Black

Black women’s hair products are killing us. Why isn’t more being done?

By Keisha P. Crabtree 2 days ago
<span>Photograph: Hero Images Inc./Alamy Stock Photo/Alamy Stock Photo</span>

Photograph: Hero Images Inc./Alamy Stock Photo/Alamy Stock Photo

A new study reveals what some scientists and researchers have suspected for years – that frequent and long-term use of lye-based hair relaxers may have serious health effects, including breast cancer. Published in Oxford University’s Carcinogenesis Journal, the study found that Black women who used these products at least seven times a year for 15 or more years had a roughly 30% increased risk of developing breast cancer compared with more infrequent users.

The research team also analyzed survey data from Boston University’s Black Women’s Health Study, which followed more than 50,000 African American women for more than 25 years and observed their medical diagnoses and any factors that could influence their health. The results? Of the women followed from 1997 to 2017, 95% reported using lye-based relaxers, and ultimately 2,311 developed breast cancers.

This additional risk factor is just one part

… Read More

These Young Entrepreneurs Are Reclaiming Beauty Spaces For Black Women

By Keisha P. Crabtree 4 weeks ago

Black women and our beauty, from our hair to our nails, is something that we heavily identify with from childhood; getting our hair braided, sitting in the salon for hours, our first full set. It’s also d something that the world continuously tries to use against us; from not being hired for jobs because of the way our hair or nails look to those same styles being worn and praised by women who don’t look like us. It was only in 2019 that the CROWN Act (Create a Respectful and Open Workplace for Natural Hair) was passed in California and New York, a law that prevents workplace discrimination against natural and protective hairstyles. This means that up until two years ago, Black people could be discriminated against simply because of the way we wore our hair.

It’s exactly why Black women found safe spaces in places like the beauty

… Read More

Let Black Women Wear Their Bonnets Whenever They Want

By Keisha P. Crabtree 1 month ago

Comedian Mo’Nique Hicks sent out a PSA through her Instagram on May 29: She wanted “young Queens” (read: Black women and femmes) to think twice before deciding to wear sleep and loungewear in public.

Mo’Nique is a revered comedian known for her role in the early 2000s sitcom The Parkers as well as tons of comedy specials and films. In the Instagram video she posted, Mo’Nique recalls a recent trip to the Atlanta airport where she saw a group of Black women wearing bonnets and head scarves as they waited to board their plane. The sight of the women, “too many to tap,” as she says, was so offensive to her, she decided to comment on it.

The conversation around bonnets is one that has been playing out online for over a month now, but in the latter days of May, Mo’Nique decided to add her two cents. The video

… Read More

Teyana Taylor Tops Maxim’s Hot 100 List, Becomes First Black Woman At No. 1 Spot

By Keisha P. Crabtree 2 months ago

Teyana Taylor, whom Maxim recently dubbed the “sexiest woman alive,” topped the publication’s 2021 “Hot 100” list, becoming the first Black woman to do so.

The singer, actor and dancer celebrated the honor on Instagram on Monday, writing, “Somebody pinch me!!!!”

“WOW…. Stepping back in front of the lens has been a journey of self-reflection and self-confidence,” she wrote in the post’s caption. “Living up to [the] name and title of this shoot wholeheartedly made me nervous.”

Taylor, who shares two daughters with her husband, professional basketball player Iman Shumpert, later noted in the post that her busy lifestyle often robs her of time to “feel sexy.”

She said she arrived at the photo shoot after dropping her 5-year-old daughter, Junie, off at school, and that the sweatpants and beanie she’d been wearing had made appearances in the shoot. 

“Embrace and love yourselves for who [and] what you are

… Read More