Can We Beat The Machine?

Capitalism is the machine. Manufacturing companies pushing out products to capitalize off of the natural hair movement has been a fast moving bullet train that isn’t slowing down any time soon. Why? Because women continue to believe the lie that a product or a line of products is the answer to changing how their natural hair behaves. Instead of teaching black women to learn to embrace and love their beautiful natural hair for what it is and for what it can and cannot do, we’re pushing products. Everyone is making money. Content creators, manufacturers, and big beauty companies like L’oreal, Proctor & Gamble and others making products targeting the black dollar. So how can we get the message of black hair education through to the masses when so many are already obsessed with trying every product on the market?

Y’all…I honestly don’t know. The machine is huge, and with the world of Youtube and social media, there are thousands, if not millions of videos of people doing product reviews. They have a huge audience because women want to know what is the next product they should go out and try on their natural hair. If the product works on the Youtuber and it’s recommended to try, they are going to try it. This is an endless cycle that isn’t going to stop in the black hair community. It seems now more than ever we have been conditioned to believe that in order for natural hair to “work”, to be tamed, to look presentable (according to European standards that black people have adopted), we have to buy and use an endless array of products.

I think the natural hair community lost the game the moment we allowed the narrative to change from natural hair health and getting away from chemical relaxers to pushing products. Many in the natural hair community saw the opportunity and the money they could make partnering with companies and that’s when the machine took over and the natural hair community laid down and conceded. This is why I feel so defeated and why so many content creators who do promote natural hair health and education are left by the wayside because no one is interested in natural remedies or DIY. They want instant gratification by means of products that claim they will grow your hair, make your hair soft and curly and bouncy. But none of them ever live up to what they claim. At least not for 4C hair.

And the cycle continues…