The Mantidote
June 8th 2003


Cosmetic Chemical Warfare: Hair straightening and the mutilation of black women


Are you straightening your child's hair? Are you straightening your own hair? Then you should look closely at this mantidote. Never mind what Donald Rumsfield is telling you about chemical warfare... you are already a victim of chemical warfare and you don't even realize it. I am not going to focus on self-hatred and hair straightening(that much), but the biochemical effects of repeatedly putting cosmetic chemical weapons in your hair. Are you being your own Chemical Ali?

Pay attention to the following picture on the bottom left. This is the back of a commonly used hair relaxer that says on the front "NO LYE RELAXER," as if you should be assured that it is safe to use. Yet on the back, it says "THIS PRODUCT CONTAINS CALCIUM HYDROXIDE AND GUANIDINE CARBONATE (TOXIC). YOU MUST FOLLOW DIRECTIONS CAREFULLY TO AVOID SKIN AND SCALP BURNS, HAIR LOSS AND EYE INJURY." It gives an entire list of things to do and not to do, including "IF RELAXER CAUSES SKIN OR SCALP IRRITATION, RINSE OUT IMMEDIATELY AND WASH WITH AN ACID-BALANCED SHAMPOO. IF IRRITATION PERSISTS OR IF HAIR LOSS OCCURS, CONSULT A PHYSICIAN." I laughed at that part because I thought, "It would be a bit late to call a physician after HAIR LOSS wouldn't it?" But it is no laughing matter.

Relaxing African American hair is extremely dangerous. Note that this thing basically told you that YOU ARE PUTTING TOXIC INTO YOUR HAIR. Even if nothing goes "wrong," it would only be smart to wonder exactly what you are doing to your hair. URL=http://www.peterschemical.com/calcium_hydroxide_or_hydrated_li.htm]Calcium Hydroxide[/URL] is also known as "Hydrated Lime." In general, it is a chemical designed to break down things into components, as acids do. Acids donate a proton in a chemical reaction. A "Base" accepts the proton. Something that is neither an acid nor a base is called "neutral" and has a pH level of 7. When an acid and base come together, they balance each other out but can sometimes produce very violent chemical reactions. So exactly what does "ACID-BALANCED" mean? Does it mean that the acidic effect of the perm is balanced out by a base or does it mean that it has a neutral base? Funny that a perm info site comes up (http://www.yolandanet.com/perm.htm) when you do a search for the term "acid-based" on yahoo. On this particular perm site is a section on "acid-balanced perms" that says, "acid balanced perms have a pH range of approximately 4.5 to 6.5 and usually penetrate the hair more slowly." Hmmmm... but what about "acid-balanced shampoos?" Most of them are the same way... seems like "acid-based" has been a commercial term for "relatively low acid." But the acid is still there.

I have heard reports of Autopsies of black women where there have been found astonishing and horrifying amounts of lime under their scalp. Now you know where it comes from. It comes from hair straightening products. The label also mentioned a toxic chemical Guanidine Carbonate (http://pubs.acs.org/hotartcl/960715/page.html) , which is also a commonly used for pesticides as well as explosives! Really, is it worth it? Is it worth whatever cosmetic goal in which a sister is trying to obtain committing harmful acts of chemical warfare upon herself and/or her children? (http://kamella.tripod.com/relaxers.html)

As fo the brthers reading this mantidote... I pose a question for you... is your standard of beauty harmful to the health of black women? committing harmful acts of chemical warfare upon herself and/or her children? (http://kamella.tripod.com/relaxers.html)

Thaken from this months first mantidote (http://www.angelfire.com/ga/WarriorPath/mantidote-june1.html)

One would think that after reading this, companies that sell these chemical hair products would immediately crash and burn (pardon the pun)...because Black women will suddenly stop chemicalizing their hair. But sadly, how many women will read this, understand it, and still make that hair appointment because they need a "touch up" cause their edges are TOO nappy?

Ask yourself this, did the surgeon general's warning statement added to a pack of cigarettes stop people from smoking?

I don't mean to be a pessimist but let's face it, this information won't make a bit of difference to many sisters out there who have been brainwashed into thinking that the ONLY reason they like their hair permed is because it makes their hair easier to manage. They and many Black men are victims of the "silky, sleek, long and smooth" disease and it's terminal.

Nowadays we even have to give our hair a name....Afro...natural...perm...and so on. Only because we're living in someone else's society. Can you imagine what it would be like if there was a shortage of these chemicals and Black women couldn't get their hair permed? Scarey thought.

Madame C.J. Walker...what were you thinking??? :(

word !

Peace Sister Queen,
I guess one has to eat the elephant one bite at a time. It is unfortunate that self hatred has been buried so deep that people will result to self mutilation to live up to a standard that has a 400+ year history of not living up to them.

But the information is our there and I am certain that at least one person perming will say "enough." If that happens, then all of the searching for the information was worth it. Within every woman is a potential to raise children to value who they are and what they were created to be.

Hope you folks are prepared for my mantidote next week... I'll be back from vacation so it will be time to groove. :)


GCB

Brother Booker,
I enjoy reading your articles. Yes, I definitely agree, you have put the information out there so no one reading it can now claim ignorance as an excuse. One person changing their behavior because you have helped them to free their minds and love themselves more naturally, is a powerful and beautiful thing. I encourage you to continue telling it like it is because I want you to know, your searching for information and sharing it here with us has not been in vain.

I hope you're enjoying your vacation and look forward to your return!! Bring it on! (And I ain't quoting Bush--can you believe he said that?? :eek: )

Peace,
Queenie :heart:

Thank you very much sister queen, :)
Sometimes it can get difficult to stay on schedule writting these things... this isn't my only endeavor. But that's how I'm able to provide info straight from the frontlines of Black American issues. :)

My other mantidotes are posted. Hope to hear from you soon!


GCB

LOL @ the Bush comments... the President of Senegal has no idea what he's getting into.

Just want to share something:

When I stopped perming my scalp went through all kinds of changes. For example, it smelled for months. Chemical? I say yes, it was the chemical leaving my body.

Great topic and I hope many many sistahs read this and give it serious thought.

Peace and Blessings!

Peace Sister emprezz,
Thank you very much for sharing that. I am so glad you stopped. I've seen some NASTY pics of what perm has done to some sisters... and now you've liberated yourself from the attacks. Excellent. :)

GCB

Hi I am Lot of mamo, please forgive me I am new at this,
I need all the help I can get I thought that I was voting for your message,
I thank God for your Love brother.

Thank You Lots of Mamo

Greetings Bro. B

I thank u so much for the knowledge shared. I am young but, fortunately i was taught from a very early age about the dangers of these hair "care"products. My hair has never been chemically treated. When I was younger, my parents constantly told me that regardless of what anybody says, I am beautiful the way my Creator made me and that i should never allow any one else's image of what beauty is or is not make me conform. I was comfotable with myself. I didn't need anybody to tell me who I was, because I understood that I know me better than anyone else ever can. Even with that knowledge, I faced opposition when I reacehd sixth or seventh grade. basically ALL of the young girls in my school had permed of straightened hair. That was around the time when the relaxer companies started to heavily promote no-lye, "natural" relaxers with natural additives. I was bombarded with different product names and why they were safe to use by my peers on a consistant basis. I can say with pride, that i never have or wanted to perm my hair because i knew of the damage that would last as a result.

On one level this shows the damage that can be done by deceitful traditions. My peers are conditioned to believe that perming their hair makes it more manageable and easier to control. Yeah, your hair is far more manageable when it's in your hands instead of on your head!
On another level (a far deeper level) this shows the lasting damage that was done by the enslavement process. The sub-conscious/ unconscious self hate that is exhibited by so, so many of my sisters while they accept and attempt to conform to the standards of beauty set by some one else. To make it worse, that some one else tries at every available chance to look more like you!

Peace, and once again thank u

Peace Sister Divine,
I am certainly glad to see that more sisters are starting to debunk the paradigms of a black woman having to adhere to European standards of beauty. And MAD PROPS TO YOUR PARENTS!!!! :)


GCB

When I made the move from L. A. to Texas my mom told me "Don't you go down there with braids in your hair. The South hasn't changed all that much." So the first thing I did in this one horse town was put a perm in my hair. Until reading your article, Gary, I never made the connection between the chemicals I was putting in my hair and the nauseous feeling of some poisonous gas washing over my brain when I laid down at night. I was literally poisoning myself. The feeling would scare me so bad that one night I even called the ambulance. A doctor told me I had inflammation in the muscles connected to my skull. But I never knew what was causing it.

I stopped perming my hair last month because it was just so broken off. It is no where near as thick as it used to be so the styles that looked so good in the beginning just look flicted now. My hairdresser never said anything about my hair loss until I said something to her and then she blamed me for letting it get too dry. I hated to comb it. I was apalled whenever I washed it and sometimes if I just shook my head too vigorously it would rain hair. I got tired. I said "I don't need this." I now have it braided until it grows back long enough for me to do something with it and I definitely do not mean perm it or straighten it in any way.

I really don't know why I started putting the perm in my hair. I love my natural hair. It was mostly black people in Los Angeles who gave me grief over my big Huey Newton 'fro and showed me no respect when I braided it. But the white girls would touch my hair and be astonished like "Wow it's so soft. How did you get it so soft?" I said "I use Downey." My hair has a very tight curl pattern. If I put water on it and let it dry naturally it curls up so tight that Moses couldn't part it. Pharoah would have caught the children of Israel if Moses had been trying to part my hair. One time I corn rowed it and my man just laying there next to me reached over and ran his finger between the rows. I felt exquisite. I felt invincible. I felt...Oh man, you don't know. You just don't know. And I can never feel that way when a man shows appreciation for something that is not really me but only a distortion of me.

This was an eye opener.
Nice article :)
Nita
:heart:

Sister River,

I just happened to take note of the title of this thread and thought I'd see what it was about. A title like chemical warfare against black women that's quite specific. Ordinarily, when thinking about chemical warfare, chemicals can't be directed like bullets or missiles, they mist in the air or flow in liquids. That being the case, except in a medical setting, where you may receive an injection I could not imagine how a chemical could be directed at Black women with specificity. It was interesting reading your story.

I live in Los Angeles and I suppose there are folks in the city who are into the "thng" you see so prominent with Black female entertainer, especially the hip hop crowd. There may be one or two here and there who are "almost" natural, but most have their hair straighter than straight. I don't care for the look myself and know, in time, all of that processing will someday involve a heavy price as the root system begins to fail under the pain of repeated chemical abuse.

What struck me about your story was the "ridicule" you describ for wearing an Afro. I don't know your age, but I am from the era when the natural came into being. The first natural I saw on a sister was a young lady named Tracey. Tracey was a transfer from Fremont High to Washington, where I attended. Her natural was short and shaped. For awhile, she was the only female on campus with a natural. No one I knew and I was very popular, being a track star and a member of a singing group that became Side Effect ever had a disparaging word about Traciey's fro'. Before I graduated fros' were in and remained for some time as a cultural expression. This was the time of Black Consciousness, Ron Karenga, the creator of Kwanzaa is someone with whom I had dealings back in the day, he and other Black activists were treasured in the community. There were times when there were issues of course on certain things, but the bottom line was Black was in. I had a few dashikis in my time and have been involved with the Congress of Racial Equality California for some time dealing with Civil Rights and other isssues impacting the quality of life of our community.

I just thought I'd drop this line, being curious in a way about the issues in peoples opinions about your fro', yet, if you're anywhere near the hip hop generation in age or circulated among Blacks who have no sense of the Black Consciousness movement that was in Los Angeles, I suppose their views are to be understood. Too bad we never crossed paths I would have had something positive to say. Of course, there would be something to get used to if you didn't work to manage your fro and make it look nice.


One more quick thing, I don't consider what some Black women do in chemically altering their hair as something someone is working to destroy their crowns. It's that Black women and men have no commitment to themselves as human beings, buying into images that come a dime a dozen on T.V., a la Tyra Banks and others who are all the way processed from stem to stern and top to bottom....


When I made the move from L. A. to Texas my mom told me "Don't you go down there with braids in your hair. The South hasn't changed all that much." So the first thing I did in this one horse town was put a perm in my hair. Until reading your article, Gary, I never made the connection between the chemicals I was putting in my hair and the nauseous feeling of some poisonous gas washing over my brain when I laid down at night. I was literally poisoning myself. The feeling would scare me so bad that one night I even called the ambulance. A doctor told me I had inflammation in the muscles connected to my skull. But I never knew what was causing it.

I stopped perming my hair last month because it was just so broken off. It is no where near as thick as it used to be so the styles that looked so good in the beginning just look flicted now. My hairdresser never said anything about my hair loss until I said something to her and then she blamed me for letting it get too dry. I hated to comb it. I was apalled whenever I washed it and sometimes if I just shook my head too vigorously it would rain hair. I got tired. I said "I don't need this." I now have it braided until it grows back long enough for me to do something with it and I definitely do not mean perm it or straighten it in any way.

I really don't know why I started putting the perm in my hair. I love my natural hair. It was mostly black people in Los Angeles who gave me grief over my big Huey Newton 'fro and showed me no respect when I braided it. But the white girls would touch my hair and be astonished like "Wow it's so soft. How did you get it so soft?" I said "I use Downey." My hair has a very tight curl pattern. If I put water on it and let it dry naturally it curls up so tight that Moses couldn't part it. Pharoah would have caught the children of Israel if Moses had been trying to part my hair. One time I corn rowed it and my man just laying there next to me reached over and ran his finger between the rows. I felt exquisite. I felt invincible. I felt...Oh man, you don't know. You just don't know. And I can never feel that way when a man shows appreciation for something that is not really me but only a distortion of me.

Hey Bro Astro,

Thanks for taking the time to write. No, I'm not of the hip hop generation. Actually, my generation doesn't even have a name. I was a child in the late sixties and early seventies in Washington D. C. when the 'fro was as ubiquitious as Roy Ayers. I moved to Los Angeles in 1979 and unfortunately the eighties and nineties saw my generation turn away from natural in favor of feathered hair and Jheri Curls. Even Naomi Sims in her book "All About Health and Beauty for Black Women" expressed her relief that we were no longer into that "fad." But I was hard headed (no pun intended) and would not accept the notion that my natural hair was out of style.

You have such a rich history of experience. I actually have a dashiki in my closet with matching pants. It's very elegant with gold embroidery around the neck opening and the hem of the pants. I wear it to the Black History program at my Church.

I guess people just lost sight of or got tired of the issues and wanted to return to homeostasis. I don't know why having my hair come out everytime I comb it is normal while the hair that comes out of my head needs a nationwide political movement to justify it. But I love a brothah who loves my natural hair. Mad props to ya.

Hello. I have just come across this post for the title sounded interesting. As black people, we have a very unique thing about us. Not only our pleasantly hued skin, but our hair. The thing is, is that blacks don't appreciate the value of our natural hair. I think that in a hidden way, some whites (or others) may even be a bit envious because, with creativity, black people can do so much with our hair without resorting to chemical products. While whites have to do things such as burn their hair to get dreadlocks, black men and women can grow locks naturally. All I have to say to the black women out there is, I personally think you are beautiful regardless, and natural beauty is still much better than "plastic" beauty. And if having a natural afro is just too much, then I suggest that you get creative and find different ways to braid and style your hair, for your hair texture is a gift that allows you to do such things. Of course, I'm only making a suggestion. I still love my black people either way, but I want the black women to know that I love the natural beauty of a black women. And I am pleased to be a new, preferably active member on this forum. Peace and blessings to the ladies and to the extremely intelligent brotha who brought this news to the forefront.

NICE THREAD,

THE NATURAL BEUTY OF AN AFRICAN QUEEN IS ONY ENHANCED BY HER NATURAL HAIR.

WHAT IF BRA'S STILL STRAITENED THERE HAIR LOL (NOT COUNTING SNOOP, D.J. QUIK, AL SHARPTON ECT).

I BELIEVE HIP HOPPERS ARE THE LEADING FRONT IN THIS CAMPAIGN

Loving this article! I don't like when women get their nails done and perms anyways. I'll be sure to pass this information on.

Greetings sister... and I am GLAD TO BE BACK to the forum! :spank:
Much thanks goes to you and to everyone who enjoyed the article. I am not sure how much of a thrill seeker you are, but try sticking a firecracker with an extended string inside of a cannister of hair relaxer and see what happens... and I will make my disclaimer now to say that I am not responsible for what might happen as a result!

I am not sure how much people in this room are into conspiracy theories or whatever but this article wasn't writen from the perspective of some "Evil Genius" plotting to kill black women. However, the fact remains that it is seriously harming black women's health amongst many other things that are the result of the social engineering of the society that we live in. Do you think that the chemists who made these relaxers WEREN'T aware that these chemicals are capable of generating the explosive power equivalent to that of a hand grenade? They should have... that is Freshman level college chemistry. :flame: :hot:

Again, I am glad you liked it. I took a long hiatus from writing my Mantidotes due to a year of Americorps. However, I'm back and I have plenty to talk about. :)



When I made the move from L. A. to Texas my mom told me "Don't you go down there with braids in your hair. The South hasn't changed all that much." So the first thing I did in this one horse town was put a perm in my hair. Until reading your article, Gary, I never made the connection between the chemicals I was putting in my hair and the nauseous feeling of some poisonous gas washing over my brain when I laid down at night. I was literally poisoning myself. The feeling would scare me so bad that one night I even called the ambulance. A doctor told me I had inflammation in the muscles connected to my skull. But I never knew what was causing it.

I stopped perming my hair last month because it was just so broken off. It is no where near as thick as it used to be so the styles that looked so good in the beginning just look flicted now. My hairdresser never said anything about my hair loss until I said something to her and then she blamed me for letting it get too dry. I hated to comb it. I was apalled whenever I washed it and sometimes if I just shook my head too vigorously it would rain hair. I got tired. I said "I don't need this." I now have it braided until it grows back long enough for me to do something with it and I definitely do not mean perm it or straighten it in any way.

I really don't know why I started putting the perm in my hair. I love my natural hair. It was mostly black people in Los Angeles who gave me grief over my big Huey Newton 'fro and showed me no respect when I braided it. But the white girls would touch my hair and be astonished like "Wow it's so soft. How did you get it so soft?" I said "I use Downey." My hair has a very tight curl pattern. If I put water on it and let it dry naturally it curls up so tight that Moses couldn't part it. Pharoah would have caught the children of Israel if Moses had been trying to part my hair. One time I corn rowed it and my man just laying there next to me reached over and ran his finger between the rows. I felt exquisite. I felt invincible. I felt...Oh man, you don't know. You just don't know. And I can never feel that way when a man shows appreciation for something that is not really me but only a distortion of me.