Exclusive

Shea Moisture’s Bad Marketing and a List Of Beauty Brands That Center Black Women

Published

7 years ago

April 25, 2017

Erika

Interesting enough, I interviewed Richelieu Dennis, CEO of Sundial brands which produces Nubian Heritage and Shea Moisture, and in our interview, he didn’t seem tone-deaf to the importance of why black women and other women of color need brands that understand the importance of black hair care and textures.

Shea Moisture is having a tough week and it’s only Tuesday. Their latest ad which appeared to erase their loyal fanbase, has been the talk of the week. Even with a very lazy ( ~~and non-PoC centered~~) apology, customers are looking for beauty and hair care brands that prefer to keep black women a priority in their visual marketing. They since have deleted the ad, but here is a previous ad that raised a few eyebrows as well.

The new Shea Moisture

“Over the last 25 years, I’ve received questions and judgments about our products and our business that I’m pretty sure few, if any, white-owned businesses have ever had to answer – like “Since you’re Black, your products are just for Black people, right?” Here’s the reality: Black beauty is at the forefront of the beauty revolution – from the mass shift to demanding natural ingredients to the natural, textured hair that we now see on runways, in advertisements and on the covers of international magazines and beyond. So, we have to be positioned to serve all consumers as other groups evolve into embracing new, more inclusive beauty standards. It is critical that we capture the market we have created and that we don’t leave it for someone else to capitalize on – which has historically been the case. The landscape is changing so quickly with more companies now trying to compete in the market, and part of what’s been missing in our community has been businesses that had access to capital, resources and market opportunities to compete at another level, grow and scale – so they end up stagnant and struggling,” Richelieu Dennis confirmed with me. Of course, this was late last summer, but what a difference a day makes, right?

*stares Dinah Washingtonly*

“Black-owned beauty brands are often pigeon-holed – not because their products aren’t effective, but because of the assumption that they will only work for a single group of people. So, their community gets arbitrarily limited from the beginning. In addition, they often do not have the resources that allow them to compete against the large conglomerates that come in, lift their ideas & then scale them out of reach. For more than two decades, we have had the full spectrum of experiences that many minority entrepreneurs encounter, including being repeatedly denied by numerous landlords to rent office and manufacturing space, to being typecast as having products with singular market appeal, to considering how to access the necessary capital to grow and sustain our business. I have witnessed Black-owned companies – some of which stood beside me on the streets of Harlem, selling their goods and igniting global trends – who are no longer around today because larger companies, with infinitely more resources, capitalized on the trend, captured the market and put them out of business. We must continue to have these conversations and work towards the solutions that make these occurrences the exception and not the norm,” Dennis also stated. Now, after reading this again and seeing what has transpired with the brand makes me feel a bit confused. Is Shea Moisture only Black-Owned in name only?

This @SheaMoisture debacle goes directly to the issue of the dearth of Black Women in leadership. EVEN in "Black" organizations. #DoBetter pic.twitter.com/BnyawUrKes

— Dr. Avis (@SistahScholar) April 25, 2017

There are so many questions I have. I knew from the tweet replies from Shea Moisture’s account that it was from a marketing agency and it was confirmed that it was indeed Vayner Media campaign. My experience in media is an on-going love/hate relationship. I don’t understand why a black brand with a demographic of black women would not have black women on their social media team. Vayner Media not only handled their social media wrong, but they replied and complimented one of the Ashy Supremes in their standard customer service-like tweets.

@tariqnasheed We can't thank you enough for your loyalty and support. It's wonderful people like you that keep us going strong, Tariq! ????

— SheaMoisture (@SheaMoisture) April 24, 2017

If you are looking for a black-owned beauty brand that caters to black women, here is a list I recommend. The comment section is open, so please add more to this list. People are missing the point in this conversation; Black women don’t have the luxury of going to a local or mainstream drugstore and having several options of hair care products to choose from. In fact, I’m willing to bet black hair care is still in a special section in the beauty aisle at the bottom ( I’m sure some of this has changed, but not much). I think the real anger stems from black women trying to consciously support brands that cater to their individual needs. Moisture is a big concern for a lot of naturals and I don’t think naturals, no matter what spectrum they are on the grade scale, have the same concerns that non-WoC with fair, red hair or oily, blonde hair have.

I don’t understand the #HairHate campaign either. I’ve never heard about loose curled women or women who “suffer” from straight hair being forced to assimilate. But it’s clear that Shea Moisture wants to be the next Suave. Also, men weighing in on this; shut the fuck up. Shut all the way the fuck up and let the door hit you where the good Lord split you. Shut up and have a seat at the table and listen to Solange. Men, especially black men don’t need to continue to dissect black women’s hair conversations. Unless you are asking for advice, tips and brand related questions, please, shut the fuck up.

Sometimes it’s OK to be silent.

Ok, we cool? We don’t need you guys doing ashy mental gymnastics on what products black women should or shouldn’t be buying. Thanks!

Black Hair Care Brands That Cater To Black Women

Uncle Funky’s Daughter

Ixorabb.com

Camille Rose Naturals

Design Naturals

Karen’s Body Beautiful

Bronner Brothers including 4 Naturals, Tropical Roots,
Royal Roots

Princess Kayla’s Natty Locks

Afroveda

Cream & Coco

Jamaican Mango and Lime

Urban Hydration

Love My Mane

By Made Beautiful

I didn’t forget you gentlemen! Check out Uncle Jimmy.

I’d like to give a shout-out to all the ladies and gents in My Superheroes Are Black! for helping with this list.

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Books

28 Days Of Black Girls in Comics: Stephanie Williams

28 Days of Black Girls in Comics is a celebration of Black women and marginalized people creating epic stories in comics and graphic novels.

Published

3 years ago

February 1, 2021

Erika

#28daysofblackgirlsincomics

Happy Black History Month!

This year, I thought it would be it would be a great public service to dedicate the month of February to highlight Black women who are making important and significant waves in the comic book industry. As you may know, the comic book industry is mostly cis, white male and while there have been some wins for diversity, overall, there is still a lot of room for growth.

Now, you already know Black women and marginalized creators get the least amount of support and signal boosting and with the number of awesome stories that are being produced by Black folks right now, we need to support!

Support Black girls in comics: Stephanie Williams

Let’s kick-off #28DaysOfBlackGirlsinComics by recognizing the amazing and talented Stephanie Williams. First, you need to follow Stephanie on Twitter because she’s funny, witty and she’s the meme queen when it comes to comic books and pop culture in general. She teased the timeline with her now popular Living Single and Marvel superheroes mashup.

Williams first appeared on Fabulize in Dec. 2019 and here’s what you missed:

The concept was created by Stephaine Williams and artist Erin O’Neil Jones. Williams currently writes for SYFY FANGIRLS. The former host of both the Lemonade Podcast and the Misty Knight’s Uninformed Afro Podcast is known on Twitter for making epic meme threads featuring comic book characters. She is also writing a comic based on her experiences as a parent with a toddler called Parenthood Activate. Williams was recently featured on Fabulize for her Kickstarter project called Braxton: Regenesis.

But What If Though presents: Living Heroes

An ongoing mini-series within the BWIT webcomic centered around heroes Monica Rambeau, Storm, Misty Knight, and She-Hulk. Being a hero is tough so you can always use the support of your girls.

COME LOOK AT THIS PLEASE!!!! 👀 pic.twitter.com/abyGsJEz6v
— well, sorta kinda (@Steph_I_Will) January 26, 2021

Now Williams will be in the upcoming Marvel Voices doing what she does best—creating comics that are easily relatable to Black women and girls. You can support her by pre-ordering the upcoming Marvel issue here.

Support Stephanie and support the #28DaysOfBlackGirlsInComics

Books

‘Yes, Absolutely’ Yetide Badaki Says To Rumors Of Her Wanting To Play Storm

The American God’s actress confirms she wants to play Xmen’s Storm.

Published

3 years ago

January 20, 2021

Erika

We deserve a darkskin actress to play Storm

We are going to keep talking about Xmen’s Storm until get exactly what we want. We deserve a beautiful, dark-skinned woman that embodies the grace and style of Storm. There are lots of talks on who can play her but so far, only a few people have vocalized that they are ready to play her. One of those actresses happens to be Yetide Badaki.

It actually makes perfect sense that the American Gods actress wants to play Storm. She can relate to the character culturally and she’s already playing an goddess on television. If anything, she should at least be in the top picks of who Marvel executives are considering.

Recently, I interviewed Yetide Badaki and we talked about a little bit of everything such as her feelings about Orlando Jones, her independent film, her love for sci-fi and superheroes. Here’s her entire answer below:

Do you still want to play Marvel’s Storm in the future? What is it about the role that appeals to you?

Yetide Badaki: The short answer is yes, absolutely. The journey that we get to see with Storm the depths that we haven’t even begun to explore yet. I feel like as a woman, we’re often pushed into boxes pushed into places that are too small for us, because of the large gap that we are, we are giants, we have universes within us. I think that Storm represents so much of all of that and it would be an absolute joy to be able to play that role.

She held no punches about wanting to play Storm. She even admitted she’s been dedicating a lot of time to reading more sci-fi and comics just in case she gets that phone call.

You can read my full interview here with Flickering Myth.

Books

11 Diverse Books and Graphic Novels To Read For National Science Fiction Day

Published

4 years ago

January 2, 2021

Erika

For National Science Fiction Day, expand your library with this diverse reads that will take your imagination on a journey.

It’s only fair to highlight Black and POC authors for #NationalScienceFictionDay because let’s face it, lack of diversity is still an issue in the Sci-fi and fantasy genre.

But don’t worry, here’s a list of sci-fi (and fantasy) reads that you are sure to enjoy. Whether you enjoy hard sci-fi stories or sci-fi mixed with fantasy, this list has you covered.

Dominion—An Anthology Of Speculative Fiction From Africa And The Africa Diaspora

I think it’s important to read and consume Black literature from writers throughout the African diaspora and one of the best ways to do it is to read an anthology. Dive into African spirituality and mysticism amd challenge your imagination.

Futureland—Walter Mosley

Dystopian, crime and sci-fi all rolled into one. This is another anthology of short stories from Mr. Mosley himself.

The Road Of Resistance—Chase Bolling

Described as a read for those who love the shows Power and Game Of Thrones, this trilogy is a roller-coaster ride where world-building is essential. If you are ready to dedicate some time you need to get your hands on this series.

Nophek Gloss—Essa Hansen

A funky space opera that deals with grief and exceptionalism and revenge while taking a wild ride throughout space.

The Sacrifice Of Darkness—Roxane Gay

The story is timeless because you can’t tell if this story could be in the past, present or future but what you will discover is a family who does everything they can to survive despite what the father of their home did.

Legendborn—Tracy Deonn

Perhaps more fantasy than sci-fi, Legendborn is a modern retelling of King Arthur. Set at a magical university in the south, our protagonist discovers a secret that changes her life forever.

The Bone Shard Daughter—Andrea Stewart

Another title that has heavy fantasy elements, this book is for those who love emperors, magic and revolution.

Girl Of Flesh And Metal—Alicia Ellis

A teen gets into a terrible accident and is forced to live with a metal arm that has a deadly mind of its own.

N.K. Jemisin —Far Sector

Arguably one of the best Green Latern’s in a long time. I’m just waiting for the volumes to be available so I can binge read.

Omni Vol. 1: The Doctor Is In—Devin Grayson, Alitha E. Martinez

Omni is one of the best Sci-fi comics out. You meet a doctor who is extremely gifted and has the ability to compute multiple problems in less than a second.

Daughters Of Nri—Reni K. Amayo

Come for the cover, stay for the story of two goddesses who believe they are humans. Once they find each other and the truth, they set to face Eze Ochichiri, the man who rules the Kingdom of Nri.

Happy reading!

We receive a commission through Amazon for any products that are purchased using links from Fabulize to Amazon for qualifying purchases.

Books

Coming Soon: The First Black Girl Double Dutch Manga

Creator Anfernee Robinson took to Twitter to announce their upcoming manga, Nijū Oranda-go!!

Published

4 years ago

October 10, 2020

Erika

Black double dutch queens, it’s our time!

There aren’t a lot of Black sports manga available and there definitely isn’t a lot of Black double dutch stories despite its deep roots in the Black community as a competitive sport and enjoyable exercise.

Creator Anfernee Robinson took to his Twitter to announce his upcoming manga Nijū Oranda-go!! which will be available summer of 2021.

I am proud to introduce…

THE FIRST FEMALE SPORTS (Double Dutch) MANGA! 🔥

Nijū Oranda-go!! pic.twitter.com/MyjWWg6n9O
— AnimeBae® ブーダ (@Zero_N_Bless) August 21, 2020

As a Black girl who loved double dutch as a kid and teen this is so exciting. In my hood, double dutch was a rite of passage for Black girls—if you can jump double dutch then you could hangout with the older girls and what pre-teen girls would pass up the opportunity to hang with the older girls?

Double dutch is also competitive. Whether you chose to jump with your neighbors or as a team, the amount of practice needed is similar to any other sport. You have to build up stamina and believe it or not that takes time. Double dutch is all about rhythm—your rhythm and the people you are jumping with. You have to learn how yoir team jumps, what speed they prefer and what makes them a strong jumper. It’s time consuming bit it’s a lot of fun, especially in the summer time.

There isn’t a lot of info available about this manga yet but it’s already a top bestselling sports manga on Amazon with over 4000 copies pre-ordered which is terrific for an indie publisher. You can pre-order here for a Kindle copy that will be released next year.

Culture

Exclusive First Look At The Crunchyroll X Megan Thee Stallion Collection

Published

4 years ago

July 9, 2020

Erika

Check out what's in the collection below

Exclusive look at the Crunchyroll X Megan Thee Stallion line

Check out these exclusive photos of the Crunchyroll X Megan The Stallion Collection

First and foremost, shoutout to Crunchyroll for giving us the opportunity to preview the collection! As you know, we posted the news that the official Hot Girl rapper was doing an exclusive collaboration with Crunchyroll—the number once source for anime in North America. Fans are already excited as to what the Savage rapper and Crunchyroll have in store for everyone.

So here is what we know. Megan and Crunchyroll worked closely together on this Crunchyroll Loves collection. Crunchyroll Loves is the brand’s in-house streetwear collection and its previous collections have included Black Clover and RWBY.

We know how much Megan loves anime, so as you can tell this is a perfect mix of Black girl kawaii meets Savage mashup. The collection captures the rapper’s Savage style and signature flame-orange and red that’s now associated with her. Her collection will include a tote bag with red lips, two different-styled hoodies; black and orange with the black hoodie in black and one and the orange hoodie in color. The images on the hoodies are beautifully drawn manga versions of the rapper herself. In addition, the collection will also have t-shirts and long-sleeved sweatshirts of variations of the rapper and her name on them.

Megan Thee Stallion X Crunchyroll Orange Hoody

You can pre-order now. If you really want it you have to order immediately because the collection will only be available for a short time. The pre-order window is from Jul 9th to July 20th.

We made a few predictions on what Megan would be giving us and unfortunately we were wrong. There are not school-girl skirts or oversized dresses but the hoodies and tees are definitely hot girl approved. The totes bag is really cute and perfect for throwing our mangas and water bottles in.

Are you excited yet?