(ThyBlackMan.com) About two days ago, the Black webosphere was lit ablaze with controversy when popular hair blogging website, Curly Nikki, featured a white woman, Sarah, to discuss her own “hair journey.” In a tale that is becoming as old as time, once again a space that was deemed safe for Black women became infiltrated with a white presence. In a post captioned with “There’s something very freeing about accepting your natural hair” *insert eye roll here*, the blog detailed an interview with Sarah that discussed her hair journey (she didn’t bog chop, she merely started wearing her hair down. *insert second eye roll*) and love of products – just as they have their previous Black subjects.
It seemed that just as the post was published twitter timelines and Facebook newsfeeds began criticizing and holding Curly Nikki accountable for attempting to bring inclusion into a space that didn’t need it. The
natural hair movement, as it is called, is solely for Black women. Being that our features, most pronouncedly our hair, have always been ridiculed and deemed the exception rather than the rule when it comes to beauty, it was and still is a powerful thing for a Black woman to proudly wear her tresses as they naturally are and proclaim just as beautiful as what adorns the heads of non-Black women.
Within the community the stories of being teased, of feeling ugly and inadequate are unfortunately heard continually. Natural hair blogs and vlogs allowed Black women to unite and network, from one another, heal from past hurts and face present insecurities head on without the prying and judging eyes of the world outside. Well, that is what we thought was happening…
As the story gained momentum, the investigative detectives of the web set out to find more information about what was happening behind the scenes at Curly Nikki. It did not help that little over a year ago, this very same site came under fire for featuring a story on famous naturalista, Tracee Ellis Ross, that came across as more of a plug for the haircare line, Optimum. Long time readers such as I knew that the blog had to have sponsors and advertisements due to it’s growth over the last couple of years, but nothing could prepare us for learning that the website which was initially started and run by Nikki Watson was and still is officially owned by Textured Media.
Textured Media is a conglomerate specializing in “curls”, with sites that include Naturally Curly. Although Naturally Curly features content for women of all races and ethnicities, it’s parent company is ran solely by white women with investors that include brands like Paul Mitchell. So, in a nutshell Nikki Watson is no longer the creative head of the Curly Nikki brand, but more so the face of the site (since 2007).
Finish story here;
http://brownsista.com/curly-nikki-white-women-and-the-need-for-all-black-spaces/ (—–