Posts Tagged ‘afros’
Vintage: Natural Hair and McDonald’s
Wednesday, May 19th, 2010Ebony Mag: 70′s Afro Hairstyles
Wednesday, August 26th, 2009I had no idea that there were nicknames for different afro shapes on men. So could one walk into a barbershop at one point and time, say “I want the executive?” and then get that particular hairstyle? Check them out below.
Jet Mag and Natural Hair (Part 4)
Monday, August 10th, 2009
Jet Mag and Natural Hair (Part 3)
Sunday, August 9th, 2009
This year was obviously lacking ‘fros on their cover, but I won’t hold that against Jet, as they had pretty decent topics to make up for it all. Jean Knight was the first person to wear an afro on the cover for this year. As you see, both Jessie Jackson and Angela Davis has yet another cover and this isn’t the last time that you will see them on covers for this decade.
To remind everyone of the caption on Angela Davis’ cover is referring to, it was about getting Davis out of prison. At one point, she was associated with The Black Panther party and was on the FBI’s most wanted list for a crime that she didn’t commit. She was eventually caught and arrested. Here is a snippet of why she was sought after (from Wikipedia.com):
During the summer of 1970, Davis had become involved in Black Panther efforts to garner support for the imprisoned George Jackson, Fleeta Drumgo, and John Clutchette, known as the “Soledad brothers” (after Soledad Prison, where they were incarcerated). On August 7, George’s brother, 17-year-old Jonathan Jackson, along with two others, disrupted trial proceedings in an attempt to assist the escape of friend James McClain from the Marin County Hall of Justice. McClain was on trial for an alleged attempt to stab an officer. In the courthouse, Jonathan Jackson and his accomplices rose from their seats, drew guns, and ordered everyone to freeze. They then led the judge, the prosecuting attorney, and several jurors into a van parked outside. As the hostages entered the van, Jackson and the others were reported to have shouted, “We want the Soledad Brothers freed by 12:30 today!” During the escape attempt, Jackson and accomplice William Christmas were killed in a shootout with police. Judge Harold Haley was killed by his captors with a shotgun taped to his throat inside the van. Prosecutor Gary Thomas was paralyzed by a police bullet during the incident.
The shotgun used by the escapees to kill Judge Haley was registered in Davis’s name, implicating her in the escape attempt. The California warrant issued for Davis charged her as an accomplice to conspiracy, kidnapping, and homicide.
Here’s a snippet of an article published by the NY Times on October 14, 1970, announcing her arrest (I highlighted the part that made me give the side-eye in bold):
Angela Davis, the young black militant who has been hunted for nearly two months on murder and kidnapping charges, was arrested yesterday at a motel in midtown Manhattan by agents of the Federal Bureau of Investigation.
The charges against the 26-year-old Miss Davis, a former acting assistant professor of philosophy at he University of California at Los Angeles grew out of a kidnap-escape drama in a San Rafael courtroom in early August. During the abduction and escape attempt a Superior court judge and three other persons were killed.
Miss Davis was arrested at the Howard Johnson Motor Lodge, 861 Eighth Avenue, at 51st Street about 6 P.M., according to the manager. Arrested with her was David Rudolph Poindexter Jr., a 36-year-old Negro, who was charged with harboring a fugitive.
Davis was eventually acquitted of all charges in 1972.
Garnier Fructis Hates Afro Hair
Friday, July 17th, 2009 Naturals are offended by Dr. Miracles commercials, yet somehow, we allowed Garnier to slide past our radar, and continue to buy their products. 
Everybody knows how Garnier Fructis commercials go. They usually start out with a woman with a head full of hair (usually naturally straight hair) that’s either limp, or all over the place. It’s not the straightest in the world, but it’s easy to tell that this is damaged straight hair. There’s nothing offensive about that.
However, the commercial that I saw recently was far different. This time, it showed a white woman with an afro that would actually be considered well pampered amongst others, especially among naturals with a similar hair type. I honestly couldn’t find anything wrong with it. All I could do was laugh at their ignorance and think “Are they serious?”
And why does Garnier have to overexaggerate when it comes to showing straight hair at it’s “worse” by insulting people who have a natural texture that looks very similar? The average naturally straight-haired woman’s hair does not look like that when their hair is damaged, so why all the extra?
I couldn’t find the commercial that I saw, but in my search, I came across this video. In this particular commercial, they look down on both afros and locs. From what I can tell, this commercial was actually released last year, portraying afros and locs as “unkempt,” “dirty,” or what have you. And they compared our hair to dog hair, ya’ll! I have never seen this particular Garnier commercial in my circuit, so I may have missed it. It’s also in a different language, so it’s possibly shown in a country other than the United States.
I actually loved Garnier Fructis products. Not only were their products great for straight hair, they were great for curly and kinky hair as well (when it comes to simply moisturizing and adding sheen to the hair). I loved their curl cream (before it went off the market), along with their styling foam. I haven’t bought from them in a while, but after seeing these particular commercials, I sure as heck won’t be buying from them in the future, whether rich or poor. Unknowingly, we were supporting a company who looks down at our hair type. Guys, be careful who you buy from because some of that money will be used to make commercials such as these.
Shame on you, Garnier. I sincerely though you were better than that. I really did.
