ish) unless you had a silky texture like white women. For black women with looser curl patterns, it was still not acceptable to wear your natural hair in many public spaces, especially in the workplace which is why most black women used relaxers regardless of their curl pattern. And to be honest, many of us didn't know exactly what curl pattern we had. I knew that my curls weren't 4c, but I didn't know that they would be in the type 3 range either. I thought my curl pattern was closer to 4a, but it was actually 3c & 3b and now after going through chemo 3 years ago, it grew back in as 3b only with no 3c at all. All black women who used relaxers regularly needed the movement regardless of the curl pattern they discovered they had. It was a time of discovery for all of us. Me and my 3 sisters went natural in the mid 2000s and discovered we all had different curl patterns & textures ranging from 3b to 4c and we all celebrated one another for being brave enough to let go of the relaxers that we had used for so many years.
@@nikkis.9747 i very vividly remember the show half and half the actress had type 3 hair. even in tyler perry shows and BET, there were always black women with type 3 hair. most of our great musicians wore type 3 hair as *THE* natural aesthetic. type 3 hair has always been celebrated.
@@nikkis.9747 i do however agree it was a time of discovery for all. but that does not mean the movement was for you. its good everyone benefited either way but co-opting movements for the less disenfranchised from it always leads to a water down, especially the one today for this particular community where type 3 and looser still has more visibility, and there are even white people claiming to have 3c/4a hair.
I say this all the time...what can we do in our community to improve our own circumstances. We know what "they" are going to do but what can we do? This is the same conversation but about hair. Find myself always looking for the dark woman or the kinky texture in ads. Im usually let down. This is something we can do as a people. Come on can we leave this color business alone. We are so damn beautiful/powerful as people. If only we can shed this post traumatic slave syndrome.
I am 3b/3c and stopped flat ironing and blow drying for 3!years now and live my short wavy, curly hair. That said, It’s the same old story. (Darker) Black women build the community, support the community, but as soon as commercial interests enter the picture, the lighter/whiter become the preference, drive the market, and become the “face” of the community. Your points are WELL made and taken.
Your message is on point. This is why I make it my duty to support richer skin tones with 4 textures. What can a mixed girl tell me about my nappy hair anyway? It's hard to see how some people have came to basically take away our ideas on haircare and then have a hair care line in months. Same old story different day different year. Smh
I dare someone to thumbs down this video. Btw, you’ve been on my Pinterest board for a long time. You have been and will continue to be MY hair crush. Thank you for this video!
Hit the nail on da button...I follow people for content I don’t follow a hair type but I’m 4a ,low po, fine, thin,low density but I follow content of 4c ,kinky, dark skin you tubers it’s wierd but dats wat sparks my interest
Yes to this entire video!!! I'm almost a year into transitioning and this platform was the first place I went to for healthy hair tips. Quickly I noticed that the kinkier hair textures were associated with darker skin tones. It was so disturbing I reached out to my natural hair friends. Sadly they confirmed that what I noticed was in fact true. Faye in the City, Star Puppy, Nyma Tang (her channel is makeup though), and Latoya Ebony come to mind for darker skin toned women with higher subscriber numbers. SheRea DelSol is awesome too. I recently found your channel and subscribed😊
This is such an important conversation to have. My assumption has been: The people gypped out of their due don’t want to speak up for themselves because their efforts would probably be misunderstood as some kind of complaining or entitlement. The people overexposed and gluttonous with their (mostly unwarranted) popularity have a vested interest in maintaining the dysfunctional status quo. And everybody else is busy discussing the exceptions to what we all know is typical. 🙃🤷🏾♀️🧐
This is a very important topic and I think it should be discussed with our men and women. I personally support various content creators based on their personality and choice of content. I am not 4b/4c but I do support those women on RUclips and that is just one small way that I choose to address this issue. On a personal note, I have daughters who have different textures from mine and I make it a point to gush over how beautiful their hair is and teach them to embrace and love their hair. Hopefully this will break the cycle for future generations✊🏽
I agree we must teach our children to love their hair and skin color and embrace the different color skin tones and textures that exists within a family unit. We are all beautiful no matter where we are on the spectrum. Children who grow up with that self love will be less likely to try to imitate and glorify other textures and skin tones. I stress to my children that their differences are what makes them so special. No one trait is better than another just different.
This is sooo true! We have the power! On a broader spectrum, we spend the most money on hair products than any other race. We spend this money with people who are not us. Not necessarily a problem, bit a fact. With the level of power we have, we can do anything and demand the change we want to see. But as you say, we have this thing about color and hair that we gravitate to the products or companies who have the least representation of what we are. For example, here's this gorgeous chocolate sister with kink and coils that sit like a crown. This gorgeous woman is often times clicking on the content of a lighter skin, loser texture hair and proceeds to criticize and belittle the influencer because they tried a hair technique that didn't look the same as the influencer. Some may not agree with that example but I see it a lot. Hell I did it when I first went natural because I didn't see myself as I really am. I had a come to Jesus moment with myself and realized, well damn, Im not a 3b light skinned woman. Once we all do that and really accept, appreciate and own who we are and what we look like, change can definitely happen.
My criteria for watching and following natural hair Influencers are content quality, personality, and an undeniable love and appreciation for their hair. Hence, I typically don't follow influencers who bury their hair under wigs and weaves most of the time. I also follow a few Type 3 channels because some of their techniques work for my hair. My hair is 4A/3C and owing to fine strands and low density, light leave-ins and styling products work best for my hair. Influencers with 4B/4C hair I follow include Chizi Duru, NappyFu, Green Beauty, LaToya Ebony, Jenn Jackson, and StarPuppy. I believe that some persons support influencers with hair and complexion they wish they had so the intent is not to learn about one's hair but to live vicariously through another.
Thank you for discussing this subject in a solution focussed way rather than the usual blame focussed variant. We know we have an ongoing issue in the black community worldwide (I’m in the UK) with ‘texture and tone’ . We know the history of it. We now need to find progressive ways forward. Looking forward to further discussion on this.
This is why we have to support each other and I watch a lot of natural hair vloggers but prefer to watch those who I can relate too. I’m a brown skin, 4bc girl so I watch those like me but overall I watch everybody.
I have quite the subscriptions to 4c naturals with over 100k subscribers. I have alot who are almost to 100k as well. I found alot of them from the youtube home/recommendations tab. I'm not sure what color classifies as "deep skinned" however I looked at all the ladies I would think of as dark skinned. Some of these ladies would classify as just type 4 since their hair is a blend of 4a,4b,and 4c. I hope this list can help. 1. Chizi Duri 2. Craving curly kinks 3. Evaniwitha V (type 4 blended) 4. Green beauty 5. Halfrican beaute (type 4 blend) 6. Iamtraeh (brown) 7. Igbocurls chinwe juliet 8. chazzisawesome 9 kimmaytube 10.laila Washington fusionofcultures 12. Lavishly britt 13. Nappyfutv 14.nappyheadedjojoba 15. Naturally philosophy 16. Twingodesses 4c (few natural but does mainly wig reviews) 17. Viv hair therapy 18. Discovering natural 19. Star puppy 20. The chicnatural (light brown) RUclipsrs I had to look for 21. Naturally temi 22.Queeny kaay 23. Beautycutright (Has some natural hair videos) 24. Mona b. (Mix of natural hair and wig videos) 25. Janae Mason (type 4 blend) 26. Adanna madueke (wigs, weaves, natural) 27. Pure estrogen 28. oluchi assumani 29. Eugenia kelcy 30. 22nd century natural woman 31. Amor antasia 32. Nickybnatural
I’ve never watched a natural hair video because of skin color. I watch hair videos because the hair is like mine. I’m 70 and I can show you a photo of me in my 20’s with an Afro.
Wow so ok when you first challenged us to find 20 youtubers who are brown skinned, 4type hair with over 100k followers, I was like oh that's easy, no problem... But then I started looking starting with my own subscriptions... And I was sad to find that you are right... Even the women I follow who I assumed were more popular were often way less than 100K. I'm going to keep looking though and I plan on showing more love to my current subscriptions by liking, commenting and sharing more regularly. Thank you.
Thanks for speaking truths. When I first went natural I had a hard time finding influencers that look like me. That was over 6 years ago and it is only slightly better now
I really wish I could find more women... even men with deeper skin and highly textured hair in these spaces! I don’t really find men like myself out there at all, we need to push and love! Thanks sis!
So so glad you tackled this subject. We are so color struck now. It's as if we are in the 40s or something. I was thoroughly confused when I first started watching "natural hair care" because non of the videos really addressed my hair. I have been natural since I was fourteen. I didn't want jheri curl like hair. My family was mixed in skintone and colorism was not taught nor was it allowed to passively flourish. We are magnificent and it does not matter what your hair type is if what's under that head of hair is locked into some white supremacist mind control you are never going to be happy. We come in all shades and textures and start loving each other more and judging less.
Love it! I’m glad younger people are tackling this. Hopefully it gets better because I see more brown babies with my hair texture and meet a lot of frustrated moms. I have a list of reasons why my generation dropped the ball but this is long enough.
I agree with you, there’s way too much division among our people and the natural hair community. I have a mixture of 3c and 4a hair. The back of my hair is 4a, and many nights I pray that my 3c hair on the front and top of my head would curl like the back.I marvel at the beautiful dark skin women with 4c hair, because to me their hair looks so beautiful. I wish I could wear an Afro that looks like yours. But I have to learn how to love and embrace my own hair, and I’m not a mixed chick (Love them too) I promise you and will, and do, like and subscribe to all women of color as long as they are knowledgeable and I’m able to learn something that will help me on my natural hair journey. As always I love and respect you and influencers like you. I stronger encourage you to keep being real and doing what you do. I’m sure you are helping a lot of people. Lord knows how much you’ve help me. Thank you so much!
You are absolutely right!! I myself look for individuals in which their hair seems similar to mine whether or not they are light or dark-skinned. I did not find 20 that had over 100k but there are so many like yourself who deserve to be in that category. Great topic of discussion. I will make it a point to comment more and contact these brands.
Thanks for putting this out there because it NEEDS to be said. When I big chopped I really had to search to find the girls that had my hair and looked like me. Their channels aren't as popular, but once I found 1 it got easier to find more. But Bubs Bee and Nappyfu helped my hair journey, and their channels led me to your channel!
Self Love.... how many of us are truly doing the work to love all our parts as we were made? We seem to love them when the world says its okay/trendy/beautiful and guess what? We still aren't winning...
Around 4:50 she says androgynous. I think it was a minor mistake im sure she meant to say ambiguous as in "racial ambiguity". Basically we have white women playing up (or down) their features to look mixed and we have black women doing the same. All in the name to fit the mixed aesthetic that os being pushed. Just wanted to clarify that💋👍🏽.
1st off, my apologies for missing this most crucial live! I truly wish, that I'd have been apart of it! You brought up valid issues in the Natural Hair Community, specifically of the people from the African Diasporan Descent. I'll admit, that the majority of my Natural Hair RUclipsrs, are looser curls &/or an albeit smaller #, as in 3c/4a. I honestly, at 1st, didn't see the harm in looking for curl types like mine, or my Mom's side, etc. Even as the discussions turned into outrageous fights/attacks. I tried to stay in my perspective lane. Not technically lighter skin toned, but with a flatter type 3 hair. I just felt like, 1 of the forgotten, a person who literally fell through the cracks. And yet, I was still able to witness the expanding chaos from a misunderstood P.O.V. I watched ppl with various types of the 4 hair category from fine to coarse, just be overshadowed by advertisers & even other ppl they meant to help, had, literally stopped checking for them. I still watched, not only because of hair/t'was only 1 natural feature. But because, they were all just interesting as individual human beings. I figured it wasn't enough, but I'm too shy to branch out, & do more. Just within these past 3 years, I've made great strides in communication with the RUclipsrs that I'm subscribed to, & their other fans. I wish that all hair types that are still marginalized within the NHC received their due in representation, priority & respect! I have subscribed, as in, Yes viewing & participating as a subscriber to Darker Skin-Toned type 4c, &/or 4b/4c, 4a/4b/4c, 4a/4c, etc. Perhaps my contributions will be drops in a bucket, but with more of us doing the same...? We can at least initiate the turning of the tide. In this, I do truly agree with you! I rarely, if ever, give any type of feedback to companies (in general), but in the future... I'll do my part to raise awareness of the glaring disparities in advertisements. Tbqh, I don't even care about, whose being marketed to, for me personally. This isn't a dismal of the inherently toxic advertisement!!! However, I'll use products based on the ingredients, & the purpose of the product(s). So yeah, I'm all over the place as far as products. I wish more people/influencers had your courage/conviction to say what rly needs to be said! This isn't the most cohesive or even expansive of my overall thoughts, so my apologies for any issues stemming from my comment! I hope you & your family are doing well & staying safe! 💝💝💝💝 Thanks for the vid!💖💖💖
We have to continue to drill this message home. Some of our people need to open their eyes and see unique beauty black people possess..thank you for taking the time to raise this issue. I love your hair you are beautiful 😻
Thank you for this video. I could not have said it better and I also hope that the conversation continues on with something being done about it in the future.
Texturism bullshit is even in every day life. My curls are 3b/3c and random black woman would stare and then ask "how I get me hair like that?" Or "are you mixed with coolie/indian?" It's such a weird question to me and I want to roll my eyes but I understand the nonsense that it stems from. Even random non-black woman has approached me about my hair. Its absurd that many people still think that if you are brown skin or deeper you can't have anything other than tight curls. And if your curls are looser, they feel the need to investigate where you from, what you use, etc to explain your texture. Its maddening. We need to stop coveting what we don't have. We need to embrace ourselves and stop letting the European-aesthetic turn us into fools. But that's easier said than done. It's too engrained in the Black community. Thank you for this video💜 P.S. have you read Ain't I A Woman by Bell Hooks? Excellent life changing, eye-opening read!
@@ALove4Me I listened to the eaudiobook and I cried in some parts. It's a hard read, but a necessary read for all black women. I'm trying to read everything bell has written. Such a brilliant lady! Austin Channing Brown's I'm Still Here is excellent, as well.
Love this video and so agree with all you say here. I’ve been following you here learning how to care for my natural hair hoping to wear it out in its natural state more often. I rarely wear an Afro because my hair is so sparse and fine it tangles and breaks when I wear it in its shrunken state. Still working on figuring it out though because I agree it’s important for us and the world to see our natural Afro texture more often and see it as normal and beautiful.
This is a big issue in the beauty community as well. A lot of tokenism and pretty much anyone but darker skinned black women (mixed/ambiguous/light skinned are sometimes okay). Then there is the issue of nonblack and even light/mixed women using blackface for their career and aesthetic and receiving attention and opportunities for it. There are many nonblack women who take advantage of mixed/light skin women being "in" and create an image for themselves based off of this market obsession.
This was a great topic and I would love to see you delve into things like this more in the future! As was said already, length and density definitely play a factor. Especially if the person shows pictures of a dramatic change in length in the period of like a year or a little over that. You mentioning having eyes reminds me of a time we created a space on campus for black people and then someone invited a white friend of theirs to the space to "observe". Things were awkward to say the least.
Loved this, I must say though, that comment you made about why there is a division really intrigued me, please make a vid or something. Love you and God bless
First, Happy Vlogmas! Second, thank you for touching on this topic. I agree with mostly everything you’ve said. We do need to support each other regardless of hair type or skin tone. I can only speak for myself when I say my only interest in viewing any posts on RUclips is natural hair, therefore the people I follow are black women with natural hair with hair texture similar to mine (4A/4B). I LOVE supporting the influencers I follow in any way I can. However, I have unfollowed some of the channels I enjoyed because people of my complexion (lighter skin) were referred to as “Light Bright” and “High Yella”. Then they want to blame the algorithm for their lack of views. The respect and support must go both ways. Thank you for acknowledging that no one has any control of their skin color or natural hair texture. All of us need to feel welcomed in this community.
Yes you are saying facts 💯. We’ve been complaining a lot about how the natural movement has been hijacked but we never spoke about our roles in it. We need to do the work and demand like you said to see more representations ...
I wholeheartedly agree that while we did not create this issue, we do need to help squash it. These things were meant to divide us so of course we cannot look to those who are trying to do that to help bring us back together. I will say some people (like me years before I was exposed) do need to learn the outside factors that contribute to this. At least for me, this helped with starting the process of unlearning, growth and healing. I understand you can't fully cover that, cause it's so much to go into. Just saying we need to have those conversations, go into the deeper parts in our own lives with people we interact with. Not in a do the work for them way( way too much energy) , but hopefully my point gets across lol
All of your points are valid. I have only one or two light-skinned women that I follow. One is a cosmetologist and the other is the only person I've seen with hair similar to mine.
I talk about this all the time with my friends. Which is the reason why I haven’t started my channel. Mind you I do think there is a niche for me considering I am 40 and natural. But I have thought... why bother because there is no love for being dark and kinky. Thank you for being transparent. It’s a harsh and sad reality. Pelo Malo where?!?
My niece has tried to encourage me to start a channel within my niche (40+ 4b/c, fine and low density hair). I just don't feel like it's worth all the tine and effort it takes to create YT content when all people want to see is younger, racially ambiguous, long and thick, looser textured hair. There's a few ladies out there that I do follow Nappy Fu, Fine Natural hair and Faith and Star Puppy but really pickings are slim!
@@Muchacandela No, I'm not the one to discourage you or anyone else in following their dreams. If you make it others will follow including myself. Who knows you may be the inspiration I need! 😉
I understand your point and I know that we girls with looser curls and lighter skin have a privilege and I really acknowledge that. But i just want to make people aware that their are people who have different features then ‘your typical black’ and are not mixed. I myself being one of them, am Somali, having loose 3b curls and a boned nose, however I am not mixed with anything. I am a 100% black African and proud. ✊🏿 And it pains me that we (people with slightly different features) are not seen as fully black. But the rest of your video, I totally agree 100% !
Great Video with Great Tips to help support beautiful black women of all colors & textures! I will be that consumer in the comments going forward asking for more representation as I never thought to do that! You just showed up on my discover page for the very first time today. I gave this video 👍🏾 & I’m subscribing now. Thank you! ❤️
It's a method of diminishing our relevance to the business! I always thought we should congratulate the beauty in our spectrum. It's almost as if the "divide and conquer " flourished more since some steadily capitalize on what we SHOULD look like instead of ACCEPTING how we are. In the the mist of the scrimmage over the years I would LOVE more representation in the standard of beauty. Just because other people underestimate our treasure troves of beauty should not malign our efforts to prove that we are worthy to contribute to the advancement of it!
In general I think this is a topic worth discussing. Our history is steep with colorism and it rears its ugly head everywhere. I disagree with putting the ownus on consumers with respect to content creators thriving on social media. Personally I try to learn from a diverse set of channels because I think hair care is primarily about technique. This space is very saturated and the content can be quite redundant. How many times do I need so see someone wash their hair? Folks are reviewing the same products. Some have differing reviews, but I don't find an appreciable difference most of the time. Quite frankly I get overwhelmed and exhausted with all of the suggested content. Lots of voices and noise. I have a few go-tos for reference and then I'm set. I won't take on the responsibility of browsing all of the natural hair channels and subscribing. All that would do is overwhelm me more. I think content creators need to understand the landscape and strategize accordingly. I agree that colorism and texturism is real and undoubtedly drives views, subscribers, likes, and comments. It's not a fair system and I wish it were such that no one feels left out. At the same time, there are a number of factors that contribute to the success of any entrepreneurial endeavor and at this point, I can't say that colorism and texturism is the primary driver behind the success or lack of success of a channel. I often hear people say lots of black businesses fail because the community doesn't support and I don't think that is a fair assessment. Same idea applies here.
Self hates a bitch...truth is our hair is scared rare delicate fragile complex and needs to be cherished and treated with the utmost most care ..like our hearts bodies and souls
I just posted a video on this same topic, a discussion with my mother and sister, so really excited to hear your point of view as well! It’s crazy among the 3 of us, we had such different experiences. You’re right though, i definitely can’t name 20. I’m not even going to try to reach that number. I agree with everything you said in this video, so just to save your time and mine i won’t call out anything specific, just YES. Lol rudeness is just uncalled for. It’s just not necessary
Its also related to personality. There are lighter complexioned women that I don't watch because I don't like the personality they present and darker skinned women who I follow because of personality. I agree with what you said about we as consumers determining what is promoted but I'm not going to watch a channel if I don't like what is being presented. I don't have 20 Natural hair You tubers of any complexion in my subscriptions but some that fit the phenotype you were referring to are: Green Beauty, Nappy Fu, Discovering Natural, Duchesse Gabrielle, Naturally High, Annettemint, BlakizBeautyful, Efficiently Natural. Don't know much about their subscriber counts though, but I like them.
I don't think that colorism or companies and media only using mixed and lighter skinned women as progress. These women benefit from what black people as a whole have fought for, but their presence is more of a substitute or concession for real progress. I'm not saying they shouldn't work or ve visible, but they are historically preferred.
I have a question. How many of you steel grease your hair to the scalp? I had stop doing that for a long time, but I believe that I am going to start back doing that because my scalp is always itchy and flakey although I wash my hair every week.
![Jack Harlow - Hello Miss Johnson [Official Music Video]](http://i.ytimg.com/vi/Q86_nlRoIGw/mqdefault.jpg)
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Ageism in the natural hair community is also an issue. I am 48 and following several mature ladies on YT but have notice their subscriptions are low. These ladies have great content but they are 40 and over so it seems to be harder for them to get a larger following.
I’ve definitely made it a point to follow content creators with my own hair type. If we don’t think it’s beautiful and worthy then why would anyone else?
Such a great topic! I realize that I am drawn to 4c and dark skinned natural hair content when they are able to grow their hair really long. There’s the issue of colorism, texturism, and “lengthism” if that’s a thing. I need to support our 4c hair at all lengths.
I agree that lengthism is a thing! Mona B and Adanna Madueke are popular 4C RUclipsrs with short hair
Texturism is definitely a thing and I know that it was deeply embedded in our community whether that's in America or the islands or anywhere that imperialism happened... But I honestly feel so grateful to God to have 4c hair primarily, and even if I had a lot of awkward days and bad hair days I could never imagine being one of these people who think that them having a 3 texture hair is so fckn special that they literally will sht on their own blackness....
It's like it's like we grow up thinking that the thinner hair is good hair but really having a four texture of hair is so golden because when you get older and your sht start thinning out you're not going to have to worry !!!you're still going to have a head full of hair! God gave us our hair on purpose or hair is special our hair supposed to look how it looks
I feel so saved and blessed from the brainwashing of our community like I spent my whole life thinking I was ugly my hair could never I could never get my hair right but I would never change it for the world I would never want to be a brainwashed ass btch thinking that my hair is fckn special because it's a mix texture or it could be a . I would be betraying my ancestors walking around on that bs. Mfkas do it daily! I get.so.tired.of.it.
I was going to say there’s also a problem with people not following women that don’t have a high density .
That’s coming too...
Therese Ayo, Agreed. I have low density hair and I have difficulty finding Influencers with my hair density because it is not beloved.
Is that really a problem though? I have low-medium density myself. I understand if people were to outright treat you poorly because of how you look, but I don’t think there’s anything wrong with being ignored for something that people more generally prefer. Aren’t certain features/traits going to be generally favored among humans for whatever reason? With the case of less opportunity to potentially make an income through being a natural hair youtuber or natural hair brand marketer, I don’t like that argument because depending on the phenotypes you have, you may not have certain opportunities open to you. If you’re not tall, you probably won’t be a famous basketball player. Not beautiful, probably not a model. Why should hair be any different? A part of me also doesn’t want it to become pity views or pity compliments, you know, stuff they don’t really mean.
@@Claredon1 I think its problematic as women with lower density maybe not you, will watch dozens of videos on how to thicken their hair, how to have ''more'' hair when its a genetic trait that can't be enhanced. Reality we all dont have a mane , remember how people went on a uproar over that young black girl in the h&m because of her hair? Reality she looks like many kids, no perm but still not that ''much'' hair. How many did you see with that head? All you see is hair extensions, tight buns.. It felt good because it was real.
That's very true. I've found one woman, she happens to be light skinned, who has fine, low-density hair like mine. Even with that, I can't do a lot of the things she does with her hair because I also have scarring alopecia. I've noticed that all of the scarring alopecia videos show women getting weaves and such and there's never any discussion about treating it. I'm getting treated for it, so I have hair on my head. The only scarring alopecia videos I've found that talk about treatment and such are strictly medical.
Wow this video was very deep but so true. But you are so right about the lack of representation of darker women with 4C hair on RUclips.
Thank you for saying what needed to be said about racial ambiguity and mixed-ness being privileged in content creation spaces. Thank you. I've been seeing this so much in the last 5 years and it's been really challenging. We need "more variance in our representation," AND every natural is welcome and to be celebrated. Period.
What I want to see from the natural hair community is the path to self love so that when you put your texture out, in all its glory out there, it becomes part of the landscape. A lot of 4B/4C influencers decide not to wear their hair out. The language used to described the hair would change as well : it's extra extra dry, it tangles when I talk, it can't do this,it can't do that. It's super negative, as if God had made a terrible mistake. I follow mostly 4b/4C channels but only really watch the videos of those that LOVE their hair, wear their hair and whose language of others is respectful.
The journey to natural hair is a journey to self love,it's the way in. Great vlog💙
I am so glad you’ve made the distinction between colorism and texturism. It baffles me that in 2020, people-our own people-still assume a specific hair texture is singular to a specific tone of brown. This restriction in the expectations and beliefs of our expanse of features and beauty is just goofy. We have so far to go towards loving who we are. It may not be the intent or the belief, but I still come across videos where influencers are not making that distinction and it feels like a light skin/dark skin battle. Silky curls aren’t limited to the crowns of lighter skinned black women, nor are tight curls and kinks limited to only darker skinned black women. 😒 Sometimes we forget to present our words in ways that highlight and praise the differences amongst us; instead, we end up further fueling the divide. As always, you said it just right. Love the hair and appreciate the content!
We need to watch and support deeper tones and kinky textures (and older, Tomboy, makeup free, lgbtq+, plus size, unique personalities, etc)
You’re so right about the lack of representation for darker skinned black women with 4C hair on RUclips. I can only think of a few.
Wow what a way to start vlogmas off with a bang. I can totally relate to everything you said as I am a darker 4c African American woman. I often see companies come out with new products but are often advertised with a fairer skin looser texture model and I simply won't purchase the product because I want to see how a product performs on someone similar to me as a result I will wait to see if an influencer similar to my skin tone and texture to try the product. What you said makes a lot of sense and it's unfair for darker skin, tighter textures to purchase products and do reviews to make money for companies that don't see their worth while their fairer skin , lighter textures get the paid sponsorship so as a consumer I will do better at asking companies to show me how their products perform on individuals similar to myself. Thank you.
I do get annoyed when I see natural hair care lines that only feature models loose curl patterns. I made several comments on a CurlMix ad about this and they responded saying the creator has 4C hair but I pointed out that not having models with 4C hair is the issue. Later I began to see more models in their ads with 4C hair. I know it was not my comments alone that made the difference but the multitude of comments they received made change happen. So we need to remember even though we may not have a social media following our comments do matter, so please speak up.
This is exactly why I follow you. You inspire and encourage.
Love that you have been rocking your afro consistently for about 2 months now 😊❤
My fro is in permanent rotation now ❤️
Everything you said is true. Colorism is an embarrassment. Colorism is illogical, it's hard to understand why this practice is still thriving.
This is a topic that needs to be discussed and I agree with you that it begin with us. From my observations of hair videos on this platform, there are a lot of videos of 4C hair tutorials done by people who are not 4C. Surprising those videos get the most views and those individuals who are actually 4C don't get the same level of support. Colorism is so ingrained in us that I don't think that we are aware of it.
There is an influencer who put down singer Amara La Negra because this influencer decided sbe didn't have black enough features. When I mentioned that the Latin community was even more
Didn't finish. I was saying that Latin American countries are even more racist than the States, I was blocked because of that statement. How Black do we have to be for some folk? Amara La Negra was publicly made fun of for her afro and called derogatory names because of her rich, dark color, and yet, this influencer put her down for not having Black enough features. What kind of nonsense is that?
Good discussion. Let's go one further and talk about 4c grey hair. Not easy to find... I counted a few very good ones and are subscribed to them.
It would be nice to have these conversations without prying eyes but in the age of social media and corona what can you really do?
We really have a lot of work to do and no I definitely couldn’t find 20 and yes I don’t necessarily follow bigger channels, it’s hard to compute why the folk I do support are not bigger. I also need to stop watching stuff on my phone - your fro and what you said (Angela part) is just🔥🔥🔥🔥🔥🔥🔥🔥🔥🔥 I need to really digest all you said - keep talking...🙏🏾
I also wanted to tell you that I really appreciate your content.
But when it comes to community color struck I’m still wondering why in 2020 it exists to this extent . We can accuse so many factors but as you said what’s our actions?
I am mixed with 3C/4A curl pattern. I love your content and I follow other RUclipsrs with predominantly type 4 hair because I learn so much more from all of you on hydration and taking care of my hair. I feel like the people with type 4 hair gives their hair a little extra love on RUclips. Thank you for creating real and honest content!
You hit the nail on the head. I see alot of creators who should have way more subbies, such as yourself. You are so knowledgeable. We have come a long way as a natural hair community but yet we still have ways to go... sooooo far to go. It's really sad.
It is an issue that is deeply rooted in almost every aspect of black life. Messaging to darker skinned women particularly with kinky hair experience colorism starting at a young age everywhere at school, in the workplace, in friend circles, dating lives. We see it music videos, the wives of the elite wealthy black actors, athletes, musicians, how movies and even how families are casted in television shows. You tube is only an extension of that.I really wish we could really see the beauty and value in each other for who are and be done with the nonsense.
People with looser curl patterns should be repping and pushing to expose tighter curled content creators period. Cause tighter textures certainly do share their stuff and give them exposure
I agree. I actually do this, but sometimes the disrespect and hate towards women with looser textures is unbearable. I had to unfollow one page in particular because I was told that I didn't belong there and that the natural hair movement wasn't for me. I would like to see us appreciate the support of one another. BTW, I'm a black woman with 3b hair, but I love all black hair so I follow black influencers of all hair types.
@@nikkis.9747 not saying your feelings arent valid but 3b hair is literally everywhere in the world and the media and has always been accepted in black communities. by default you didnt need the *movement*. maybe the community, sure.
@@shellygarland8766 I respect your opinion, but it's because of the progress of the natural hair movement that it may seem that way now. That's not how it was back then (2005-ish) unless you had a silky texture like white women. For black women with looser curl patterns, it was still not acceptable to wear your natural hair in many public spaces, especially in the workplace which is why most black women used relaxers regardless of their curl pattern. And to be honest, many of us didn't know exactly what curl pattern we had. I knew that my curls weren't 4c, but I didn't know that they would be in the type 3 range either. I thought my curl pattern was closer to 4a, but it was actually 3c & 3b and now after going through chemo 3 years ago, it grew back in as 3b only with no 3c at all. All black women who used relaxers regularly needed the movement regardless of the curl pattern they discovered they had. It was a time of discovery for all of us. Me and my 3 sisters went natural in the mid 2000s and discovered we all had different curl patterns & textures ranging from 3b to 4c and we all celebrated one another for being brave enough to let go of the relaxers that we had used for so many years.
@@nikkis.9747 i very vividly remember the show half and half the actress had type 3 hair. even in tyler perry shows and BET, there were always black women with type 3 hair. most of our great musicians wore type 3 hair as *THE* natural aesthetic. type 3 hair has always been celebrated.
@@nikkis.9747 i do however agree it was a time of discovery for all. but that does not mean the movement was for you. its good everyone benefited either way but co-opting movements for the less disenfranchised from it always leads to a water down, especially the one today for this particular community where type 3 and looser still has more visibility, and there are even white people claiming to have 3c/4a hair.
Lord sis!!
I love you. You’re my smart little sister in my head. I so appreciate you and your platform!! Keep up the good work!!
I say this all the time...what can we do in our community to improve our own circumstances. We know what "they" are going to do but what can we do?
This is the same conversation but about hair. Find myself always looking for the dark woman or the kinky texture in ads. Im usually let down. This is something we can do as a people. Come on can we leave this color business alone. We are so damn beautiful/powerful as people. If only we can shed this post traumatic slave syndrome.
This really needed to be said. Thanks!
I am 3b/3c and stopped flat ironing and blow drying for 3!years now and live my short wavy, curly hair. That said, It’s the same old story. (Darker) Black women build the community, support the community, but as soon as commercial interests enter the picture, the lighter/whiter become the preference, drive the market, and become the “face” of the community. Your points are WELL made and taken.
Wish, I could like your video 100 times.
Well said, I agree..
Your message is on point. This is why I make it my duty to support richer skin tones with 4 textures. What can a mixed girl tell me about my nappy hair anyway? It's hard to see how some people have came to basically take away our ideas on haircare and then have a hair care line in months. Same old story different day different year. Smh
I’ve learned a lot about hair care from white and mixed women
I dare someone to thumbs down this video. Btw, you’ve been on my Pinterest board for a long time. You have been and will continue to be MY hair crush. Thank you for this video!
Yes! Such an important conversation we must continue to have. We really need to be honest with ourselves.
Hit the nail on da button...I follow people for content I don’t follow a hair type but I’m 4a ,low po, fine, thin,low density but I follow content of 4c ,kinky, dark skin you tubers it’s wierd but dats wat sparks my interest
Yes to this entire video!!! I'm almost a year into transitioning and this platform was the first place I went to for healthy hair tips. Quickly I noticed that the kinkier hair textures were associated with darker skin tones. It was so disturbing I reached out to my natural hair friends. Sadly they confirmed that what I noticed was in fact true. Faye in the City, Star Puppy, Nyma Tang (her channel is makeup though), and Latoya Ebony come to mind for darker skin toned women with higher subscriber numbers. SheRea DelSol is awesome too. I recently found your channel and subscribed😊
This is such an important conversation to have. My assumption has been:
The people gypped out of their due don’t want to speak up for themselves because their efforts would probably be misunderstood as some kind of complaining or entitlement.
The people overexposed and gluttonous with their (mostly unwarranted) popularity have a vested interest in maintaining the dysfunctional status quo.
And everybody else is busy discussing the exceptions to what we all know is typical.
🙃🤷🏾♀️🧐
This is a very important topic and I think it should be discussed with our men and women. I personally support various content creators based on their personality and choice of content. I am not 4b/4c but I do support those women on RUclips and that is just one small way that I choose to address this issue. On a personal note, I have daughters who have different textures from mine and I make it a point to gush over how beautiful their hair is and teach them to embrace and love their hair. Hopefully this will break the cycle for future generations✊🏽
I agree we must teach our children to love their hair and skin color and embrace the different color skin tones and textures that exists within a family unit. We are all beautiful no matter where we are on the spectrum. Children who grow up with that self love will be less likely to try to imitate and glorify other textures and skin tones. I stress to my children that their differences are what makes them so special. No one trait is better than another just different.
This is sooo true! We have the power! On a broader spectrum, we spend the most money on hair products than any other race. We spend this money with people who are not us. Not necessarily a problem, bit a fact. With the level of power we have, we can do anything and demand the change we want to see. But as you say, we have this thing about color and hair that we gravitate to the products or companies who have the least representation of what we are. For example, here's this gorgeous chocolate sister with kink and coils that sit like a crown. This gorgeous woman is often times clicking on the content of a lighter skin, loser texture hair and proceeds to criticize and belittle the influencer because they tried a hair technique that didn't look the same as the influencer. Some may not agree with that example but I see it a lot. Hell I did it when I first went natural because I didn't see myself as I really am. I had a come to Jesus moment with myself and realized, well damn, Im not a 3b light skinned woman. Once we all do that and really accept, appreciate and own who we are and what we look like, change can definitely happen.
My criteria for watching and following natural hair Influencers are content quality, personality, and an undeniable love and appreciation for their hair. Hence, I typically don't follow influencers who bury their hair under wigs and weaves most of the time. I also follow a few Type 3 channels because some of their techniques work for my hair. My hair is 4A/3C and owing to fine strands and low density, light leave-ins and styling products work best for my hair. Influencers with 4B/4C hair I follow include Chizi Duru, NappyFu, Green Beauty, LaToya Ebony, Jenn Jackson, and StarPuppy. I believe that some persons support influencers with hair and complexion they wish they had so the intent is not to learn about one's hair but to live vicariously through another.
Thank you for discussing this subject in a solution focussed way rather than the usual blame focussed variant. We know we have an ongoing issue in the black community worldwide (I’m in the UK) with ‘texture and tone’ . We know the history of it. We now need to find progressive ways forward. Looking forward to further discussion on this.
Excellent. This is a big part of my upcoming channel. Hopefully we can connect in the future. Great Job.
This is why we have to support each other and I watch a lot of natural hair vloggers but prefer to watch those who I can relate too. I’m a brown skin, 4bc girl so I watch those like me but overall I watch everybody.
Thanks for watching
I have quite the subscriptions to 4c naturals with over 100k subscribers. I have alot who are almost to 100k as well. I found alot of them from the youtube home/recommendations tab. I'm not sure what color classifies as "deep skinned" however I looked at all the ladies I would think of as dark skinned. Some of these ladies would classify as just type 4 since their hair is a blend of 4a,4b,and 4c. I hope this list can help.
1. Chizi Duri
2. Craving curly kinks
3. Evaniwitha V (type 4 blended)
4. Green beauty
5. Halfrican beaute (type 4 blend)
6. Iamtraeh (brown)
7. Igbocurls chinwe juliet
8. chazzisawesome
9 kimmaytube
10.laila Washington fusionofcultures
12. Lavishly britt
13. Nappyfutv
14.nappyheadedjojoba
15. Naturally philosophy
16. Twingodesses 4c (few natural but does mainly wig reviews)
17. Viv hair therapy
18. Discovering natural
19. Star puppy
20. The chicnatural (light brown)
RUclipsrs I had to look for
21. Naturally temi
22.Queeny kaay
23. Beautycutright (Has some natural hair videos)
24. Mona b. (Mix of natural hair and wig videos)
25. Janae Mason (type 4 blend)
26. Adanna madueke (wigs, weaves, natural)
27. Pure estrogen
28. oluchi assumani
29. Eugenia kelcy
30. 22nd century natural woman
31. Amor antasia
32. Nickybnatural
👏🏾👏🏾👏🏾
I’ve never watched a natural hair video because of skin color. I watch hair videos because the hair is like mine. I’m 70 and I can show you a photo of me in my 20’s with an Afro.
Wow so ok when you first challenged us to find 20 youtubers who are brown skinned, 4type hair with over 100k followers, I was like oh that's easy, no problem... But then I started looking starting with my own subscriptions... And I was sad to find that you are right... Even the women I follow who I assumed were more popular were often way less than 100K. I'm going to keep looking though and I plan on showing more love to my current subscriptions by liking, commenting and sharing more regularly. Thank you.
Thanks for speaking truths. When I first went natural I had a hard time finding influencers that look like me. That was over 6 years ago and it is only slightly better now
We as consumers we have the power to change things. Seriously we have.
This is why I love your channel.
I really wish I could find more women... even men with deeper skin and highly textured hair in these spaces! I don’t really find men like myself out there at all, we need to push and love! Thanks sis!
So so glad you tackled this subject. We are so color struck now. It's as if we are in the 40s or something. I was thoroughly confused when I first started watching "natural hair care" because non of the videos really addressed my hair. I have been natural since I was fourteen. I didn't want jheri curl like hair. My family was mixed in skintone and colorism was not taught nor was it allowed to passively flourish. We are magnificent and it does not matter what your hair type is if what's under that head of hair is locked into some white supremacist mind control you are never going to be happy. We come in all shades and textures and start loving each other more and judging less.
Love it! I’m glad younger people are tackling this. Hopefully it gets better because I see more brown babies with my hair texture and meet a lot of frustrated moms. I have a list of reasons why my generation dropped the ball but this is long enough.
I agree with you, there’s way too much division among our people and the natural hair community. I have a mixture of 3c and 4a hair. The back of my hair is 4a, and many nights I pray that my 3c hair on the front and top of my head would curl like the back.I marvel at the beautiful dark skin women with 4c hair, because to me their hair looks so beautiful. I wish I could wear an Afro that looks like yours. But I have to learn how to love and embrace my own hair, and I’m not a mixed chick (Love them too)
I promise you and will, and do, like and subscribe to all women of color as long as they are knowledgeable and I’m able to learn something that will help me on my natural hair journey. As always I love and respect you and influencers like you.
I stronger encourage you to keep being real and doing what you do. I’m sure you are helping a lot of people. Lord knows how much you’ve help me. Thank you so much!
You are absolutely right!! I myself look for individuals in which their hair seems similar to mine whether or not they are light or dark-skinned. I did not find 20 that had over 100k but there are so many like yourself who deserve to be in that category. Great topic of discussion. I will make it a point to comment more and contact these brands.
Thanks for putting this out there because it NEEDS to be said. When I big chopped I really had to search to find the girls that had my hair and looked like me. Their channels aren't as popular, but once I found 1 it got easier to find more. But Bubs Bee and Nappyfu helped my hair journey, and their channels led me to your channel!
Self Love.... how many of us are truly doing the work to love all our parts as we were made? We seem to love them when the world says its okay/trendy/beautiful and guess what? We still aren't winning...
Around 4:50 she says androgynous. I think it was a minor mistake im sure she meant to say ambiguous as in "racial ambiguity".
Basically we have white women playing up (or down) their features to look mixed and we have black women doing the same. All in the name to fit the mixed aesthetic that os being pushed.
Just wanted to clarify that💋👍🏽.
1st off, my apologies for missing this most crucial live!
I truly wish, that I'd have been apart of it!
You brought up valid issues in the Natural Hair Community, specifically of the people from the African Diasporan Descent.
I'll admit, that the majority of my Natural Hair RUclipsrs, are looser curls &/or an albeit smaller #, as in 3c/4a.
I honestly, at 1st, didn't see the harm in looking for curl types like mine, or my Mom's side, etc.
Even as the discussions turned into outrageous fights/attacks.
I tried to stay in my perspective lane.
Not technically lighter skin toned, but with a flatter type 3 hair.
I just felt like, 1 of the forgotten, a person who literally fell through the cracks.
And yet, I was still able to witness the expanding chaos from a misunderstood P.O.V.
I watched ppl with various types of the 4 hair category from fine to coarse, just be overshadowed by advertisers & even other ppl they meant to help, had, literally stopped checking for them.
I still watched, not only because of hair/t'was only 1 natural feature.
But because, they were all just interesting as individual human beings.
I figured it wasn't enough, but I'm too shy to branch out, & do more.
Just within these past 3 years, I've made great strides in communication with the RUclipsrs that I'm subscribed to, & their other fans.
I wish that all hair types that are still marginalized within the NHC received their due in representation, priority & respect!
I have subscribed, as in, Yes viewing & participating as a subscriber to Darker Skin-Toned type 4c, &/or 4b/4c, 4a/4b/4c, 4a/4c, etc.
Perhaps my contributions will be drops in a bucket, but with more of us doing the same...?
We can at least initiate the turning of the tide.
In this, I do truly agree with you!
I rarely, if ever, give any type of feedback to companies (in general), but in the future... I'll do my part to raise awareness of the glaring disparities in advertisements.
Tbqh, I don't even care about, whose being marketed to, for me personally.
This isn't a dismal of the inherently toxic advertisement!!!
However, I'll use products based on the ingredients, & the purpose of the product(s).
So yeah, I'm all over the place as far as products.
I wish more people/influencers had your courage/conviction to say what rly needs to be said!
This isn't the most cohesive or even expansive of my overall thoughts, so my apologies for any issues stemming from my comment!
I hope you & your family are doing well & staying safe! 💝💝💝💝
Thanks for the vid!💖💖💖
We have to continue to drill this message home. Some of our people need to open their eyes and see unique beauty black people possess..thank you for taking the time to raise this issue. I love your hair you are beautiful 😻
This is such a phenomenal truth.
Wow this is deep. Well I just started and haven’t posted in a while but I’m here to stay 💪🏾
❤️❤️❤️
Thank you for this video. I could not have said it better and I also hope that the conversation continues on with something being done about it in the future.
Texturism bullshit is even in every day life. My curls are 3b/3c and random black woman would stare and then ask "how I get me hair like that?" Or "are you mixed with coolie/indian?" It's such a weird question to me and I want to roll my eyes but I understand the nonsense that it stems from. Even random non-black woman has approached me about my hair. Its absurd that many people still think that if you are brown skin or deeper you can't have anything other than tight curls. And if your curls are looser, they feel the need to investigate where you from, what you use, etc to explain your texture. Its maddening. We need to stop coveting what we don't have. We need to embrace ourselves and stop letting the European-aesthetic turn us into fools. But that's easier said than done. It's too engrained in the Black community. Thank you for this video💜 P.S. have you read Ain't I A Woman by Bell Hooks? Excellent life changing, eye-opening read!
OMG! Yes! I love me some bell hooks! I actually re-read Ain’t I A Woman this year. I promise I catch something new every time I read her books.
@@ALove4Me I listened to the eaudiobook and I cried in some parts. It's a hard read, but a necessary read for all black women. I'm trying to read everything bell has written. Such a brilliant lady! Austin Channing Brown's I'm Still Here is excellent, as well.
Another great book. I listened to Channing Brown’s book via audiobook. Sounds like we have similar reading tastes ❤️❤️❤️
Love this video and so agree with all you say here. I’ve been following you here learning how to care for my natural hair hoping to wear it out in its natural state more often. I rarely wear an Afro because my hair is so sparse and fine it tangles and breaks when I wear it in its shrunken state. Still working on figuring it out though because I agree it’s important for us and the world to see our natural Afro texture more often and see it as normal and beautiful.
Thank you for this video, it is so needed! I appreciate your content so much! Take care
This is a big issue in the beauty community as well. A lot of tokenism and pretty much anyone but darker skinned black women (mixed/ambiguous/light skinned are sometimes okay). Then there is the issue of nonblack and even light/mixed women using blackface for their career and aesthetic and receiving attention and opportunities for it. There are many nonblack women who take advantage of mixed/light skin women being "in" and create an image for themselves based off of this market obsession.
Love your informative videos keep 'em coming
Love this! This conversation is so important.
Yes, yes, and YES!!! SAY THIS!!! Great job--well said!!!
I’m subscribed to your channel because you’re interesting and your videos are presented in a way I prefer and I like the content.
This was a great topic and I would love to see you delve into things like this more in the future! As was said already, length and density definitely play a factor. Especially if the person shows pictures of a dramatic change in length in the period of like a year or a little over that. You mentioning having eyes reminds me of a time we created a space on campus for black people and then someone invited a white friend of theirs to the space to "observe". Things were awkward to say the least.
Loved this, I must say though, that comment you made about why there is a division really intrigued me, please make a vid or something. Love you and God bless
First, Happy Vlogmas! Second, thank you for touching on this topic. I agree with mostly everything you’ve said. We do need to support each other regardless of hair type or skin tone. I can only speak for myself when I say my only interest in viewing any posts on RUclips is natural hair, therefore the people I follow are black women with natural hair with hair texture similar to mine (4A/4B). I LOVE supporting the influencers I follow in any way I can. However, I have unfollowed some of the channels I enjoyed because people of my complexion (lighter skin) were referred to as “Light Bright” and “High Yella”. Then they want to blame the algorithm for their lack of views. The respect and support must go both ways. Thank you for acknowledging that no one has any control of their skin color or natural hair texture. All of us need to feel welcomed in this community.
I agree with everything you're saying, but sis........ your Fro is beautiful....keep rocking it.
Yes you are saying facts 💯. We’ve been complaining a lot about how the natural movement has been hijacked but we never spoke about our roles in it. We need to do the work and demand like you said to see more representations ...
Not ready. But excited for what you have to say.
Thanks for watching ❤️
@@ALove4Me Thanks for the content!
I wholeheartedly agree that while we did not create this issue, we do need to help squash it. These things were meant to divide us so of course we cannot look to those who are trying to do that to help bring us back together.
I will say some people (like me years before I was exposed) do need to learn the outside factors that contribute to this. At least for me, this helped with starting the process of unlearning, growth and healing. I understand you can't fully cover that, cause it's so much to go into. Just saying we need to have those conversations, go into the deeper parts in our own lives with people we interact with. Not in a do the work for them way( way too much energy) , but hopefully my point gets across lol
All of your points are valid. I have only one or two light-skinned women that I follow. One is a cosmetologist and the other is the only person I've seen with hair similar to mine.
I talk about this all the time with my friends. Which is the reason why I haven’t started my channel. Mind you I do think there is a niche for me considering I am 40 and natural. But I have thought... why bother because there is no love for being dark and kinky.
Thank you for being transparent. It’s a harsh and sad reality. Pelo Malo where?!?
My niece has tried to encourage me to start a channel within my niche (40+ 4b/c, fine and low density hair). I just don't feel like it's worth all the tine and effort it takes to create YT content when all people want to see is younger, racially ambiguous, long and thick, looser textured hair. There's a few ladies out there that I do follow Nappy Fu, Fine Natural hair and Faith and Star Puppy but really pickings are slim!
@@nicolej.antunes9924 hmmmm so you think it’s a strong no?!?
@@Muchacandela No, I'm not the one to discourage you or anyone else in following their dreams. If you make it others will follow including myself. Who knows you may be the inspiration I need! 😉
Yes you are so on point
Keep this series going sis 💯❣️
I understand your point and I know that we girls with looser curls and lighter skin have a privilege and I really acknowledge that. But i just want to make people aware that their are people who have different features then ‘your typical black’ and are not mixed. I myself being one of them, am Somali, having loose 3b curls and a boned nose, however I am not mixed with anything. I am a 100% black African and proud. ✊🏿 And it pains me that we (people with slightly different features) are not seen as fully black. But the rest of your video, I totally agree 100% !
Great video - thanks!
Great Video with Great Tips to help support beautiful black women of all colors & textures! I will be that consumer in the comments going forward asking for more representation as I never thought to do that! You just showed up on my discover page for the very first time today. I gave this video 👍🏾 & I’m subscribing now. Thank you! ❤️
You said it. You've gotten to the crux of the issue
It's a method of diminishing our relevance to the business! I always thought we should congratulate the beauty in our spectrum. It's almost as if the "divide and conquer " flourished more since some steadily capitalize on what we SHOULD look like instead of ACCEPTING how we are. In the the mist of the scrimmage over the years I would LOVE more representation in the standard of beauty. Just because other people underestimate our treasure troves of beauty should not malign our efforts to prove that we are worthy to contribute to the advancement of it!
Luv luv this video 💕.. Thank you for this much needed video! 😊
In general I think this is a topic worth discussing. Our history is steep with colorism and it rears its ugly head everywhere. I disagree with putting the ownus on consumers with respect to content creators thriving on social media. Personally I try to learn from a diverse set of channels because I think hair care is primarily about technique.
This space is very saturated and the content can be quite redundant. How many times do I need so see someone wash their hair? Folks are reviewing the same products. Some have differing reviews, but I don't find an appreciable difference most of the time. Quite frankly I get overwhelmed and exhausted with all of the suggested content. Lots of voices and noise. I have a few go-tos for reference and then I'm set. I won't take on the responsibility of browsing all of the natural hair channels and subscribing. All that would do is overwhelm me more. I think content creators need to understand the landscape and strategize accordingly.
I agree that colorism and texturism is real and undoubtedly drives views, subscribers, likes, and comments. It's not a fair system and I wish it were such that no one feels left out. At the same time, there are a number of factors that contribute to the success of any entrepreneurial endeavor and at this point, I can't say that colorism and texturism is the primary driver behind the success or lack of success of a channel. I often hear people say lots of black businesses fail because the community doesn't support and I don't think that is a fair assessment. Same idea applies here.
Self hates a bitch...truth is our hair is scared rare delicate fragile complex and needs to be cherished and treated with the utmost most care ..like our hearts bodies and souls
A whole Bitch 🤣
👏🏽👏🏽👏🏽👏🏽👏🏽👏🏽... ps your hair is absolutely beautiful, so healthy and shiny.💕
Excellent video!!
I just posted a video on this same topic, a discussion with my mother and sister, so really excited to hear your point of view as well! It’s crazy among the 3 of us, we had such different experiences.
You’re right though, i definitely can’t name 20. I’m not even going to try to reach that number. I agree with everything you said in this video, so just to save your time and mine i won’t call out anything specific, just YES.
Lol rudeness is just uncalled for. It’s just not necessary
Its also related to personality. There are lighter complexioned women that I don't watch because I don't like the personality they present and darker skinned women who I follow because of personality. I agree with what you said about we as consumers determining what is promoted but I'm not going to watch a channel if I don't like what is being presented. I don't have 20 Natural hair You tubers of any complexion in my subscriptions but some that fit the phenotype you were referring to are: Green Beauty, Nappy Fu, Discovering Natural, Duchesse Gabrielle, Naturally High, Annettemint, BlakizBeautyful, Efficiently Natural. Don't know much about their subscriber counts though, but I like them.
Well said!
I don't think that colorism or companies and media only using mixed and lighter skinned women as progress. These women benefit from what black people as a whole have fought for, but their presence is more of a substitute or concession for real progress. I'm not saying they shouldn't work or ve visible, but they are historically preferred.
Great content as usual
I have a question. How many of you steel grease your hair to the scalp? I had stop doing that for a long time, but I believe that I am going to start back doing that because my scalp is always itchy and flakey although I wash my hair every week.
Excellent video. Well said.
I love your Vlogmas’ ❤️❤️
Thanks for the video, ps: you are beautiful!!