The Synergic Role of Black Beauty

I don’t think it necessary to go into each of the four areas of struggle mentioned above.  However, I do want to emphasize that today the danger of loss of the last frontier of this struggle is upon us.  It is not difficult to understand when we know the history of our struggle in the hair business against our counterparts the large white corporate conglomerates.   To state it simply, first there was independence.  This is the period when Madam Annie Malone and Madam C J Walker ruled the roost.  They were virtually 90% of the market even though there were those in the white community who attempted some companies from marketing the word “Africa” in their product labels.  This essentially was the first struggle that took on a legal character.  (6)
This glorious period lasted until the 50’s and then a company in Minnesota designed a product called Lustrasilk that was designed to make curly hair temporarily moisture resistant.  It took hold and made a significant dent in the market.  However, it did not fulfill the longed for desire of the ex-slave to gain complete freedom from curly hair.  Therefore, when Johnson Products, Co. came forward with Ultra Wave Products for men it was a major breakthrough.  This major accomplishment also was later made available to women with the Ultra Sheen Products line.  A number of small companies begin to design products along this line and by the end of the 60’s the market was ready for a significant change.  This change came about after pressure from Revlon, Clairol, L’Oreal and other minor league white companies began to literally buyout the Black manufacturers.  
The late 70’s and 80’s brought on the California Curl; a cream based permanent wave formula.  The primary innovator of this product was Willie Morrow.  Mr. Morrow experimented with his formula for many  years prior to introducing it to the market.  Once it hit the market it completely revolutionized the hair industry again and took the “Bush” or the “Afro” for a walk that landed it nearly into oblivion.   It did more than that for the professional salon industry.  It opened the door wider for white company infiltration because of the chemical structure of the product technology and provided a revenue stream to salons that had a retail component.  This retail component was something that had been missing from the salons since the days of “The Pioneering Madams”, Malone and Walker.
In the mean time the 70’saw the loss of the Black distributor.  Koreans immigrants used collective purchasing methods to buy product at less than market price, and sale at a price below that of the stand alone Black distributor.  Their singular focus on the Black customer was critical.  Later this method was used by another Asian group, the Vietnamese who began to migrate and open nail salons in the community.  So along with the loss of the manufacturing and distribution arms, a once completely Black dominated business enterprise was nearly 100% under the control of others who were not Black.  And by the way, as the distributors fell so did the Black owned beauty schools.  Today in Cincinnati is the remnants of the last Poro School in the name of Moore Universite of Hair Design, Inc.   It is owned and operated by graduates of the Poro system, under Ms. Ernestine Mahan, a local icon in the industry.
The last frontier is the salon.  This requires a dual approach.  On the one hand, is the Black labor source, the school, and on the other is the Black beauty salon and its customer base.  The salon was once the exclusive market of the Black operators.  It was often stated that “no white person can do my hair like I want it”.  Today the large corporate salon groups have solved this problem by taking Black graduates from white schools who only know the “kitchen knowledge”  of how to do Black hair and place them in salons, taught them a few quick cutting techniques,  provided a clean work environment, granted benefits and vacation time, and a position in some cases as manager.  This trend began in the 60’s and has now flourished into a significant competitor to the community based salons.  Notice the new Wal- Mart super stores in our community.
With all this being said, our objective is to take the high road in a significant effort to fight for a significant market share for both the Black owned schools and the community based salons.  In order to do that we must use a strategy that will attract the very best of the community to receive the highest and most up to day training possible.  In my understanding of this reality, we must go medical cosmetology and electronic!  We must make it so that students will realize the opportunity to get a special  type of training not offered in the competitive white schools.  We must jump ahead of the competition and begin to train our student- workers and future business owners to be able to go global.  They must be able to link with Brazil, The West Indies, France, England, South Africa and the Near East.  This can only be done via internet, and mobile electronic means. They must have this as a base of their training.
We must provide this education for our people.  With this training they can undercut the large record companies that present the wild naked dancers that back the foul mouthed rappers.  They can confront the designers of the most sophisticated hair designs.  Establishment of marketing companies to grow salons and any other businesses in the community through internet marketing and direct marketing techniques will change the historic outflow of cash from our communities.  Maintenance of nutritional and wellness records can supplement the records of the currently weak medical services in the community.   Management will improve tremendously.  No other school in the country has developed this model.  We are at the cutting edge and without competition or comparison.

Suggested Reading:
1. Clinical Cosmetology, A medical Approach to Esthetics Procedures, by Victoria Raynor
2. Styling Jim Crow, , African American Beauty Training During Segregation, by Julia K Blackwelder, PhD
3. Cosmetology, The Art and Science of Curly Hair, Willie Morrow
4. 400 Years Without a Comb, the untold story, by Willie Morrow
5. Think and Grow Rich, by Napoleon Hill
6. Hair Story, Untangling the Toots of Black Hair in America, by Ayana D Byrd and Lori L Tharps