Black History

African American Hair Care Exhibition Is A Crowning Achievement for Mosaic

Published

6 years ago

August 9, 2018

Ebony Brown worked quickly on a client as another one sat patiently with conditioner on her hair. The hands of the 29-year-old stylist led a choreographed beauty routine so familiar to African American women it has been a cultural touchstone for generations.

“I’ve been doing hair since I was 10-years-old,” Brown said. “I was tender-headed and didn’t want anyone to do my hair, so I started doing it myself. People would ask, ‘Who did your hair?’ That’s how I became a stylist.”

The “Don’t Touch My Crown” exhibit at The Mosaic Templars Cultural Center in Little Rock captures the unique significance of hair for African American women.

“We had been speaking casually as a staff about doing an exhibition on hair almost two years ago, but the idea really took off when we did a collaborative exhibit with the ESSE purse museum on African American women and their accessories,” said Christiana Shutt, the center’s executive director. “We displayed a small iron comb (like the ones used to press hair) with the accompanying heating unit. I was standing near the entrance of the exhibit on opening night, and I noticed that every African American woman who walked in the door immediately recognized the comb and then had to share some memory about the experience of getting her hair pressed.”

Shutt and her team sourced items from Henry Linton at the University of Arkansas at Pine Bluff, Trammel’s Beauty Supply in Pine Bluff, and Velvatex College of Beauty Culture in Little Rock as well as some items from the Museum’s collection.

The two pioneers of African American hair care are featured in the exhibit, Annie Malone and Madame C.J. Walker. Malone started making beauty products and training women around the world to sell. She opened Poro College in St. Louis as the headquarters for her business. Madame C.J. Walker, born Sarah Breedlove, was introduced to Malone when she moved to St. Louis. In time, Walker parlayed a line of shampoos and creams she created into the successful enterprise that resulted in her recognition as America’s first African American millionaire.

According to Nielsen, African American women spend more than seven-billion-dollars annually on their crowns which is nine times more than other women . Competitions and shows like those hosted by the Bronner Brothers in Atlanta are legendary and highlight the latest trends. And, cosmetic companies with a traditionally white customer base vie for a segment of the market.

“This was the beginning of the unfolding of a sad story.” Connie Curry, Black Hair Care Sales and Marketing Consultant

“By the end of year 2000, many black owned manufacturing companies and beauty supply stores had either been sold or gone out of business,” says Connie Curry, a sales consultant with more than 25 years of experience in the hair care industry. “This was beginning to an unfolding of a sad story. At one time, black owned beauty supply stores were known as the beacon and headquarters to gain knowledge on what to use on black hair.”

Styles like the Gheri Curl, made popular by superstar Michael Jackson, required several products and retail drug stores began stocking them in special aisles for African American consumers. According to Curry, Korean-owned beauty supply stores followed, offering products for African Americans, and stores owned by African Americans began to diminish.

“While black beauty supply stores were diminishing, so were black owned manufacturing companies,” she explains. “Today, very few mainstream companies, approximately 5% are black owned. While 70% beauty supply stores are owned by Koreans. Most businesses have been purchased by white and other ethnic companies.”

The natural hair movement is the latest chapter in African American hair care. But, regardless of how it’s styled, a woman’s hair is still her “crown.” At Mosaic, it is celebrated in all its glory.

The “Don’t Touch My Crown” exhibit at Mosaic runs through the end of August. As Shutt said, we knew we were “definitely onto something different and exciting which would encourage people to see more of themselves and their stories in our exhibits.”

Black History

Coco Gauff Becomes the Youngest Flag Bearer in US Olympic History

Published

1 day ago

July 25, 2024

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During the Paris Olympics Opening Ceremony, the female American flag bearer will be Coco Gauff, the 20-year-old tennis star. She will be the youngest flag bearer in American Olympic history. Basketball legend LeBron James has been selected as the male flag bearer.

Gauff said, “I was not expecting that.”

Delighted to be selected, Gauff admitted she has “no idea” what her assignment includes, adding, “I don’t know if there’s flag bearer-training I have to go to.”

James has been to the Olympics four times. He was part of U.S. teams that won bronze in 2004, gold at Beijing in 2008 and gold again in London in 2012.

But this will be his first time as the flag bearer.

He said, “It’s an absolute honor. I hope I continue to make my community proud and continue to make my family proud.”

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Black History

California Is the First State to Create A Public Alert for Missing Black Youth

Published

3 weeks ago

July 3, 2024

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It’s been 21 years since Cleashandria Hall disappeared from Pine Bluff, Arkansas. Her mother Laurell Hall says she dropped her 18-year-old daughter off at her after-school job and never saw her again. For years, Hall and her family have kept their loved ones name in the media by hosting vigils and events that remind the public of their steadfast hope for answers.

But the attention is unusual. More often than not, experts say Black people who go missing do not receive the coverage as whites.

In October 2023, the state of California passed legislation that alerts the public to the disappearance of young people. It’s called the Ebony Alert, and it hopes to change the narrative about Black youth who are missing but don’t receive the same media coverage as white youth.

“We feel it’s well beyond time that we dedicate something specifically to help bring these young women and girls back home because they’re missed and loved just as much as their counterparts are,” State Senator Steven Bradford said in an interview with NBC News.

The recent docuseries about a California woman who faked her disappearance garnered 3.6 million viewers on Hulu, making it the most popular docuseries ever on the streaming service– a distinction that adds more credibility to the ongoing conversation about the disparities in media coverage and public attention when Black Americans are missing.

Sherri Papini grabbed the spotlight in 2016 as authorities searched for her before she reappeared and years later admitted the hoax. The popularity of the docuseries has reignited the dismay Black families experience when their loved ones are missing.

According to the Black and Missing Foundation, Black Americans make up 40% of missing Americans but only 13% of the population.

Foundation Founder Natalie Wilson said, “There’s a need for an Ebony Alert because people of color are disappearing at an alarming rate, and typically their cases are under the radar when it comes to media coverage and getting law enforcement resources.”

The Ebony Alert is activated when local authorities request it because a Black youth is missing, and there is concern the youth has been targeted for trafficking, or foul play is suspected. The Ebony Alert uses electronic highway signs and encouraged radio, TV, and social media and other systems to spread information about the missing persons’ alert.

In 2022, California began the Feather Alert which publicizes the disappearance of Indigenous people.

Black History

First Black Manhattan District Attorney Wins Historic Felony Convictions Against Donald Trump

Published

2 months ago

May 31, 2024

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Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg led the investigation that resulted in the first felony conviction of a former United States President, Donald Trump. Bragg’s case centered on the hush money paid to Stormy Daniels, a porn actor who said she and Trump had sex in 2006. The trial involved charges that Trump falsified business records to cover up the payment to Daniels.

“While this defendant may be unlike any other in American history, we arrived at this trial and ultimately today at this verdict in the same manner as every other case that comes to the courtroom doors,” Bragg said during a press conference after the jury’s verdict was announced. “By following the facts and the law and doing so without fear or favor.”

Trump and his Republican supporters have accused Bragg of “weaponizing” the judicial system.

“This was a disgrace,” Trump said. “This was a rigged trial by a conflicted judge who was corrupt as a rigged trial, a disgrace. The real verdict is going to be November 5^th by the people. And they know what happened here and everybody knows what happened here.”

Who is Alvin Bragg

In 2021, Bragg became the first African American elected as the District Attorney for New York County covering Manhattan. He graduated from Harvard Law School and has served as an Assistant Attorney General at the New York State Attorney General’s Office and as an Assistant U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of New York. Bragg is a former member of the Board of Directors of the New York Urban League and the Lawyers’ Committee for Civil Rights Under Law, and a Sunday School teacher at his church.

Political Science professor, Sekou Franklin, said, “Bragg took a big risk bringing the case against former President Donald Trump. Undoubtedly, this risk is both personal and political. Despite this challenge, his willingness to prosecute Trump took great courage.”

Trump’s litany of indictments started when he left office in 2020 after losing the White House to President Joe Biden. Charges of Trump’s attempts to overthrow the 2020 election continue to generate investigations and outrage. African American prosecutors have led three of the most significant cases.

In Georgia, Trump was indicted, along with 18 of his allies, for attempting to overturn the 2020 presidential election. Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis brought the charges; however, the case became overshadowed by controversy when Willis was accused of hiring Nathan Wade as the special prosecutor because she was in a romantic relationship with him. Judge Scott McAfee declined to disqualify Willis, a decision Trump and his team are challenging.

Earlier this year New York State Attorney General Letitia James handed Trump a defeat after a New York judge ordered him and his business trust to pay $453.5 million in penalties and interest as part of his civil fraud case. The judge ruled that Trump fraudulently inflated the value of his real estate holdings when applying for loans.

But the latest convictions on 34 felony counts against the former President known for his boundary-breaking is historic.

“Alvin Bragg represents the new wave of prosecutors who have strong ties to public impact and community lawyering,” said Franklin, a professor at Middle Tennessee State. “Many of these prosecutors were elected as a result of protests that targeted racialized violence by law enforcement.”

Trump has described James, Willis and Bragg as “racists” – a thinly veiled attempt to tap into a vein of ingrained racism in the nation. The Republican Party lamented the convictions, decrying the trial as a political attack and a “shameful” day in American history.

Democrats view the convictions as an opportunity to sharpen their arguments that Trump is unfit to lead the nation domestically or represent America globally.

Trump faces up to four years in prison. His sentencing is set for July 11 – days before the start of the Republican National Convention.