Good Hair

0:00:02 > 0:00:07This film contains some strong language.

0:01:36 > 0:01:39Those are my daughters, Lola and Zahra,

0:01:39 > 0:01:41the most beautiful girls in the world.

0:01:41 > 0:01:45And even though I tell them that they're beautiful every single day,

0:01:45 > 0:01:48sometimes it's just not good enough.

0:01:48 > 0:01:51Just yesterday, Lola came into the house crying

0:01:51 > 0:01:54and said, "Daddy, how come I don't have good hair?"

0:01:56 > 0:01:59I wonder how she came up with that idea?

0:02:00 > 0:02:03Well, there's always this sort of pressure within the black community,

0:02:03 > 0:02:06like, "Oh, if you have good hair,

0:02:06 > 0:02:09"you're prettier or better than the brown-skinned girl

0:02:09 > 0:02:12"that wears the Afro or the dreads or the natural hairstyle."

0:02:12 > 0:02:13I mean, have I gone around thinking it,

0:02:13 > 0:02:16and have I said it to myself, "I got good hair"?

0:02:16 > 0:02:17Do I say it to my daughter,

0:02:17 > 0:02:19like, and not even thinking what I'm saying?

0:02:19 > 0:02:20I'm like, "Honey, you have such good hair.

0:02:20 > 0:02:22"You have such beautiful hair."

0:02:22 > 0:02:25Growing up, I considered anybody's hair but mine good hair.

0:02:25 > 0:02:27Like, my mom is white.

0:02:27 > 0:02:29I'm half Russian and Norwegian on my mother's side,

0:02:29 > 0:02:32so my mom's hair is silky and blonde, and I was like, "Why?

0:02:32 > 0:02:35"Just why didn't I get your genetics?"

0:02:35 > 0:02:37That was what I looked at as, you know,

0:02:37 > 0:02:40good hair was white hair.

0:02:43 > 0:02:45The lighter, the brighter, the better.

0:02:45 > 0:02:47And that's a thing that causes great dissension

0:02:47 > 0:02:49within the black community and with black women.

0:02:49 > 0:02:51You know, I look in the black hair books,

0:02:51 > 0:02:54and it's like all the hair is straight.

0:02:54 > 0:02:56It was a hard, like, decision in the beginning.

0:02:56 > 0:02:59I said, "No, I'm going to be strong against all the forces

0:03:00 > 0:03:02"that are going to try to get me to straighten my hair."

0:03:02 > 0:03:04You know, you look at the magazines

0:03:04 > 0:03:06and you want to be that girl, you know.

0:03:06 > 0:03:07You want to be that girl,

0:03:07 > 0:03:10and you have this fantasy where you think,

0:03:10 > 0:03:11"If they straighten it out,

0:03:11 > 0:03:12"then all of a sudden it's going to grow

0:03:12 > 0:03:13"and it's going to really move and it's going to really flow

0:03:13 > 0:03:14"and I'm going to have this hair."

0:03:14 > 0:03:16Well, you never had the hair to begin with,

0:03:16 > 0:03:17but you don't know that, you know.

0:03:17 > 0:03:20When you look at a woman's hair,

0:03:20 > 0:03:22it's a fantasy come true if they can really pull that off.

0:03:22 > 0:03:25So, for me, yeah, hair's real important.

0:03:25 > 0:03:30Well, I would say that hair is a woman's glory,

0:03:30 > 0:03:34and that you share that glory with your family.

0:03:34 > 0:03:36And they get to see you braiding it,

0:03:36 > 0:03:38and they get to see you washing it,

0:03:38 > 0:03:39and they get to... It's a glory.

0:03:39 > 0:03:42But it is not a bad thing or a good thing. It's hair.

0:03:42 > 0:03:44If you have it on your head, it's good.

0:03:44 > 0:03:46If you have it growing between your toes,

0:03:46 > 0:03:48it probably isn't so good.

0:03:48 > 0:03:51So what feeds this hair machine?

0:03:51 > 0:03:53How do we decide what good hair is?

0:03:53 > 0:03:56Well, at least for some people, that decision is made

0:03:56 > 0:03:59where all major black decisions are made...

0:03:59 > 0:04:02in Atlanta at the Bronner Brothers Hair Show.

0:04:02 > 0:04:05That's right, the Bronner Brothers Hair Show.

0:04:05 > 0:04:08Twice a year, for over 60 years,

0:04:08 > 0:04:11the Bronner Brothers have hosted this massive hair show

0:04:11 > 0:04:15with over 120,000 hair professionals in attendance,

0:04:15 > 0:04:18over 28 major hotels booked exclusively,

0:04:18 > 0:04:21and over 60 million pumped into the Atlanta economy.

0:04:22 > 0:04:25Good hair is good business.

0:04:25 > 0:04:27My father started it 60 years ago,

0:04:27 > 0:04:29and the show was actually a seminar

0:04:29 > 0:04:31to teach the people buying the products

0:04:31 > 0:04:33how to use the products.

0:04:33 > 0:04:35And 60 years later,

0:04:35 > 0:04:36the number-one purpose of the hair show,

0:04:36 > 0:04:40to come learn how to use new products.

0:04:40 > 0:04:45Certain products, we index triple what the white market does.

0:04:45 > 0:04:47We're at 12 per cent of the population,

0:04:47 > 0:04:48but we buy 80 per cent of the hair.

0:04:48 > 0:04:50Wow!

0:04:50 > 0:04:52I got in the wrong business.

0:04:52 > 0:04:55All I know is, we spend a ton of money on our hair.

0:04:56 > 0:04:57No matter what, we going to look good.

0:04:57 > 0:04:59We going to look good.

0:04:59 > 0:05:00You know, that's the bottom line.

0:05:00 > 0:05:02We're going to look good regardless.

0:05:02 > 0:05:04While the main purpose of the show

0:05:04 > 0:05:06is to promote products and make tons of money,

0:05:06 > 0:05:09the three-day event culminates in a hair contest

0:05:09 > 0:05:11where stylists from around the world

0:05:11 > 0:05:13come to compete and show off their skills

0:05:13 > 0:05:15in front of an arena of cheering hair fans.

0:05:15 > 0:05:18The winner not only takes home 20,000,

0:05:18 > 0:05:21but also receives lucrative endorsement deals

0:05:21 > 0:05:24and establishes themselves as the leading voice in black hair.

0:05:25 > 0:05:29Now, can you tell me, how are the hairstylists chosen

0:05:29 > 0:05:31to compete in this competition?

0:05:31 > 0:05:33We try and select the best of the best.

0:05:33 > 0:05:37If we see someone that's exciting on stages,

0:05:37 > 0:05:39we invite them in to do our Battle.

0:05:39 > 0:05:42Tanya, I really can't say her strength,

0:05:42 > 0:05:45cos this is her first time doing the Battle.

0:05:45 > 0:05:48Her weakness is that she's sort of new.

0:05:48 > 0:05:50- Well, I'm happy to be nappy. - How about that?

0:05:50 > 0:05:53Oh, Lord. See, Tanya, don't take it there.

0:05:53 > 0:05:55She don't want to be nappy.

0:05:55 > 0:05:56No, I'm not saying...

0:05:56 > 0:05:59I know my hair can get very coarse, but...

0:05:59 > 0:06:01Ooh, and then they try to find a better word for it.

0:06:01 > 0:06:04Yes!

0:06:04 > 0:06:06Dress it up, baby. It's OK.

0:06:06 > 0:06:07That's a stigma.

0:06:07 > 0:06:09Chris, are you listening?

0:06:09 > 0:06:11It's not called bad.

0:06:11 > 0:06:12Nappy's not bad.

0:06:12 > 0:06:13Well, actually...

0:06:13 > 0:06:14It can still be good.

0:06:14 > 0:06:16It's just nappy.

0:06:16 > 0:06:18I changed it around.

0:06:18 > 0:06:21Cos people with that soft, natural, curly hair,

0:06:21 > 0:06:23I call that bad hair now.

0:06:23 > 0:06:25OK, cos it's hard to curl?

0:06:25 > 0:06:26Cos nappy hair holds curls.

0:06:26 > 0:06:29Tanya's new to this, but she's also business partners

0:06:29 > 0:06:32with former Bronner Brothers champion Kevin Kirk.

0:06:32 > 0:06:34Kevin won 20 grand back in 2005,

0:06:34 > 0:06:37when 20 grand really meant something.

0:06:37 > 0:06:39If that belt could talk, what do you think it would say?

0:06:41 > 0:06:44It'd say, "Bring home my brother August 18th."

0:06:46 > 0:06:48So the brother's held captive?

0:06:48 > 0:06:49It's held captive.

0:06:49 > 0:06:51Bronner Brothers got it on lock right now.

0:06:51 > 0:06:52I picture myself being David

0:06:52 > 0:06:55and all the other contestants being Goliath.

0:07:00 > 0:07:03Derek is a very exciting person.

0:07:03 > 0:07:04He's a unique person.

0:07:04 > 0:07:06His performance is always at the top.

0:07:06 > 0:07:09Styling, he might be a little bit weak on that,

0:07:09 > 0:07:12but exciting, very exciting.

0:07:12 > 0:07:13Derek competed last year

0:07:13 > 0:07:16and many people, mostly Derek, felt he should have won.

0:07:16 > 0:07:19But he ended up losing on two technicalities -

0:07:19 > 0:07:22nudity and too many people on stage at one time.

0:07:25 > 0:07:27My biggest scare was me

0:07:27 > 0:07:29trying to find a pair of boots to wear for the show.

0:07:29 > 0:07:31A guy hit me up on MySpace,

0:07:31 > 0:07:33and he ends up being a boot designer.

0:07:33 > 0:07:36Jayda, Tyree. Terrence, Tyree.

0:07:36 > 0:07:37And he basically takes boots that you...

0:07:37 > 0:07:38a boot that you already have,

0:07:38 > 0:07:40and redesigns it and customises it

0:07:40 > 0:07:45and, hopefully, you guys will see a phat pair of boots.

0:07:45 > 0:07:48I can't wait. I'm so excited about this right now.

0:07:50 > 0:07:51Freddie...

0:07:51 > 0:07:52very smart.

0:07:52 > 0:07:55That's her strength. Smart, can do hair.

0:07:55 > 0:07:57Her weakness is that she over-thinks it.

0:07:57 > 0:08:00She goes over the audience's head.

0:08:00 > 0:08:02Last year's theme was Broke Front Mountain.

0:08:02 > 0:08:03So that was based

0:08:03 > 0:08:05- on the movie Brokeback Mountain. - It was, kind of.

0:08:05 > 0:08:07When we did the...

0:08:07 > 0:08:08We did a video clip

0:08:08 > 0:08:11that was in the beginning that was about 30 seconds.

0:08:13 > 0:08:14I'm going to work on her with all these.

0:08:14 > 0:08:17I might have to hide from them to get them, though.

0:08:17 > 0:08:20I'm going to be hiding more than Harriet Tubman was hiding.

0:08:20 > 0:08:23You know, I liked Broke Front Mountain.

0:08:23 > 0:08:25I think I just shouldn't have cut the hair in the boxes.

0:08:25 > 0:08:28I put this "FJ," my logo on there,

0:08:28 > 0:08:29and people thought it was something Asian.

0:08:29 > 0:08:32They just couldn't keep up.

0:08:35 > 0:08:38Now, which of the other stylists are you most worried about?

0:08:42 > 0:08:43Probably Jason.

0:08:43 > 0:08:45Jason Griggers.

0:08:45 > 0:08:47Me and Jason know of each other.

0:08:47 > 0:08:50Do you have any enemies in hair?

0:08:50 > 0:08:53No.

0:08:54 > 0:08:57Jason's strength is his incredible hairstyles.

0:08:59 > 0:09:02I, actually, am from the same hometown as Jason.

0:09:02 > 0:09:04He's been doing my hair since about 2000,

0:09:04 > 0:09:06and my hair was her length when I started coming,

0:09:06 > 0:09:08and this is mine.

0:09:08 > 0:09:09No tracks in this.

0:09:09 > 0:09:12So he has what we used to call "the growing hand".

0:09:12 > 0:09:14I never said that.

0:09:14 > 0:09:20So, Jason, you seem to be able to get women off the weaves.

0:09:22 > 0:09:24You're kind of like the Betty Ford of black hair.

0:09:24 > 0:09:27I refer to it as the Rosa Parks of hair.

0:09:30 > 0:09:32Jason...

0:09:32 > 0:09:34where does a white man learn how to do black hair?

0:09:34 > 0:09:36In school, they teach you everything.

0:09:36 > 0:09:39This one teacher that I had,

0:09:39 > 0:09:41she would always give me a pair of these

0:09:41 > 0:09:43to walk around school with, and she'd say,

0:09:43 > 0:09:45"I don't hear you clicking and twisting.

0:09:45 > 0:09:46"I don't hear you clicking and twisting."

0:09:46 > 0:09:48- Was she a black woman? - She was a black woman.

0:09:48 > 0:09:50She was the only black teacher at school.

0:09:50 > 0:09:52And she was determined to teach you...

0:09:52 > 0:09:55She was determined to teach me how to work those Marcel irons.

0:09:55 > 0:09:58So she's like Branch Rickey and you're the Jackie Robinson.

0:09:59 > 0:10:01That's "The Jackie Robinson Story"

0:10:01 > 0:10:03starring Jackie Robinson as himself.

0:10:03 > 0:10:06It's big league all the way.

0:10:06 > 0:10:08There are some white people that are good at doing black hair.

0:10:08 > 0:10:11But there are very few that I've met.

0:10:11 > 0:10:13There are very few.

0:10:13 > 0:10:14So what happens is,

0:10:14 > 0:10:18you walk in and the first thing you say is,

0:10:18 > 0:10:19"Do you have a pressing comb?

0:10:19 > 0:10:20"Do you have a flat iron?"

0:10:20 > 0:10:22And it's like, "Oh, yeah!

0:10:22 > 0:10:23"You know, we have everything.

0:10:23 > 0:10:25"I can do whatever you need."

0:10:25 > 0:10:26And then the process starts.

0:10:26 > 0:10:29The process starts, and it's a little tragic.

0:10:29 > 0:10:31If you don't understand black hair,

0:10:31 > 0:10:35you're afraid of it if you see it in its natural state.

0:10:35 > 0:10:36And you can't really see around it.

0:10:36 > 0:10:39They don't understand that it can change.

0:10:39 > 0:10:40"Give me two days, baby.

0:10:40 > 0:10:43"What you want? Long, short, black, blue, green?

0:10:43 > 0:10:45"Little fan on the side? What hair do you look...

0:10:45 > 0:10:47"Give me a picture, give me two days, I got you."

0:10:47 > 0:10:49Is this your hair?

0:10:49 > 0:10:50Yes. All mine.

0:10:50 > 0:10:51- All your hair? - All mine.

0:10:51 > 0:10:53Shake it for me.

0:10:53 > 0:10:56I mean, how does this happen?

0:10:56 > 0:10:57What did you put in it?

0:10:57 > 0:11:00If you went under the counter in a black woman's bathroom,

0:11:02 > 0:11:05she's got about 30 or 40 bottles of different things.

0:11:05 > 0:11:07She's always constantly trying out something,

0:11:07 > 0:11:10trying to perfect the solution, if you will.

0:11:10 > 0:11:12The antidote.

0:11:12 > 0:11:14The antidote. Yeah.

0:11:14 > 0:11:16Relaxer.

0:11:16 > 0:11:19The closest thing we have to a nap antidote.

0:11:19 > 0:11:22For all you white people out there that don't know what it is,

0:11:22 > 0:11:25you name a black woman, any black woman,

0:11:25 > 0:11:28no matter how famous or infamous,

0:11:28 > 0:11:30they've either had their hair relaxed,

0:11:30 > 0:11:33or they're having their hair relaxed right now.

0:11:33 > 0:11:35And a lot of black men, too.

0:11:35 > 0:11:39If your hair's relaxed, white people are relaxed.

0:11:39 > 0:11:41If your hair is nappy, they're not happy.

0:11:41 > 0:11:44So what's your definition of good hair?

0:11:44 > 0:11:48Something that looks relaxed and nice.

0:11:48 > 0:11:49Yeah, relaxed and straight.

0:11:49 > 0:11:50Wow, what do you have there?

0:11:50 > 0:11:52Is that a bucket of relaxer?

0:11:52 > 0:11:53No doubt, baby.

0:11:53 > 0:11:55Relaxer.

0:11:55 > 0:11:58Also known by its government name, sodium hydroxide.

0:12:01 > 0:12:04Relaxer's the chemical that will take a black woman's hair

0:12:04 > 0:12:05from this...

0:12:05 > 0:12:09and change it into this.

0:12:10 > 0:12:11Wow.

0:12:11 > 0:12:14Look at it.

0:12:14 > 0:12:17My ring is still there.

0:12:17 > 0:12:19My fingers all there.

0:12:19 > 0:12:22I think I'm going to marry you.

0:12:23 > 0:12:25In fact, as far as hair products go,

0:12:25 > 0:12:27relaxer's the cash cow for the Bronner Brothers Hair Show.

0:12:27 > 0:12:30It's how black women have been getting their hair straight for decades.

0:12:32 > 0:12:34Vigorol Liquid Hair Relaxer.

0:12:34 > 0:12:37You're going to love your hair like you've never loved it,

0:12:37 > 0:12:40come rain or come shine.

0:12:40 > 0:12:41The first time I got a relaxer,

0:12:41 > 0:12:43I remember thinking, "Wow, now I'm pretty.

0:12:43 > 0:12:46"Now, I'm beautiful...

0:12:46 > 0:12:47"or closer to it, at least."

0:12:47 > 0:12:49Dark and Lovely Permanent Creme Relaxer.

0:12:49 > 0:12:52A beautiful way to relax your kind of hair.

0:12:52 > 0:12:55Mentally, I think a lot of black women,

0:12:55 > 0:13:00they're on this quest for attaining the straightest hair possible,

0:13:00 > 0:13:02trying to conform to a more European look.

0:13:02 > 0:13:04The straighter hair, the better.

0:13:04 > 0:13:09And we've been coached with that mentality since childhood.

0:13:09 > 0:13:11With Vigorol Hair Relaxer and a hot comb,

0:13:11 > 0:13:13you'll have your hands full.

0:13:13 > 0:13:15I remember seeing ads like this

0:13:15 > 0:13:17when I was a little kid watching Soul Train.

0:13:17 > 0:13:20What the hell is relaxer anyway?

0:13:20 > 0:13:21Where does it come from?

0:13:21 > 0:13:25Well, some of it comes from Greensboro, North Carolina.

0:13:25 > 0:13:26This medium-size town

0:13:26 > 0:13:28was once the capital of the Confederacy.

0:13:28 > 0:13:30White will fight desegregation!

0:13:30 > 0:13:33But now it's the home of Dudley Products,

0:13:33 > 0:13:37a 35-million black-owned hair empire

0:13:37 > 0:13:39that employs thousands of people worldwide.

0:13:39 > 0:13:42Greensboro is the home of the Dudley Mansion,

0:13:43 > 0:13:47the Dudley Beauty School,

0:13:47 > 0:13:48Mr Dudley himself,

0:13:48 > 0:13:51and, of course, Dudley Manufacturing.

0:13:57 > 0:14:00Dudley Products have been valued at up to 100 million.

0:14:01 > 0:14:03The plant itself is worth over ten.

0:14:03 > 0:14:05It employs hundreds of people

0:14:05 > 0:14:08and is situated on over 47,000 acres

0:14:08 > 0:14:11of prime North Carolina real estate.

0:14:11 > 0:14:14In short, Mr Dudley is a nap impresario.

0:14:14 > 0:14:17Bad hair has been very good for Mr Dudley.

0:14:17 > 0:14:18What's he doin'?

0:14:18 > 0:14:20Joe is making relaxer.

0:14:20 > 0:14:22This is how they make relaxer?

0:14:22 > 0:14:25This is a portion of a 7,000-pound batch of relaxer.

0:14:27 > 0:14:297,000 pounds is worth how much?

0:14:29 > 0:14:327,000 pounds, you're talking about 18,000.

0:14:32 > 0:14:34This would last Prince about a month.

0:14:34 > 0:14:36Exactly.

0:14:36 > 0:14:38The slightest little bit of these chemicals

0:14:38 > 0:14:39can really cause harm to the body.

0:14:39 > 0:14:42A splash of sodium hydroxide in your eye

0:14:42 > 0:14:44can potentially lead to blindness.

0:14:44 > 0:14:45It may not happen right away,

0:14:45 > 0:14:47but it can lead to blindness later on in life.

0:14:47 > 0:14:48But you'll eventually have a dog.

0:14:48 > 0:14:50Yes, you will eventually have one.

0:14:50 > 0:14:53And the more of these chemicals you inhale

0:14:53 > 0:14:55as you continue to work in it,

0:14:55 > 0:14:58it can have an adverse affect on your body.

0:15:02 > 0:15:04Let me read some of these.

0:15:04 > 0:15:07"The rate of change is controlled by what factors?

0:15:07 > 0:15:10Temperature, concentration, time, and pH."

0:15:11 > 0:15:13Wow, what's that word?

0:15:13 > 0:15:15What? Ammonium thioglycolate?

0:15:15 > 0:15:16Wait. Say that again to the camera.

0:15:16 > 0:15:18Ammonium thioglycolate.

0:15:18 > 0:15:22You're smart.

0:15:22 > 0:15:24Enrolment at the Dudley School of Beauty

0:15:24 > 0:15:27means one thing - long nights poring over scalp theory.

0:15:27 > 0:15:29These budding hair scholars

0:15:29 > 0:15:31master the chemistry of Dudley products

0:15:31 > 0:15:33and how to use them on mannequins,

0:15:33 > 0:15:35even white mannequins.

0:15:35 > 0:15:38They are also tested on the finer points

0:15:38 > 0:15:40of how not to put relaxer in the eyes,

0:15:40 > 0:15:43how not to burn ears with hot combs,

0:15:43 > 0:15:45but most importantly, they learn

0:15:45 > 0:15:47that if you can make enough black women happy,

0:15:47 > 0:15:50you can live like a king.

0:15:52 > 0:15:53When you go back home,

0:15:53 > 0:15:55I want you to tell the world,

0:15:55 > 0:15:58we manufacture our own product,

0:15:58 > 0:16:02we sell our own product to our own, through our own.

0:16:02 > 0:16:08That's the reason why we will never sell our company.

0:16:08 > 0:16:11Because if I asked you to take off the clothes

0:16:11 > 0:16:13that you didn't buy from your race,

0:16:13 > 0:16:16it would be a nudist camp in here right now.

0:16:18 > 0:16:19The nudity thing was a little weird,

0:16:19 > 0:16:21but if you sniff enough chemicals,

0:16:21 > 0:16:23you just might say anything.

0:16:23 > 0:16:24But I've got to admit,

0:16:24 > 0:16:26looking at these proud black women

0:16:26 > 0:16:29just made me think about my daughters.

0:16:30 > 0:16:32So the next day, I got on a plane

0:16:32 > 0:16:35and went to meet the Dalai Lama of hair himself.

0:16:35 > 0:16:38Tell me, when was the first time you had relaxer in your hair?

0:16:40 > 0:16:41Late '70s.

0:16:41 > 0:16:45James Brown, who was like the father I've never had,

0:16:45 > 0:16:47was in his office one evening in Augusta, Georgia,

0:16:47 > 0:16:49and he said to me

0:16:49 > 0:16:51that he was real tight with the Republicans.

0:16:51 > 0:16:53And I said, "Well, if you so tight,

0:16:53 > 0:16:56"why don't you get us Martin Luther King's birthday

0:16:56 > 0:16:57"a federal holiday?"

0:16:57 > 0:16:58He said, "Get the White House on the phone."

0:16:58 > 0:17:00I said, "Oh, yeah, right."

0:17:00 > 0:17:02But I told his secretary, "Get the White House on the phone."

0:17:02 > 0:17:03They left a message.

0:17:03 > 0:17:05Three hours later, to my surprise,

0:17:05 > 0:17:06the White House called back.

0:17:06 > 0:17:07He got on the phone

0:17:07 > 0:17:10and told them he wanted to come see President Reagan.

0:17:10 > 0:17:13So they agreed to meet on January 15th, '82.

0:17:13 > 0:17:15And I'll never forget, he said,

0:17:15 > 0:17:18"When you go to the White House, I want you to look like me,

0:17:18 > 0:17:20"cos when people see you, I want 'em to see me.

0:17:20 > 0:17:21"You're a reflection of me."

0:17:21 > 0:17:24He took me to a lady in Augusta named Mary.

0:17:24 > 0:17:26He said, "I want you to style Rev's hair like mine."

0:17:26 > 0:17:29But that's the day we went to the White House, right there.

0:17:30 > 0:17:33When was the first time you had a relaxer?

0:17:33 > 0:17:34I was nine.

0:17:34 > 0:17:36I remember the exact day.

0:17:36 > 0:17:37And I was, like, "Mama, I want to get my hair done.

0:17:37 > 0:17:39"I want a relaxer."

0:17:39 > 0:17:41And she was, like, "What do you know about relaxers?"

0:17:41 > 0:17:43And I was, like, "I want a relaxer."

0:17:43 > 0:17:44At nine years old, I got my first relaxer

0:17:44 > 0:17:47and I remember it just being...

0:17:47 > 0:17:48it was like a miracle.

0:17:48 > 0:17:49I think you're trying to blend in.

0:17:49 > 0:17:52I think you're trying to make everybody comfortable.

0:17:52 > 0:17:53Relaxed.

0:17:53 > 0:17:54Relaxed and not, like,

0:17:54 > 0:17:56"Oh, my God, what is that?" you know?

0:17:56 > 0:17:58That's what the relaxer does. It relaxes people.

0:17:58 > 0:18:00How old were you

0:18:00 > 0:18:03the first time you got a relaxer?

0:18:03 > 0:18:05Oh, God.

0:18:05 > 0:18:07I was about 70.

0:18:07 > 0:18:0970?

0:18:09 > 0:18:10You went your whole life?

0:18:10 > 0:18:13Not my whole life. I'm still alive.

0:18:15 > 0:18:18I relaxed my hair when I was in the tenth grade.

0:18:18 > 0:18:20And I'll tell you, when you was really gangster,

0:18:20 > 0:18:22you could show up in homeroom with rollers in your hair.

0:18:22 > 0:18:25And you had rank by how big the rollers were.

0:18:25 > 0:18:26Like, the yellow rollers were smaller,

0:18:26 > 0:18:28and they get bigger and bigger.

0:18:28 > 0:18:30The orange rollers meant you had more hair,

0:18:30 > 0:18:32so it was like,

0:18:32 > 0:18:33I actually got a mug shot some-damn-where

0:18:33 > 0:18:36with rollers in my hair.

0:18:36 > 0:18:38Yeah.

0:18:38 > 0:18:40I have a relaxer. I am on the creamy crack.

0:18:40 > 0:18:42You call it "creamy crack"?

0:18:42 > 0:18:43Because once you're on it,

0:18:43 > 0:18:47unfortunately, people tend to have a difficult time getting off of it.

0:18:47 > 0:18:50Creamy crack.

0:18:50 > 0:18:53So you're saying your hair's addicted to relaxer?

0:18:53 > 0:18:57It was. For a time, I was the first one at the beauty shop.

0:18:57 > 0:18:59I was like, "I feel roots.

0:18:59 > 0:19:00"Hook it up."

0:19:00 > 0:19:02I don't know.

0:19:02 > 0:19:03I was taught by a lot of old hustlers.

0:19:03 > 0:19:05They said that the only way

0:19:05 > 0:19:06you could have a upper hand on a woman

0:19:06 > 0:19:09is to be flyer than her.

0:19:18 > 0:19:20Tell us about the first time you ever got...

0:19:20 > 0:19:21- the process. - - The cook-up?

0:19:21 > 0:19:25Yeah, the cook-up.

0:19:25 > 0:19:26You got to wash that out immediately.

0:19:26 > 0:19:29Soon as it starts to burn,

0:19:29 > 0:19:30you got to get to the sink immediately,

0:19:30 > 0:19:32or else you lose your hair.

0:19:32 > 0:19:35The burn of a perm is, I think, the most excruciating burn.

0:19:35 > 0:19:37I think it's hotter than fire.

0:19:37 > 0:19:39Especially the first time.

0:19:39 > 0:19:40I mean, the first time,

0:19:40 > 0:19:43you've never felt like your whole skull is on fire,

0:19:44 > 0:19:46and why are you doing this?

0:19:46 > 0:19:49If you have maybe like a pimple or something in your scalp,

0:19:50 > 0:19:54and that stuff gets in, it'll start to burn.

0:19:54 > 0:19:55But usually if you're really trying to relax your hair,

0:19:55 > 0:19:57it's kind of like a torture session.

0:19:57 > 0:20:00It's like you want it to get as straight as possible,

0:20:00 > 0:20:01so you feel it burning,

0:20:01 > 0:20:02but you be like, "Just a little longer.

0:20:02 > 0:20:04- "Just a little longer. - A little bit longer.

0:20:04 > 0:20:05"Wash it out!"

0:20:05 > 0:20:08Anybody here ever been shot?

0:20:08 > 0:20:09So what felt worse,

0:20:09 > 0:20:13the bullet or the relaxer?

0:20:13 > 0:20:15Anybody here have a baby?

0:20:15 > 0:20:16What's more pain,

0:20:16 > 0:20:19a chemical burn or childbirth?

0:20:20 > 0:20:21Childbirth.

0:20:21 > 0:20:24But what if you had to have a bad perm for eight hours?

0:20:25 > 0:20:29I don't know.

0:20:29 > 0:20:31Where were you shot?

0:20:31 > 0:20:32In the face.

0:20:32 > 0:20:33You got shot in the face?

0:20:33 > 0:20:35That's a pretty bad shot.

0:20:35 > 0:20:37I was the first 50 Cent.

0:20:37 > 0:20:39Somebody just thought you was ugly?

0:20:39 > 0:20:40Could be.

0:20:40 > 0:20:43What's it feel like, the chemical burn?

0:20:43 > 0:20:44Can you explain it?

0:20:44 > 0:20:47Just like, you know, you're on fire, literally.

0:20:47 > 0:20:49You know, my head was just burning.

0:20:49 > 0:20:50The sensation was just horrible.

0:20:50 > 0:20:52Immediately, I just began to cry.

0:20:52 > 0:20:53It was horrible.

0:20:53 > 0:20:56The burning of the skin, the stripping,

0:20:56 > 0:20:58you know, the oozing, the weeping,

0:20:58 > 0:21:00all the things that go along with stripping

0:21:00 > 0:21:03that superficial epidermis off the skin.

0:21:03 > 0:21:06You can get a burn, like scabs around your head,

0:21:06 > 0:21:07in the middle of your head.

0:21:07 > 0:21:10It's supposed to take the knottiness of your hair

0:21:10 > 0:21:14down to some thin, laid-back, Suave Bolla Dominica hair.

0:21:14 > 0:21:18But if you leave it in too long, you just get Negro nappy scab,

0:21:18 > 0:21:21left the Concolean too long,

0:21:21 > 0:21:23and you just are walking around twisted

0:21:23 > 0:21:25with scabs on the front of your head.

0:21:25 > 0:21:27That's how my asymmetrical thing came in.

0:21:27 > 0:21:28Oh, yeah?

0:21:28 > 0:21:31Remember when my sister did my hair?

0:21:31 > 0:21:34- And then this whole side was burnt off.- I remember.

0:21:34 > 0:21:35And then that's how the style

0:21:35 > 0:21:38of the asymmetrical look came in with Salt-n-Pepa.

0:21:38 > 0:21:41And I had to shave off one side of my hair,

0:21:41 > 0:21:44and that's how my hair fell out.

0:21:44 > 0:21:46I remember that. That was devastating.

0:21:46 > 0:21:47I was really hurt for you.

0:21:47 > 0:21:49In the "Push It" video.

0:21:49 > 0:21:52Right before that.

0:21:52 > 0:21:54Cos in the "Push it" video, it's kind of...

0:21:54 > 0:21:56And then you were colouring it in with...

0:21:56 > 0:21:58- With pencil. - With brown pencil.

0:21:58 > 0:22:00I was colouring in those spots for you.

0:22:00 > 0:22:01I remember that.

0:22:01 > 0:22:02Can you imagine that?

0:22:02 > 0:22:04And she's colouring my hair with pencil,

0:22:04 > 0:22:07trying to cover the bald spots.

0:22:08 > 0:22:12So, I'm here with Professor Berry, well-renowned.

0:22:12 > 0:22:14Now, could you tell us

0:22:14 > 0:22:17exactly how dangerous sodium hydroxide is?

0:22:17 > 0:22:21Sodium hydroxide will burn through your skin.

0:22:21 > 0:22:22The chicken is your skin.

0:22:22 > 0:22:25OK. So it'll go from my brown skin down to the white meat.

0:22:25 > 0:22:28- Right.- Wow.

0:22:28 > 0:22:30Now, you realise this goes on people's heads, right?

0:22:30 > 0:22:31Sodium hydroxide?

0:22:31 > 0:22:35Yeah, black people, black women, some men...

0:22:35 > 0:22:37You know, Morris Day, Prince...

0:22:37 > 0:22:41put sodium hydroxide in their hair to straighten it out.

0:22:41 > 0:22:42Why would they do that?

0:22:42 > 0:22:43To look white.

0:22:43 > 0:22:45Probably what the sodium hydroxide is doing

0:22:45 > 0:22:48is actually breaking down the protein in their hair.

0:22:48 > 0:22:51If it gets down into the scalp, it'll kill it at the root,

0:22:51 > 0:22:54and you'll actually have bald spots there.

0:22:54 > 0:22:55If you're a beautician or something,

0:22:55 > 0:22:58and you deal in sodium hydroxide all day,

0:22:58 > 0:23:00- I mean... - I wouldn't do it.

0:23:00 > 0:23:03If you breathe just the fumes from sodium hydroxide,

0:23:03 > 0:23:05those fumes will ruin your lungs.

0:23:05 > 0:23:06They'll damage your lungs permanently.

0:23:06 > 0:23:07Wow.

0:23:07 > 0:23:10Now, this is an aluminium soft drink can,

0:23:12 > 0:23:15and it's been in sodium hydroxide for just over an hour.

0:23:15 > 0:23:18Another aluminium soft drink can

0:23:18 > 0:23:21that's been in for about three hours.

0:23:22 > 0:23:25And then this one has been in

0:23:25 > 0:23:28for out four hours. It has disintegrated.

0:23:29 > 0:23:31So that can's got a good perm.

0:23:31 > 0:23:33That can's got a good perm.

0:23:40 > 0:23:43Wow, you're a good girl.

0:23:43 > 0:23:44How old are you?

0:23:44 > 0:23:45Six.

0:23:45 > 0:23:49Six. Getting that perm.

0:23:49 > 0:23:52What's the youngest kid you ever done?

0:23:52 > 0:23:53Three.

0:23:53 > 0:23:55Three?

0:23:55 > 0:23:58How long you been getting your hair permed?

0:23:59 > 0:24:01This is your second perm, huh?

0:24:01 > 0:24:02No.

0:24:02 > 0:24:04How many have you gotten?

0:24:04 > 0:24:07I had the texturizer, and some of my hair fell out,

0:24:07 > 0:24:10and my mama started giving me some Kidee Perms.

0:24:13 > 0:24:16So your mama gave you Kidee Perms?

0:24:16 > 0:24:18I didn't even know they had Kidee Perms.

0:24:18 > 0:24:20Of course, they go to the drugstore

0:24:20 > 0:24:22and they see Kidee Perm.

0:24:22 > 0:24:25Well, a kidee perm is really the same as any adult perm.

0:24:25 > 0:24:26It's just milder.

0:24:26 > 0:24:29But it's still that same chemical,

0:24:29 > 0:24:31that hydroxide chemical that can be very damaging.

0:24:31 > 0:24:33It would be like a kiddie beer.

0:24:33 > 0:24:35Right.

0:24:35 > 0:24:38Does your hair blow in the wind?

0:24:38 > 0:24:41Is it cuter than the other girls at school?

0:24:41 > 0:24:43Really?

0:24:43 > 0:24:46Sometimes their hair be hanging down longer than mine.

0:24:46 > 0:24:49The other girls at school got perms, too?

0:24:49 > 0:24:54I mean, I have had mothers that are starting to give their girls,

0:24:54 > 0:24:55their little girls perms,

0:24:55 > 0:24:57and they're not even two years old yet.

0:24:57 > 0:25:00They're calling regarding consultation

0:25:00 > 0:25:03on, "Dr Maclin, what do you think that I should do?

0:25:03 > 0:25:05"My daughter is one and a half,

0:25:05 > 0:25:08"and it's tough for me to comb her hair.

0:25:08 > 0:25:10"I'd really like to put a perm in. What do you think?"

0:25:10 > 0:25:12Under a certain age, the child is still growing,

0:25:12 > 0:25:13the scalp is still maturing,

0:25:13 > 0:25:15the follicles are still maturing.

0:25:15 > 0:25:18And if you're putting this chemical on too early,

0:25:18 > 0:25:20you're damaging your child's follicles almost for life.

0:25:22 > 0:25:27When was the first time you got a perm in Jaylin's hair?

0:25:27 > 0:25:29It was back in July, I think.

0:25:29 > 0:25:31How old was she?

0:25:31 > 0:25:34Three. She had turned three in June.

0:25:34 > 0:25:36Do you like gettin' perms?

0:25:36 > 0:25:38I got a little three-year-old, Zahra.

0:25:38 > 0:25:40She don't have a perm, though. Not yet.

0:25:40 > 0:25:41Should I get one for her?

0:25:41 > 0:25:43- Yes. - OK.

0:25:43 > 0:25:45Why should Zahra get a perm?

0:25:45 > 0:25:47Cos...

0:25:47 > 0:25:50she's supposed to get a perm.

0:25:50 > 0:25:51Cos everybody's supposed to get a perm?

0:25:51 > 0:25:54- Yes. - OK.

0:25:59 > 0:26:01When the time's right, I'm going to tell my daughters,

0:26:01 > 0:26:03"Don't drink, don't smoke,

0:26:03 > 0:26:05"and don't have babies till you're married."

0:26:05 > 0:26:08Now I got to add, "If you do have a baby,

0:26:08 > 0:26:10"make sure you don't get her a Kidee Perm."

0:26:10 > 0:26:13Wow.

0:26:18 > 0:26:21Now, it's five days till the show.

0:26:21 > 0:26:24What do you think you need to work on the most?

0:26:24 > 0:26:27Upside-down cuttin'.

0:26:32 > 0:26:34I'm hanging upside down from a bar,

0:26:34 > 0:26:37and I'm cutting one of my models' hair upside down.

0:26:37 > 0:26:39It's really hard.

0:26:39 > 0:26:42Oh, jeez.

0:26:42 > 0:26:44I'm scared.

0:26:44 > 0:26:46So are you going to try to cut in front of her face?

0:26:46 > 0:26:48Uh-uh. She going to have a spiked bob.

0:26:48 > 0:26:52OK, so you ain't... That'll make it easy.

0:26:52 > 0:26:53That's what I was tellin' you.

0:26:53 > 0:26:56It takes you so long to catch on here.

0:26:56 > 0:26:58In order to do great things, you know,

0:26:58 > 0:27:01you have to have greatness inside you.

0:27:01 > 0:27:03I believe the greatness is Jesus Christ.

0:27:03 > 0:27:06Our talent level might be right there,

0:27:06 > 0:27:08but it's that favour and anointing that we have

0:27:08 > 0:27:11that take us over the top.

0:27:14 > 0:27:17Now...sacrifice.

0:27:17 > 0:27:19If you ain't never been there, you're about to go there.

0:27:19 > 0:27:20So let's get ready, OK?

0:27:20 > 0:27:23Sacrifice. We're going to start a fast

0:27:23 > 0:27:26starting midnight tonight, no sodas...all right?

0:27:28 > 0:27:30No juice. Water only.

0:27:30 > 0:27:32We're purifying ourselves, OK?

0:27:32 > 0:27:34No snacks. Water only.

0:27:34 > 0:27:36No food?

0:27:36 > 0:27:39OK, first of all, hold on.

0:27:40 > 0:27:42You're not going to stand here and tell me

0:27:42 > 0:27:44what you are or not going to do, all right?

0:27:44 > 0:27:46Winners do one thing. Hold on.

0:27:46 > 0:27:49Winners do one thing... that's win. All right?

0:27:49 > 0:27:51And we're going to make some sacrifices.

0:27:51 > 0:27:54I've sacrificed a lot for this show.

0:27:55 > 0:27:57That's something I really don't believe in.

0:27:57 > 0:28:01- You're not a Christian? - No.

0:28:09 > 0:28:12Wow, she's gettin' debris out your nose.

0:28:12 > 0:28:13You went to school for this?

0:28:13 > 0:28:16Yes.

0:28:16 > 0:28:18Now, what does the feet washin' do for you, Derek?

0:28:18 > 0:28:21I'm wearing a four-inch boot for the show.

0:28:21 > 0:28:22- A four-inch boot?- Correct.

0:28:22 > 0:28:25And so I need to make sure that my feet is right

0:28:25 > 0:28:28so they won't be all hurtin' after I get off that stage.

0:28:29 > 0:28:32cos people don't want to see me nasty,

0:28:32 > 0:28:33so this is just my "me" time.

0:28:33 > 0:28:36So can you describe your show?

0:28:38 > 0:28:41It's a real high-energy show.

0:28:43 > 0:28:46I chose the theme "Battle of the Bands,"

0:28:46 > 0:28:47cos it's a big thing here in Atlanta.

0:28:47 > 0:28:50It basically shows rivalry throughout the first part of the show.

0:28:50 > 0:28:52Then everyone that's in the show come together

0:28:52 > 0:28:55to do this whole number at the end of the show.

0:28:55 > 0:28:56A lot of people are on point this year.

0:28:56 > 0:28:58I just like glamorous, sexy hair.

0:28:58 > 0:29:01That's what people want. That's what men want to see.

0:29:01 > 0:29:04Now, what do you have to say to the competition right now?

0:29:05 > 0:29:06Just come correct.

0:29:06 > 0:29:08You know, that's all I can really say to them.

0:29:08 > 0:29:10Just come correct. That's why they got me at the end.

0:29:10 > 0:29:12cos they know what's about to happen.

0:29:12 > 0:29:13You the headliner?

0:29:13 > 0:29:15Yep. They just my openers.

0:29:15 > 0:29:20Can you tell us about this year's competition

0:29:20 > 0:29:23and what you have planned?

0:29:24 > 0:29:27Basically, I have planned a bar scene

0:29:27 > 0:29:30called the "Aqua Bar."

0:29:33 > 0:29:35My theme is, I play the owner of a bar,

0:29:35 > 0:29:38and I'm the hairstylist that works at the bar sometimes, so...

0:29:41 > 0:29:42two other ladies come in the bar

0:29:42 > 0:29:44and they have these hideous ponytails

0:29:44 > 0:29:45that somebody put on their heads.

0:29:45 > 0:29:47I talk her into getting a haircut.

0:29:47 > 0:29:50And I tell her I have to wet it, and she says, "Water?"

0:29:50 > 0:29:52So then there's an aquarium at the back,

0:29:52 > 0:29:54so basically I throw her in the aquarium,

0:29:54 > 0:29:57and I jump in and cut her hair.

0:29:58 > 0:30:00So you're going to make it a little simpler this year by...

0:30:00 > 0:30:03I'm trying to make it simpler.

0:30:03 > 0:30:05By going underwater?

0:30:11 > 0:30:14How much time do you spend rehearsing for this show?

0:30:14 > 0:30:16I haven't rehearsed at all for this show.

0:30:16 > 0:30:19What I'm trying to do this year is a bit of an experiment.

0:30:19 > 0:30:24My theory is, if I can get into what makes women feel pretty

0:30:24 > 0:30:26or what makes women feel good,

0:30:26 > 0:30:28I can expand on that.

0:30:28 > 0:30:29So I'm trying something different this year

0:30:29 > 0:30:31for the hair competition.

0:30:31 > 0:30:32What are we seeing you for today, Jason?

0:30:32 > 0:30:36A little Restylane and a little Botox.

0:30:36 > 0:30:38A little bit of this and a little bit of that.

0:30:38 > 0:30:41- Fill this up. - Fill it up?

0:30:41 > 0:30:42OK, we'll fill it up.

0:30:42 > 0:30:44Let's get you over here on the table.

0:30:44 > 0:30:46I got to psych myself up.

0:30:46 > 0:30:47You're going to do great.

0:30:47 > 0:30:49I can do this. I can do it.

0:30:49 > 0:30:50Good. Excellent.

0:30:50 > 0:30:52I wish we had a Botox

0:30:52 > 0:30:55with something similar to the python venom.

0:30:56 > 0:30:58It's actually botulism toxin.

0:30:58 > 0:31:01What is the main ingredient in this Restylane?

0:31:01 > 0:31:02Hyaluronic acid.

0:31:02 > 0:31:03Like I know that that is.

0:31:03 > 0:31:04I don't want to be too aggressive

0:31:04 > 0:31:06since this is your first treatment, OK?

0:31:06 > 0:31:09Some of the girls that come into the salon say they get this done,

0:31:10 > 0:31:12so I'm excited to...

0:31:12 > 0:31:14I think you will end up loving it.

0:31:14 > 0:31:16I'm pleased with the way everything is looking now.

0:31:16 > 0:31:18The redness and the swelling are normal.

0:31:18 > 0:31:21That will dissipate over the next several hours to 48 hours.

0:31:23 > 0:31:25I don't feel as beautiful as I had anticipated.

0:31:25 > 0:31:29Ice the face over the next 30 minutes.

0:31:29 > 0:31:32I feel like I've been attacked by a thousand killer bees.

0:31:36 > 0:31:39We came up with a test, cos human hair actually...

0:31:39 > 0:31:41usually has a little weight to it, so it bounces.

0:31:41 > 0:31:43So if you ladies mind jumping up for me,

0:31:43 > 0:31:46you can kind of see which one's real and which one's not.

0:31:46 > 0:31:47Bounces. Bounces.

0:31:47 > 0:31:50Just sitting there.

0:31:50 > 0:31:51Not doing anything.

0:31:51 > 0:31:54They always say, "Diamonds are a girl's best friend."

0:31:54 > 0:31:56But diamonds better watch out,

0:31:56 > 0:31:57because there's a new friend in town,

0:31:57 > 0:31:59and its name is weave.

0:31:59 > 0:32:02I don't remember the world without weaves.

0:32:02 > 0:32:04Back in your mother's day, there was wigs, right?

0:32:04 > 0:32:07The weave is like a graduation from the wig.

0:32:07 > 0:32:11At least a weave is like an extension of reality.

0:32:11 > 0:32:14Maybe her mother's mother was an Indian or something.

0:32:14 > 0:32:17It's about big hair today. I can't keep up.

0:32:17 > 0:32:20I'm like, "Peps, you got to get this hair bigger, you know?"

0:32:20 > 0:32:22They just want a little fullness, a little thickness.

0:32:22 > 0:32:24They want their own hair but with some drama.

0:32:24 > 0:32:26Like, they want to go like this.

0:32:26 > 0:32:28Like in the movies in the 1970s or something.

0:32:28 > 0:32:30Like Farrah Fawcett.

0:32:30 > 0:32:32Those images are stuck in everybody's head,

0:32:32 > 0:32:34and they ain't lettin' them go.

0:32:34 > 0:32:35Chicks be wantin' to be blonde or something.

0:32:35 > 0:32:38When I first started going to Extensions Plus,

0:32:38 > 0:32:39which is where I get my hair from in LA,

0:32:39 > 0:32:41they used to have a back entrance,

0:32:41 > 0:32:43and going in Extensions Plus

0:32:43 > 0:32:45was like a scene from a James Bond movie.

0:32:45 > 0:32:47You have dark glasses

0:32:47 > 0:32:49and you pull up to the door and you run in,

0:32:49 > 0:32:52and it's like, "Did anybody see me? OK."

0:32:52 > 0:32:53You know, when I started doing it,

0:32:53 > 0:32:55women weren't as free to discuss,

0:32:55 > 0:32:56"No, this is really my hair."

0:32:56 > 0:32:58No, it's not. It's really not.

0:32:58 > 0:33:01So in the early days, everyone was lying?

0:33:01 > 0:33:02For the most part, yeah.

0:33:02 > 0:33:04Back in the day, a weave was kind of like

0:33:04 > 0:33:07you was in a secret weavy society, and it was like,

0:33:07 > 0:33:08we vow to weave together

0:33:08 > 0:33:11and we have little special weave sayings.

0:33:11 > 0:33:13I don't know. It was like a special little world

0:33:13 > 0:33:14that literally I had white friends

0:33:14 > 0:33:18who were like, "Your hair grew overnight!

0:33:18 > 0:33:20"A foot! How did you do that?"

0:33:20 > 0:33:22I mean, like, you know,

0:33:22 > 0:33:24they used to have these dolls in the Toys "R" Us

0:33:24 > 0:33:25that you could make their hair grow by pushing a button.

0:33:25 > 0:33:27I swear to God, they think black people had a little button

0:33:27 > 0:33:29at the small of our back

0:33:29 > 0:33:31where you just pressed the button and the hair grows.

0:33:31 > 0:33:33# Hair that grows Hair that goes

0:33:33 > 0:33:35# To here, to there... #

0:33:35 > 0:33:37You know, it was considered our beauty secrets

0:33:37 > 0:33:40that we just don't discuss. And now it's like,

0:33:40 > 0:33:41women stop other women on the street,

0:33:41 > 0:33:43like, "What kind of hair is that that you got?"

0:33:43 > 0:33:45And we share our secrets.

0:33:45 > 0:33:47The weave words and the weave culture,

0:33:47 > 0:33:49I wasn't in it for very long,

0:33:49 > 0:33:51but you have to get indoctrinated quick.

0:33:51 > 0:33:53So they teach you a lot.

0:33:53 > 0:33:55You know how you're in the desert,

0:33:55 > 0:33:58and you see, like, the tumbleweed going by,

0:33:58 > 0:33:59the scene in the movie?

0:33:59 > 0:34:01Well, if you're on 125th Street in Harlem,

0:34:01 > 0:34:04or Hillside Avenue in Jamaica, Queens, where I was,

0:34:04 > 0:34:06or any number of places in Brooklyn

0:34:06 > 0:34:08or Crenshaw or wherever you are in this country

0:34:08 > 0:34:09in a black neighbourhood,

0:34:09 > 0:34:12occasionally you will see the tumbling tumbleweave

0:34:12 > 0:34:13blow down the street.

0:34:13 > 0:34:16It's a ball of hair that's flying out of a door

0:34:16 > 0:34:20after they have done the weave and swept up the hair.

0:34:20 > 0:34:21They sweep it outside,

0:34:21 > 0:34:25and it goes tumbling down the street.

0:34:25 > 0:34:28And I call it the tumbling tumbleweave. I love it.

0:34:28 > 0:34:30Every time I see it, I'm, like, there goes the tumbleweave.

0:34:33 > 0:34:35The tumbling tumbleweave.

0:34:35 > 0:34:36I think the horrific part of the hair

0:34:36 > 0:34:40was when I really started to find out, you know,

0:34:40 > 0:34:41what they was doing.

0:34:41 > 0:34:43You know, because it was a mystery early,

0:34:43 > 0:34:48and then I was like, "OK, if it's a wig, do they take it off?"

0:34:48 > 0:34:49They're like, "No."

0:34:49 > 0:34:52How's it stay on? Glue?

0:34:52 > 0:34:54Sometimes, and they sew it.

0:34:54 > 0:34:55They sew it to what?

0:34:55 > 0:34:58Then I was getting more and more information and stuff.

0:34:58 > 0:35:00It was like a secret society,

0:35:00 > 0:35:04a hair society of what's really going on and stuff.

0:35:04 > 0:35:05It's very interesting.

0:35:05 > 0:35:07Do they have classes?

0:35:07 > 0:35:08I don't know, but I'm starting it.

0:35:08 > 0:35:11So you're like a weave scientist?

0:35:11 > 0:35:14Yeah, I'll note myself as a weave scientist.

0:35:14 > 0:35:16You're a weaveologist.

0:35:18 > 0:35:19So what's in your hair now?

0:35:19 > 0:35:21A few things.

0:35:21 > 0:35:24This hair, underneath the other hair, is thick hair.

0:35:24 > 0:35:26This is a weave right now.

0:35:26 > 0:35:29This is a weave. It's my edges and everything.

0:35:29 > 0:35:31I have pieces that are...

0:35:31 > 0:35:33..kind of, like, you know, like, extensions.

0:35:33 > 0:35:35Right now, I have clips in my hair.

0:35:35 > 0:35:38- I've attached... - ..two pieces here, because...

0:35:38 > 0:35:39- I want a little more... - ..fullness.

0:35:39 > 0:35:40Mine is all one unit.

0:35:40 > 0:35:42Like that.

0:35:42 > 0:35:43Oh, God.

0:35:43 > 0:35:46It's like Dr Frankenstein.

0:35:46 > 0:35:49- "It lives! It lives!" - "It lives! It lives!"

0:35:50 > 0:35:52There are a couple different ways of doing it.

0:35:52 > 0:35:54You could do tracks, where you just take a cornrow,

0:35:54 > 0:35:58and you attach the track onto the braid and sew.

0:35:58 > 0:36:00It you have a full weave, like myself,

0:36:00 > 0:36:03my entire hair is braided up,

0:36:03 > 0:36:07and then there's a very thin net that protects my hair,

0:36:07 > 0:36:10and then the tracks are actually braided onto the net.

0:36:10 > 0:36:12The thing about a successful weave,

0:36:12 > 0:36:14and as we say in our industry,

0:36:14 > 0:36:17"You got to know your weaver."

0:36:17 > 0:36:18Know your weaver, baby,

0:36:18 > 0:36:20cos you got to be able to do it and cut it.

0:36:20 > 0:36:22She's got to know what she's doing, right?

0:36:22 > 0:36:24I'm from New York, but I live in Colorado.

0:36:24 > 0:36:28You flew from Colorado to New York?

0:36:28 > 0:36:30Yep, to get my hair done. Yes, I did.

0:36:30 > 0:36:31How long is the flight?

0:36:31 > 0:36:33The flight is 3 1/2 hours.

0:36:33 > 0:36:35There should be a weave airline.

0:36:35 > 0:36:37Sometimes you got a long flight

0:36:37 > 0:36:39and you want to pass the time.

0:36:39 > 0:36:43If you could get your hair done on the flight...

0:36:43 > 0:36:44would you take that airline?

0:36:44 > 0:36:46Yes, I would.

0:36:46 > 0:36:48Every black woman in the country would take that airline.

0:36:48 > 0:36:51And when you land, your hair's done.

0:36:51 > 0:36:53Oh...

0:36:53 > 0:36:55Depending on who your hairdresser is,

0:36:55 > 0:36:58I mean, I've been in the chair for six to eight hours.

0:36:58 > 0:37:00Black men have to become very, very patient.

0:37:00 > 0:37:01It's like jail.

0:37:01 > 0:37:04And I remember it took a good five hours.

0:37:04 > 0:37:06It was a very intricate piece,

0:37:06 > 0:37:07and I was very particular.

0:37:07 > 0:37:09I don't like weaves that you can see the tracks.

0:37:09 > 0:37:11I don't like weaves where it looks like weaves.

0:37:11 > 0:37:12I don't like hair that looks like that waxy hair.

0:37:12 > 0:37:14If it looks waxy, it needs to look shiny,

0:37:14 > 0:37:15cos you put grease in it,

0:37:15 > 0:37:18not because there's extra pieces of plastic in it.

0:37:18 > 0:37:20I'm very particular about my hair.

0:37:20 > 0:37:22OK.

0:37:22 > 0:37:23I get serious, right?

0:37:23 > 0:37:25You're really serious about your weave.

0:37:25 > 0:37:27I love my weave. I do. I love it.

0:37:27 > 0:37:28I embrace it, yes.

0:37:28 > 0:37:30Do you have a pet name for your weave?

0:37:30 > 0:37:33No! Money. Bitch costs money.

0:37:33 > 0:37:37I paid a lot of money for this, but this is an investment.

0:37:37 > 0:37:40The black hair business is a 9 billion business.

0:37:40 > 0:37:4360% to 70% of the business is the weave hair alone.

0:37:44 > 0:37:47The margin is 125%, 150%.

0:37:47 > 0:37:48How much is this hair?

0:37:48 > 0:37:501,000.

0:37:50 > 0:37:521,000. For just the weave or the weave...?

0:37:52 > 0:37:54Just the weave, not the hair.

0:37:54 > 0:37:55The hair was more.

0:37:55 > 0:37:56Let me tell you, them prices can go up.

0:37:56 > 0:37:58One of these can run you 5,000.

0:37:58 > 0:38:00I'm famous for switching out my weaves

0:38:00 > 0:38:03once every month, cos I get bored.

0:38:03 > 0:38:05Is that 18,000 for the year?

0:38:05 > 0:38:06Yeah, about that.

0:38:06 > 0:38:09- Throughout her whole life? - Oh, my God!

0:38:09 > 0:38:10Probably about 150,000.

0:38:10 > 0:38:12Over. Oh, yeah, about that.

0:38:12 > 0:38:14I change my mind a lot.

0:38:14 > 0:38:17So some people have a wine cellar. You have a weave cellar.

0:38:17 > 0:38:191998, this was a good year for weaves.

0:38:19 > 0:38:21How much does this cost?

0:38:21 > 0:38:23- That's 1,000. - This is 1,000?

0:38:23 > 0:38:24Yes, it is.

0:38:24 > 0:38:27You come in... It's a maintenance.

0:38:27 > 0:38:29You got to come in every two weeks or once a week

0:38:29 > 0:38:30for wash and condition,

0:38:30 > 0:38:33and every six weeks, you have to get it retightened.

0:38:33 > 0:38:36Wow. This is amazing. 1,000.

0:38:36 > 0:38:38Yes. It starts at 1,000.

0:38:38 > 0:38:39It starts? So, how high...

0:38:39 > 0:38:41You can go as far as 3,500.

0:38:41 > 0:38:44- 3,500?- Yes, yes.

0:38:44 > 0:38:47- And who's payin' for this? - Ladies, workin' people.

0:38:47 > 0:38:51- Black women?- Black women, everyday people that are working

0:38:51 > 0:38:54and want to look good and look as natural as possible.

0:38:54 > 0:38:56She's wearing a hair unit over there.

0:38:56 > 0:38:57You? How much did you pay?

0:38:57 > 0:38:581,000.

0:38:58 > 0:39:00You paid 1,000?

0:39:00 > 0:39:02And those two ladies in the back over there.

0:39:02 > 0:39:06A question. Where do you work?

0:39:06 > 0:39:08I have my own business. Child care.

0:39:08 > 0:39:09Child care, OK.

0:39:09 > 0:39:12And you spent 1,000?

0:39:12 > 0:39:14And it's worth it.

0:39:14 > 0:39:15She's wearing one.

0:39:15 > 0:39:18Yours cost 1,000, too? Where do you work?

0:39:18 > 0:39:19I'm a schoolteacher and I'm a grad student.

0:39:19 > 0:39:23Wait a minute. Schoolteachers don't make no money.

0:39:23 > 0:39:26And this lady, she's getting hers for the first time today.

0:39:26 > 0:39:28You're getting your first 1,000 weave today?

0:39:28 > 0:39:29- I am.- Wow.

0:39:29 > 0:39:32But I raised the kids already, so it's my turn now.

0:39:32 > 0:39:34- It's your turn for the weave. - That's right.

0:39:34 > 0:39:36Good for you. 1,000.

0:39:36 > 0:39:38People don't realise how much money is in this.

0:39:38 > 0:39:41It just seems that your clientele

0:39:41 > 0:39:45is more hooked to this than, say, cocaine, because...

0:39:45 > 0:39:47Well, I'll tell you,

0:39:47 > 0:39:49once they start, they won't go back.

0:39:49 > 0:39:50They won't go back.

0:39:50 > 0:39:53She's been gettin' weaves for ten years.

0:39:53 > 0:39:57If she had a drug habit, she would've went to rehab by now.

0:39:57 > 0:40:00You know, even a bad drug addict got periods of sobriety.

0:40:00 > 0:40:03The weave is going to put you in situations

0:40:03 > 0:40:05that you don't want to be in.

0:40:05 > 0:40:06Yes.

0:40:06 > 0:40:07You going to have to date men you don't want to date

0:40:07 > 0:40:08just cos you hungry.

0:40:08 > 0:40:10Cos our hair's got to be weaved.

0:40:10 > 0:40:11Cos you got to pay the money on this weave.

0:40:11 > 0:40:14The problem is when it becomes something

0:40:14 > 0:40:15that's beyond your means,

0:40:15 > 0:40:18and we buy what we want rather than what we need.

0:40:18 > 0:40:20And I tell women all the time,

0:40:20 > 0:40:24"What do you have a 1,000 weave on for

0:40:24 > 0:40:25"and don't have food in the house for the kids?"

0:40:25 > 0:40:26It just doesn't make sense.

0:40:26 > 0:40:29How does the average girl pay for this?

0:40:29 > 0:40:31I have no idea.

0:40:31 > 0:40:33I think about that all the time.

0:40:33 > 0:40:35Like, what would I do

0:40:35 > 0:40:37if I didn't make the money that I have?

0:40:37 > 0:40:38I guess I'd...

0:40:38 > 0:40:40I have no idea.

0:40:50 > 0:40:51Are you payin' for this?

0:40:51 > 0:40:53I'm paying for it right now.

0:40:53 > 0:40:55Right now?

0:40:55 > 0:40:59You've had a man handle this expense before?

0:40:59 > 0:41:00Yes.

0:41:00 > 0:41:03Any of you guys ever been pressured into,

0:41:03 > 0:41:05you know, giving a woman some money

0:41:05 > 0:41:07because of an expensive weave?

0:41:07 > 0:41:10My mother and daughter.

0:41:10 > 0:41:12Mother and daughter?

0:41:12 > 0:41:14So you're spend on weaves...

0:41:14 > 0:41:17These weaves are hurtin' your pocket?

0:41:17 > 0:41:18A woman wants to look good,

0:41:18 > 0:41:22and a man is going to find money up under a rock

0:41:22 > 0:41:26so that she can be pleased by getting her hair done.

0:41:26 > 0:41:27Now, those are the facts.

0:41:27 > 0:41:31Well, I have a layaway plan on my hair units.

0:41:31 > 0:41:32So, you can layaway the weave?

0:41:32 > 0:41:34That's right. I have a layaway plan.

0:41:34 > 0:41:35This lady right now,

0:41:35 > 0:41:38in about another month or so, she's gettin' a new one.

0:41:38 > 0:41:41She already start payin' for her next weave.

0:41:41 > 0:41:44The price of maintaining a woman

0:41:44 > 0:41:47is like real estate in New York City.

0:41:47 > 0:41:49It's skyrocketing.

0:41:49 > 0:41:50It's beyond out of hand.

0:41:50 > 0:41:53One trip to the hairdresser, or the weaveologist,

0:41:53 > 0:41:55could leave you bankrupt.

0:41:55 > 0:41:58Do you think some of the men are being asked to subsidise

0:41:58 > 0:42:02this weave habit, and it's creating

0:42:02 > 0:42:05an animosity in the community?

0:42:05 > 0:42:07Oh, it definitely can create animosity.

0:42:07 > 0:42:10I mean, it's one thing for me to subsidise your living,

0:42:10 > 0:42:14or subsidise your education

0:42:14 > 0:42:16if you're young and I'm young and you're in school,

0:42:16 > 0:42:19or I'm going to help you with your kids even.

0:42:19 > 0:42:21But to subsidise your weave?

0:42:21 > 0:42:24I mean, hard enough for me to get a job,

0:42:24 > 0:42:26hard enough to go through school and get something,

0:42:26 > 0:42:30and you don't want me to help you with education, children, mama,

0:42:30 > 0:42:34401K, none of that.

0:42:34 > 0:42:36Your weave. You want me to go to work

0:42:36 > 0:42:39and invest in you puttin' some hair

0:42:39 > 0:42:40on the back of your head that ain't yours.

0:42:40 > 0:42:42I mean, I can't even write it off on my income tax.

0:42:42 > 0:42:46Maybe I should have, as part of my dependents, your weave.

0:42:46 > 0:42:49Cos your weave costs as much as some children.

0:42:49 > 0:42:50That's ridiculous.

0:42:50 > 0:42:53As you can see, the hair business can be cut-throat.

0:42:53 > 0:42:55So far I've learned that good hair

0:42:55 > 0:42:57could put you in the poorhouse,

0:42:57 > 0:43:00and if you're not careful, it could burn down your house.

0:43:00 > 0:43:03Back in Atlanta, the hair show battle was coming together,

0:43:03 > 0:43:06and I was wondering how our contestants were holding up.

0:43:06 > 0:43:10OK... we're going to see your first rehearsal on this stage.

0:43:10 > 0:43:12We have a problem.

0:43:12 > 0:43:13What's the problem?

0:43:13 > 0:43:15This stage is double the size it was last year.

0:43:15 > 0:43:16This is some bullshit.

0:43:16 > 0:43:18This really is, though.

0:43:18 > 0:43:20There's no way that y'all going to be able to make it

0:43:20 > 0:43:22all the way down this damn stage.

0:43:22 > 0:43:23I can't work with this.

0:43:23 > 0:43:26This stage is double the fuckin' size it was last year.

0:43:26 > 0:43:27This is some bullshit.

0:43:27 > 0:43:30Whose job was it to get you the measurements of the stage?

0:43:30 > 0:43:32Bronner Brothers. I don't have the right measurements.

0:43:32 > 0:43:35I don't have rules. I don't have shit.

0:43:37 > 0:43:41Derek, he said he didn't get the dimensions of the stage.

0:43:41 > 0:43:43- Oh, really?- Did you know the dimensions of the stage?

0:43:43 > 0:43:46Yes, I got it in my packet.

0:43:46 > 0:43:48Are you nervous?

0:43:48 > 0:43:49No, just anxious.

0:43:49 > 0:43:51- Just anxious?- Yeah.

0:43:51 > 0:43:54Like "anxious," you getting ready to kick somebody's ass?

0:43:54 > 0:43:56- Well, yeah.- OK.

0:43:56 > 0:43:58How was it, Tanya?

0:43:58 > 0:43:59It was fine.

0:43:59 > 0:44:01Leah, pay attention. Shit.

0:44:01 > 0:44:03It's plugged up. He already did.

0:44:03 > 0:44:05It's plugged up.

0:44:05 > 0:44:07It's on the cord.

0:44:07 > 0:44:10We kind of ran into every...mishap

0:44:10 > 0:44:11you can possibly have.

0:44:11 > 0:44:13It all had something to do with the show.

0:44:13 > 0:44:15What we got, ten minutes left now?

0:44:15 > 0:44:17Guys, come on!

0:44:17 > 0:44:18You name it, it happened.

0:44:18 > 0:44:20Lord Jesus, help me.

0:44:20 > 0:44:21I just know this is our destiny.

0:44:21 > 0:44:23You know what I'm saying?

0:44:23 > 0:44:26Through my prayers, through the vision that God gave me.

0:44:26 > 0:44:27And I said, "The next time it would be you."

0:44:27 > 0:44:30Did I not say that?

0:44:37 > 0:44:41Jason, everybody's rehearsin'.

0:44:41 > 0:44:42Everybody's rehearsin'. That's right.

0:44:42 > 0:44:43Except you.

0:44:43 > 0:44:45You're the only one.

0:44:45 > 0:44:48Yet, you're the favourite.

0:44:48 > 0:44:50I just can't see why I'm the favourite.

0:44:50 > 0:44:52I mean...

0:44:52 > 0:44:53Are you worried?

0:44:53 > 0:44:54- No.- You're not worried?

0:44:54 > 0:44:57Like I said, I would love to win,

0:44:57 > 0:44:59but, you know, whatever happens happens,

0:44:59 > 0:45:01and I'm excited either way.

0:45:01 > 0:45:02And no rehearsal?

0:45:02 > 0:45:03And no rehearsal.

0:45:03 > 0:45:05But we're going to look good.

0:45:05 > 0:45:06OK.

0:45:06 > 0:45:09Lookin' good is half of the battle.

0:45:11 > 0:45:13It may be all about looking good for Jason

0:45:13 > 0:45:15and the other hair show contestants,

0:45:15 > 0:45:18but it's all about cash for the 1,800 hair booth vendors.

0:45:21 > 0:45:27You guys are heads of the Black Owned Beauty Supplier Association.

0:45:27 > 0:45:28Most of the black manufacturers

0:45:28 > 0:45:30have sold their companies to the various companies

0:45:30 > 0:45:32like Revlon and L'Oreal.

0:45:32 > 0:45:35Do black people own anything in this room?

0:45:35 > 0:45:38We have a cluster of black manufacturers.

0:45:38 > 0:45:40And these two rows and this row here

0:45:40 > 0:45:42and this row here are all black entrepreneurs,

0:45:42 > 0:45:44black manufacturers.

0:45:44 > 0:45:45So of this whole convention,

0:45:45 > 0:45:47only two rows are owned by black people,

0:45:47 > 0:45:48but most of this is white?

0:45:48 > 0:45:51Most of it is, I think, Asian.

0:45:51 > 0:45:53- Asian?- Right.

0:45:53 > 0:45:54Most of the black hair money is made by Asians.

0:45:54 > 0:45:55Right, correct.

0:45:55 > 0:45:58Is it hard for black people to get in the black hair business?

0:45:58 > 0:46:00Yes, it is very hard

0:46:00 > 0:46:02for African-Americans to get into the hair business.

0:46:02 > 0:46:05The Koreans have dominated the manufacturing,

0:46:05 > 0:46:07and they also dominate the retail level.

0:46:07 > 0:46:09Koreans only sell to Korean retailers,

0:46:09 > 0:46:12but because the profit margin is so large,

0:46:12 > 0:46:14they will not sell to other African-Americans.

0:46:14 > 0:46:16Are you Korean?

0:46:16 > 0:46:17No, I am Chinese.

0:46:17 > 0:46:18Chinese, sorry.

0:46:18 > 0:46:20That's OK.

0:46:20 > 0:46:23Are Chinese people in China buying any black hair?

0:46:25 > 0:46:26We would like to.

0:46:26 > 0:46:28And second, we're not Chinese.

0:46:28 > 0:46:29We are Korean.

0:46:29 > 0:46:30Korean. Sorry.

0:46:30 > 0:46:33Imagine if I went into another community

0:46:33 > 0:46:37and just set up shop selling them what only they use.

0:46:37 > 0:46:39The question would be whether they'd call the cops

0:46:39 > 0:46:40or whether they'd just shoot me.

0:46:40 > 0:46:43But in our community, anything goes.

0:46:43 > 0:46:45And I think that a lot of that, we got to blame on ourselves.

0:46:45 > 0:46:48I mean, it's not like anybody else needs black hair products,

0:46:48 > 0:46:54so if we can't control what nobody uses but us,

0:46:54 > 0:46:57that is real economic retardation.

0:46:58 > 0:47:00How many other black hair companies

0:47:00 > 0:47:02do you know of that are black-owned?

0:47:02 > 0:47:04That manufacture their own products?

0:47:04 > 0:47:05That manufacture their own products.

0:47:05 > 0:47:07About four.

0:47:07 > 0:47:09Out of hundreds.

0:47:09 > 0:47:11So did the white man just buy up everybody else's company?

0:47:11 > 0:47:13Yeah. Yep.

0:47:13 > 0:47:17In 1987, Revlon's president,

0:47:17 > 0:47:19he said, "Eventually there are not going to be

0:47:19 > 0:47:21"any black-owned hair care companies."

0:47:21 > 0:47:23And then you could see the gradual takeover

0:47:23 > 0:47:25through the late '80s into the '90s,

0:47:25 > 0:47:27and now very few of the companies

0:47:27 > 0:47:31that market to African-Americans are black-owned.

0:47:31 > 0:47:34No wonder the schools and everything else is out of control.

0:47:34 > 0:47:37I mean, you get up and comb your oppression

0:47:37 > 0:47:38and exploitation every morning.

0:47:38 > 0:47:41Or you attach your economic exploitation

0:47:41 > 0:47:44to the back of your head every morning.

0:47:44 > 0:47:47Or you shove it down or you put it on the nightstand.

0:47:47 > 0:47:49"Here's my symbol of economic exploitation."

0:47:49 > 0:47:51Lights out, go to sleep,

0:47:51 > 0:47:53wake up, and cover it back up.

0:47:53 > 0:47:54How are you going to think right

0:47:54 > 0:47:57when you're wearing exploitation all the time?

0:47:57 > 0:47:59That is a real grassroots need,

0:47:59 > 0:48:02to recapture the fact that we can't control something

0:48:02 > 0:48:05as close to us as the hair on our head.

0:48:05 > 0:48:06People are complaining

0:48:06 > 0:48:09that black people aren't making any money off this hair,

0:48:09 > 0:48:12but the truth is, it's not our hair.

0:48:12 > 0:48:15When and if my daughters ever decide to buy hair,

0:48:15 > 0:48:18it can come from anyplace in the world.

0:48:18 > 0:48:21What kind of hair is the ponytail?

0:48:21 > 0:48:24I guess it would be considered...

0:48:24 > 0:48:27It's called "human" on the pack.

0:48:27 > 0:48:28What kind of hair is in there?

0:48:28 > 0:48:29Oh, my God. I didn't know

0:48:29 > 0:48:31you were going to ask all these questions.

0:48:31 > 0:48:35I would've called the lady that I bought it from.

0:48:35 > 0:48:37This is 100% human hair.

0:48:37 > 0:48:39Meaning that you can curl it,

0:48:39 > 0:48:40do whatever, and it won't melt.

0:48:40 > 0:48:42This is 100% real, baby.

0:48:42 > 0:48:44So do you have any idea

0:48:44 > 0:48:47what nationality these humans were?

0:48:47 > 0:48:51What part of the world these humans come from?

0:48:51 > 0:48:52Yes, Indian humans.

0:48:52 > 0:48:54Janet Jackson's hair is Indian hair?

0:48:54 > 0:48:55It's Indian hair.

0:48:55 > 0:48:56Who else got Indian hair?

0:48:56 > 0:48:58Right now, I have Indian hair.

0:48:58 > 0:49:01It's human hair, though, and it's prayed upon.

0:49:01 > 0:49:03Are you thinking... Are you considering...

0:49:03 > 0:49:06I see Jessica Simpson has her own weave line.

0:49:06 > 0:49:09Have you looked into having your own weave line?

0:49:09 > 0:49:12So there's a chance you may join the weave empire?

0:49:12 > 0:49:13I don't know.

0:49:13 > 0:49:15It depends on if I can get a straight connection to India.

0:49:15 > 0:49:18Then I will, yeah.

0:49:18 > 0:49:19You heard what Raven said.

0:49:19 > 0:49:21"A straight connection to India."

0:49:21 > 0:49:24Well, I guess that's where I got to go.

0:49:34 > 0:49:37This is India, a land with a population

0:49:37 > 0:49:39of over one billion people.

0:49:39 > 0:49:42A quarter of the population lives below the poverty line,

0:49:42 > 0:49:44making about forty cents a day.

0:49:44 > 0:49:47Good thing they don't need weaves.

0:49:48 > 0:49:51Overpopulation is at the root of much of India's problems,

0:49:51 > 0:49:53but there would be even less room

0:49:53 > 0:49:56if the Indians didn't ship out most of their hair.

0:49:56 > 0:49:59After software and statues with eighty pairs of hands,

0:49:59 > 0:50:02human hair is India's biggest export.

0:50:23 > 0:50:26My cab driver, Sanjeep, said if I wanted to find good hair,

0:50:26 > 0:50:29this was the place to go.

0:50:32 > 0:50:33All right.

0:50:33 > 0:50:34Mr Murali!

0:50:34 > 0:50:35Hello, how are you?

0:50:35 > 0:50:37All right. Chris Rock here.

0:50:37 > 0:50:39- All the way from America. - Yeah, very good.

0:50:39 > 0:50:40You are welcome to all this.

0:50:40 > 0:50:42Now, I hear you the man with the hair.

0:50:42 > 0:50:43Yes.

0:50:43 > 0:50:44You got more hair than anybody.

0:50:44 > 0:50:45Yes.

0:50:45 > 0:50:48If I want some Indian hair, you're the man to see.

0:50:48 > 0:50:51Yes.

0:50:51 > 0:50:53This is daily, we are getting like this.

0:50:53 > 0:50:55Collected from the temple.

0:50:55 > 0:50:56Wow. Well, show me some more.

0:50:56 > 0:50:59- Let's see some more. - Yes. Come.

0:51:01 > 0:51:03What are they doing right now?

0:51:03 > 0:51:06Now, this is the hair we have bought from the temple,

0:51:06 > 0:51:08and they're just segregating this thing.

0:51:08 > 0:51:11And this is before washing, we do like this.

0:51:12 > 0:51:13Then we go for a washing.

0:51:13 > 0:51:15Because there'll be some bugs.

0:51:15 > 0:51:17It is all dead bugs but some people,

0:51:17 > 0:51:19they don't like to have lice and bugs in their hair.

0:51:19 > 0:51:20Yeah, I don't.

0:51:20 > 0:51:23Whenever I buy hair, I don't want no bugs in it.

0:51:35 > 0:51:37This is the place where we process human hair.

0:51:37 > 0:51:39Weave paradise.

0:51:39 > 0:51:40Yes.

0:51:40 > 0:51:43So this is where the magic happens, huh?

0:51:43 > 0:51:46And everyone's got a perfect weave on their head.

0:51:48 > 0:51:49What are they doing right there?

0:51:49 > 0:51:50See, this is what I mean.

0:51:50 > 0:51:51I show you that after washing,

0:51:51 > 0:51:54they'll just put the hair on the hackle,

0:51:54 > 0:51:56there to remove this tangle,

0:51:56 > 0:51:58and they'll remove the top-side of the hair.

0:51:58 > 0:52:02So then it will be bundled, and it will be sold as bulk hair.

0:52:02 > 0:52:03OK.

0:52:03 > 0:52:05Approximately how many heads of hair

0:52:05 > 0:52:06are processed every day?

0:52:06 > 0:52:08- Not that, weight. - Kilos?

0:52:08 > 0:52:10So, you don't even care about the head.

0:52:10 > 0:52:11You measure by the kilo.

0:52:11 > 0:52:12We measure by kilo only.

0:52:12 > 0:52:14You like Scarface. "Keys."

0:52:14 > 0:52:15Kind of like cocaine.

0:52:15 > 0:52:18The hair business is probably an easier business to be in.

0:52:18 > 0:52:21- Yes, it is a legal one. - It's legal.

0:52:21 > 0:52:23Are there hair farms?

0:52:23 > 0:52:24Are there just places

0:52:24 > 0:52:26where just a bunch of women are sitting there growing hair?

0:52:26 > 0:52:28No.

0:52:28 > 0:52:30Everything's from sacrifice. Tonsure.

0:52:30 > 0:52:31Everything's from the sacrifice.

0:52:31 > 0:52:34Do your other friends sacrifice their hair, too?

0:52:34 > 0:52:36Yeah. Everybody does.

0:52:36 > 0:52:37Everybody does it.

0:52:37 > 0:52:39I guess nobody in India buys hair.

0:52:39 > 0:52:41Why? We already have our own hair.

0:52:41 > 0:52:44It's like fish buyin' water.

0:52:44 > 0:52:46Has anybody ever tried to steal your hair?

0:52:46 > 0:52:47No. Not yet.

0:52:47 > 0:52:49If you see some black women, just run the other way.

0:52:49 > 0:52:50OK.

0:52:50 > 0:52:53Now, there seems to be a great demand

0:52:53 > 0:52:57for the hair all over the world.

0:52:57 > 0:53:00Can the temple satisfy all the demand,

0:53:00 > 0:53:02or do people find other ways to get the hair?

0:53:13 > 0:53:15So let me get this straight.

0:53:15 > 0:53:17Women fall asleep,

0:53:17 > 0:53:19and while they're asleep, someone...

0:53:19 > 0:53:20Trimming their hair.

0:53:20 > 0:53:23Takes their hair. Does this happen a lot?

0:53:30 > 0:53:32Somebody is cutting hair.

0:53:32 > 0:53:34So you go see "I Am Legend,"

0:53:34 > 0:53:37and when you leave, you go, "I Am Bald."

0:53:50 > 0:53:52Hair is worth more than gold?

0:53:52 > 0:53:53Yes.

0:53:53 > 0:53:56And women are being scalped to get this hair.

0:53:59 > 0:54:01Ten inches and better?

0:54:01 > 0:54:02It's like porno.

0:54:02 > 0:54:03Tell me.

0:54:03 > 0:54:06I'd learned that this good hair

0:54:06 > 0:54:09came from a religious ceremony called "tonsure."

0:54:09 > 0:54:12And that's what I needed to see, the tonsure ceremony.

0:54:12 > 0:54:15If my daughters were going to eventually wear this hair,

0:54:15 > 0:54:18I needed to see what kind of person's head it had been on first.

0:54:34 > 0:54:37Over ten million people tonsure their hair every year.

0:54:39 > 0:54:42They tonsure their hair in exchange for the gods' blessings.

0:54:55 > 0:54:58Why do you tonsure your hair?

0:55:03 > 0:55:05You ever think about your hair?

0:55:08 > 0:55:11Thinkin' about seeing it again on somebody else?

0:55:12 > 0:55:15- God likes hair?- Yeah.

0:55:21 > 0:55:22Tonsure.

0:55:22 > 0:55:25That's the word we keep hearin'. Tonsure.

0:55:25 > 0:55:27Eighty-five percent of India's population

0:55:27 > 0:55:30have had their hair shaved at least twice in a lifetime

0:55:30 > 0:55:34in a religious ceremony known as tonsure.

0:55:34 > 0:55:36In India, hair is considered a vanity

0:55:36 > 0:55:39and removing hair is considered an act of self-sacrifice.

0:55:57 > 0:56:01CHILD SCREAMS

0:56:09 > 0:56:11By the end of the night,

0:56:11 > 0:56:13these pretty young girls will be baldheaded.

0:56:13 > 0:56:14And in a few weeks,

0:56:14 > 0:56:17their hair will be on the heads of doctors,

0:56:17 > 0:56:20lawyers, and even strippers swinging off of poles.

0:56:21 > 0:56:23These people have no idea where their hair's going

0:56:23 > 0:56:25or how much it's worth.

0:56:25 > 0:56:28The money made at this temple is second only to the Vatican.

0:56:28 > 0:56:31The hair collected here is auctioned off to exporters

0:56:31 > 0:56:34who distribute it around the planet.

0:56:34 > 0:56:36But its chief destination

0:56:36 > 0:56:39is the weave capital of the world, Los Angeles.

0:57:00 > 0:57:03- Vijay!- Hey.

0:57:03 > 0:57:04How's it goin', man?

0:57:04 > 0:57:05Good. How are you?

0:57:05 > 0:57:06- Can't wait to see what you got. - Oh, yes.

0:57:06 > 0:57:09All right, let's go in.

0:57:09 > 0:57:11Now, Vijay.

0:57:11 > 0:57:13How much money worth of hair

0:57:13 > 0:57:14do you have in that bag right now?

0:57:14 > 0:57:17Roughly about 10,000 to 15,000.

0:57:17 > 0:57:19- 15,000 worth of hair? - Yeah.

0:57:19 > 0:57:21Have you ever been robbed?

0:57:21 > 0:57:24No. Luckily, no. Touch wood.

0:57:24 > 0:57:25All right.

0:57:25 > 0:57:26Do you have security?

0:57:26 > 0:57:29No. The security is it's a suitcase,

0:57:29 > 0:57:32and they think it's clothes, and I'm a tourist.

0:57:32 > 0:57:33I need, uh...

0:57:33 > 0:57:35the auburn shades or the natural black?

0:57:35 > 0:57:37The natural black.

0:57:37 > 0:57:39And I need, like, 14 to 16 inch.

0:57:39 > 0:57:42Now, what are you lookin' for when you go through the hair?

0:57:42 > 0:57:46Well, one, I look to make sure that the ends are not so frayed.

0:57:46 > 0:57:47You know what I mean?

0:57:47 > 0:57:50I look to make sure that when I run my hands through it that it's silky.

0:57:50 > 0:57:53OK. Now, is this your first stop today?

0:57:53 > 0:57:56Yes. Today, it's my first shop.

0:57:56 > 0:57:58So you get it first?

0:57:58 > 0:58:01Beverly Hills gets it first?

0:58:01 > 0:58:04So you start here and then you go to Compton?

0:58:04 > 0:58:05It's not quite like that, Rock.

0:58:05 > 0:58:08Everything else works like that.

0:58:09 > 0:58:12OK, so you got this big-ass suitcase full of hair.

0:58:14 > 0:58:16And this is your first shop?

0:58:16 > 0:58:18Will you make it through the day with that?

0:58:18 > 0:58:21How long before all that hair is gone?

0:58:21 > 0:58:24It could be gone in a few hours.

0:58:24 > 0:58:25A few hours?

0:58:25 > 0:58:27Once the ladies get it, they want more.

0:58:27 > 0:58:29And they won't pay their rent to get their hair done.

0:58:29 > 0:58:32Yeah, there's a lot of that goin' on in America.

0:58:32 > 0:58:34A lot of foreclosures.

0:58:34 > 0:58:35But they got hair.

0:58:35 > 0:58:38There's no hair-closures goin' on.

0:58:38 > 0:58:39So if you not in the weave business,

0:58:39 > 0:58:42you not in the hair business.

0:58:42 > 0:58:44It's true, because you can't make the money.

0:58:44 > 0:58:46The weavin' is where the money is.

0:58:46 > 0:58:47It takes you up there.

0:58:47 > 0:58:49It puts you up there with the doctors, you know?

0:58:49 > 0:58:50It's that kind of income

0:58:50 > 0:58:52because you're finding something that you can really promote.

0:58:52 > 0:58:55It's like surgery. Non-surgical hair replacement.

0:58:55 > 0:58:56It's the real deal.

0:58:56 > 0:58:57You ever say, like,

0:58:57 > 0:59:00"Hey, this hair is from a Hindu princess"?

0:59:00 > 0:59:01Charge a little extra?

0:59:01 > 0:59:02No. Why should I say that?

0:59:02 > 0:59:06Well, I've put it on some celebrities and said, "This was on so-and-so.

0:59:06 > 0:59:08"I'll sell it to you if you want it."

0:59:08 > 0:59:09They'll buy it.

0:59:09 > 0:59:10"Ooh, I got so-and-so's hair."

0:59:10 > 0:59:12Really? So you can sell, like,

0:59:12 > 0:59:14a used weave if Angela Bassett had it?

0:59:14 > 0:59:17Yeah, she brings it back, then I resell it.

0:59:17 > 0:59:18I say, "Angela had it on her head."

0:59:18 > 0:59:19And they like, "Really?"

0:59:19 > 0:59:20"This is Vivica Fox hair."

0:59:20 > 0:59:22Yeah, and they'll buy.

0:59:22 > 0:59:25You know, she like Malaysian hair.

0:59:25 > 0:59:26Vivica likes Malaysian hair.

0:59:26 > 0:59:30She's not really into the Indian hair.

0:59:30 > 0:59:33I knew there was a market for selling Indian hair,

0:59:33 > 0:59:35but what I really wanted to know

0:59:35 > 0:59:38is if I could make any money at all selling black hair.

0:59:38 > 0:59:41Black hair!

0:59:43 > 0:59:46Black hair!

0:59:51 > 0:59:53How you doin', sir?

0:59:53 > 0:59:54OK, sir. How are you?

0:59:54 > 0:59:55Pretty good.

0:59:55 > 0:59:57So, you sell a lot of hair here?

0:59:57 > 0:59:58Yes.

0:59:58 > 0:59:59What kind of hair?

0:59:59 > 1:00:02We have Malaysian. We have the Indian hair.

1:00:02 > 1:00:03We have synthetic hair.

1:00:03 > 1:00:05We have so many different hair.

1:00:05 > 1:00:08- Wow. Do you have any hair from Africa?- Yes.

1:00:08 > 1:00:11Really? Can I see the African hair?

1:00:11 > 1:00:14Where is that?

1:00:14 > 1:00:17This is... That's not African hair.

1:00:17 > 1:00:19That's Indian hair. It says "Indian."

1:00:19 > 1:00:21India is Africa from Indians.

1:00:21 > 1:00:23- That's Indian hair?- Yes.

1:00:23 > 1:00:25- For African women?- Yes.

1:00:25 > 1:00:28See, I was tryin' to sell...

1:00:28 > 1:00:30I had Indian hair, and I sold it easy,

1:00:30 > 1:00:33but the black hair, nobody...

1:00:34 > 1:00:38Would you like to buy some black hair?

1:00:38 > 1:00:40I have all sorts of black hair here.

1:00:40 > 1:00:43Some of this hair is from Cleveland and Cincinnati.

1:00:45 > 1:00:47This hair is from Detroit.

1:00:47 > 1:00:49Well, you might want to take it back.

1:00:49 > 1:00:51So this is not good hair?

1:00:51 > 1:00:52Uh-uh.

1:00:52 > 1:00:54Is that off of someone else's...

1:00:54 > 1:00:57This hair was cut off at a Baptist temple.

1:00:58 > 1:01:00Uh, well, I couldn't...

1:01:00 > 1:01:03It wouldn't be healthful for me to sell that hair here.

1:01:03 > 1:01:05You think somebody's going to get sickle-cell

1:01:05 > 1:01:07or something from wearing black hair?

1:01:07 > 1:01:09Oh, yes.

1:01:09 > 1:01:11The hair's no good.

1:01:11 > 1:01:13But it's black hair for black people.

1:01:13 > 1:01:15But black people don't wear that no more.

1:01:15 > 1:01:18- So my nappy hair's not worth anything?- No.

1:01:18 > 1:01:20They don't want to look like, you know...

1:01:20 > 1:01:24like, you know, Africa, like this.

1:01:24 > 1:01:25They want to look the style.

1:01:25 > 1:01:27You know, right now, you look at all the magazines,

1:01:27 > 1:01:29all the style, what kind of styles they have.

1:01:29 > 1:01:31They want sexy-looking.

1:01:31 > 1:01:33So this is sexy?

1:01:33 > 1:01:36Nobody walks around with nappy hair no more.

1:01:36 > 1:01:38No more. You see, how many people, they do it?

1:01:38 > 1:01:41No. You make sure the hair's straight.

1:01:41 > 1:01:43Look more natural.

1:01:43 > 1:01:47As far as black women wearing hair from other nationalities

1:01:47 > 1:01:50or the hairstyles of other ethnicities and races,

1:01:50 > 1:01:54you know, I would just say that European and Asian hair,

1:01:54 > 1:02:00the texture seems to be the style

1:02:00 > 1:02:03that all women seem to be trying to achieve.

1:02:03 > 1:02:05I always was bothered by women

1:02:05 > 1:02:10that had it and used it as a power thing.

1:02:10 > 1:02:13It's kind of like, if I'm wearing somebody else's jewellery,

1:02:13 > 1:02:15but I'm flexin' it on you, that's kind of fake.

1:02:15 > 1:02:18So if you got a wig on, but you flexin' your hair

1:02:18 > 1:02:21like I'm supposed to give you points for that hair,

1:02:21 > 1:02:23I'm not giving you those points.

1:02:23 > 1:02:24I'll give you points for your ass.

1:02:24 > 1:02:26I'll give you points for your legs or your skin,

1:02:26 > 1:02:27but you don't get points for that.

1:02:27 > 1:02:30But you whippin' it at me like...

1:02:30 > 1:02:32And a real pimp can always look at a girl

1:02:32 > 1:02:34and know what she looks like baldheaded. Be like...

1:02:34 > 1:02:37You could see through the cap.

1:02:37 > 1:02:38I have alopecia,

1:02:38 > 1:02:42which causes hair loss on your head or on your body.

1:02:42 > 1:02:47I chose not to wear a wig for a number of reasons.

1:02:47 > 1:02:49There's this feeling about somehow hiding,

1:02:49 > 1:02:53and I never wanted to feel like I was hiding something.

1:02:53 > 1:02:56I wanted to deal with sort of accepting who you are

1:02:56 > 1:03:00and look in the mirror and feeling

1:03:00 > 1:03:03as though you're beautiful and legitimate.

1:03:03 > 1:03:07So I think the reason hair is so important

1:03:07 > 1:03:11is because our self-esteem is wrapped up in it.

1:03:11 > 1:03:15It's like a type of currency for us,

1:03:15 > 1:03:20even though those standards are completely unrealistic

1:03:20 > 1:03:22and unattainable, especially for black women.

1:03:22 > 1:03:24You know, you're going to be graduating soon,

1:03:24 > 1:03:26going out into the real world.

1:03:26 > 1:03:28You might have to pay your parents back

1:03:28 > 1:03:31for the weaves at some point.

1:03:31 > 1:03:33Do you think...

1:03:33 > 1:03:36you have a chance of getting a good job with natural hair,

1:03:36 > 1:03:39or are you going to need a weave to get a good job?

1:03:39 > 1:03:42Even though I think your Afro is kind of cute,

1:03:42 > 1:03:46if somebody came into my office with an Afro way out here

1:03:46 > 1:03:49and a suit, that just seems really out of place.

1:03:49 > 1:03:51It's like a contradiction.

1:03:51 > 1:03:53So I would kind of second-guess.

1:03:53 > 1:03:55And I agree with you.

1:03:55 > 1:03:58If I was going to, say, some new law firm,

1:03:58 > 1:04:00and you wanted to, you know, join,

1:04:00 > 1:04:02and I'm like, "OK, you look really nice,

1:04:02 > 1:04:03"and I'm understanding what you're saying,

1:04:03 > 1:04:04"but I can't get past the fact

1:04:04 > 1:04:07"that you're going to be sitting with big executives and all that,

1:04:07 > 1:04:10"and it's, like, they're not going to really take you seriously

1:04:10 > 1:04:17"for the fact that you just don't look too put together."

1:04:17 > 1:04:20You have to kind of really have conviction with it.

1:04:20 > 1:04:21cos there's so many pressures

1:04:21 > 1:04:23to straighten your hair all the time.

1:04:23 > 1:04:26But the result is a beautiful thing, you know.

1:04:27 > 1:04:29And it's funny, because I always think it's interesting

1:04:29 > 1:04:32that to keep my hair the same texture

1:04:32 > 1:04:36as it grows out of my head is looked at as revolutionary.

1:04:38 > 1:04:41Why is that?

1:04:44 > 1:04:47I seek them out with the natural hair.

1:04:47 > 1:04:49Now, do you seek out women with natural hair

1:04:49 > 1:04:50cos it's more affordable?

1:04:50 > 1:04:52Absolutely.

1:04:52 > 1:04:53How old are you?

1:04:53 > 1:04:54Nineteen.

1:04:54 > 1:04:55Nineteen. God.

1:04:55 > 1:04:56Have you ever seen a woman,

1:04:56 > 1:04:59seen her hair, and thought, "I can't afford her"?

1:05:02 > 1:05:03Sometimes.

1:05:03 > 1:05:05OK.

1:05:05 > 1:05:08I know how you feel.

1:05:09 > 1:05:10Does this have an effect on the relationships

1:05:10 > 1:05:12between black men and black women?

1:05:12 > 1:05:15Is there a pressure on a black man...

1:05:15 > 1:05:17Right.

1:05:17 > 1:05:18..that's dating a black woman

1:05:18 > 1:05:21that a white man doesn't have dating a white woman?

1:05:21 > 1:05:23A black man automatically knows,

1:05:23 > 1:05:26out the gate, especially if his mama's black,

1:05:26 > 1:05:28so he's already grown up in a household with a black woman.

1:05:28 > 1:05:30So he kind of understands

1:05:30 > 1:05:33the importance of getting the hair done

1:05:33 > 1:05:35and of the woman looking good,

1:05:35 > 1:05:38and he wants his woman to look good.

1:05:38 > 1:05:41Yeah, he probably has to make a bit of an investment in that area

1:05:41 > 1:05:45and just know that's part of being a black woman,

1:05:45 > 1:05:47and I'm going to embrace that.

1:05:47 > 1:05:50I'm just sayin', your woman has a head of hair,

1:05:50 > 1:05:53it's like a condo, and you got to pay the maintenance.

1:05:55 > 1:05:57When your woman's hair is jacked,

1:05:57 > 1:06:01it's a reflection on you.

1:06:01 > 1:06:04And when you date a chick, as a single guy,

1:06:04 > 1:06:05when I go out with a girl and I look at her,

1:06:05 > 1:06:06and I'm looking at her hair,

1:06:06 > 1:06:08first thing I know,

1:06:08 > 1:06:10whether we could go to the bathhouse,

1:06:10 > 1:06:12steaming, swimming, or a beach trip,

1:06:12 > 1:06:13and is it going to be a big to-do?

1:06:13 > 1:06:16When you have natural hair, you can do stuff. More stuff.

1:06:16 > 1:06:20If I get caught in the rain, it's not the end of the day.

1:06:20 > 1:06:23She will be, like, "I don't want a massage,"

1:06:23 > 1:06:24or, "I don't want to go to the steam room."

1:06:24 > 1:06:25And you say, "Why not?"

1:06:25 > 1:06:26"I'm not tense."

1:06:26 > 1:06:28You know she's tense.

1:06:28 > 1:06:31She's tense at the idea of the weave she just paid for

1:06:31 > 1:06:32just fallin' to pieces.

1:06:32 > 1:06:34Do you swim?

1:06:34 > 1:06:37I have a pool.

1:06:37 > 1:06:39That doesn't answer the question.

1:06:39 > 1:06:40I do have a pool.

1:06:40 > 1:06:42I can definitely get in the water.

1:06:42 > 1:06:44I definitely get in the water, from about here down.

1:06:44 > 1:06:46You don't swim?

1:06:46 > 1:06:48No. We don't play those games.

1:06:48 > 1:06:51He's got to be really special for me to get my hair wet.

1:06:51 > 1:06:52Taking a shower together

1:06:52 > 1:06:54could be more intimate than having sex.

1:06:54 > 1:06:56Wow.

1:06:56 > 1:06:59That's damn near like, "You're my nigga for real."

1:07:00 > 1:07:02All my white classmates, whenever I'd get out of the pool

1:07:02 > 1:07:04and my hair went from straight to curly,

1:07:04 > 1:07:05they were like, "Wow!"

1:07:05 > 1:07:07And they'd pull on it. And I'm like...

1:07:07 > 1:07:08But they're curious.

1:07:08 > 1:07:12They're curious white people. It's OK.

1:07:12 > 1:07:13It's OK. You can touch it.

1:07:13 > 1:07:15But just be gentle, and if it's me.

1:07:15 > 1:07:18Don't just go walking up to a random black chick on the street

1:07:18 > 1:07:20and reach out to touch her hair,

1:07:20 > 1:07:21cos you might get hurt,

1:07:21 > 1:07:23your fingers broken, sawed off, something.

1:07:23 > 1:07:25Of course, a random white stranger

1:07:25 > 1:07:28shouldn't walk up and touch a black woman's hair,

1:07:28 > 1:07:30but what about her husband, her boyfriend?

1:07:30 > 1:07:32You'd be surprised.

1:07:32 > 1:07:34You guys, anybody ever been with a woman

1:07:34 > 1:07:37that you couldn't touch her hair?

1:07:37 > 1:07:39You know, when you can't put your hands

1:07:39 > 1:07:41through a woman's hair, there's a lack of intimacy.

1:07:41 > 1:07:44Have you ever put your hand through a black woman's hair?

1:07:44 > 1:07:45Not that I can remember.

1:07:45 > 1:07:47You can't touch a black woman's hair.

1:07:47 > 1:07:48You just don't touch it.

1:07:48 > 1:07:49Just leave it alone.

1:07:49 > 1:07:52Don't tell me I can't touch your head.

1:07:52 > 1:07:54It's decoration. Leave it alone.

1:07:54 > 1:07:55It's like plastic fruit?

1:07:55 > 1:07:58Kind of. Just leave it alone.

1:07:58 > 1:07:59I don't care if you got fake titties,

1:07:59 > 1:08:00I want to at least be able to squeeze 'em.

1:08:00 > 1:08:03There just can't be no off-limits to no parts of your body.

1:08:03 > 1:08:07If it's fake, cool, but I want to touch anyway.

1:08:07 > 1:08:09Like, really. Don't do that.

1:08:09 > 1:08:10cos I'll have to fight you.

1:08:10 > 1:08:13So, you can't touch your woman's hair?

1:08:13 > 1:08:15Hell, no! Not a black woman, right after she get it done.

1:08:15 > 1:08:17"Nigga, I just got this done.

1:08:17 > 1:08:19"Now let me wrap this up before we do anything."

1:08:19 > 1:08:22The weave, yeah, it does matter.

1:08:22 > 1:08:24It definitely matters if a girl got natural or weave.

1:08:24 > 1:08:25I like real hair.

1:08:25 > 1:08:27I mean, if you baldheaded, I'm cool with that, too.

1:08:27 > 1:08:29You can't run your fingers through,

1:08:29 > 1:08:31cos your fingers get stuck.

1:08:31 > 1:08:34Like a DJ!

1:08:35 > 1:08:36I don't want to run into the tracks

1:08:36 > 1:08:38and get caught up and got to reset the fingers,

1:08:38 > 1:08:39like, you know what I'm saying?

1:08:39 > 1:08:42It's like gettin' your fingernail stuck in a sweater or something,

1:08:42 > 1:08:43and you don't want that happening.

1:08:43 > 1:08:44That's just nasty.

1:08:44 > 1:08:46So weave-touching is off-limits?

1:08:46 > 1:08:48Do not touch my weave, no.

1:08:48 > 1:08:50I don't even touch the inside of my weave, barely.

1:08:50 > 1:08:52But how close can you get with somebody

1:08:52 > 1:08:54if you can't touch their hair?

1:08:54 > 1:08:56I mean, at the right time, the right place,

1:08:56 > 1:08:58I might be in another zone,

1:08:58 > 1:09:01but if I'm in my right mind, get out my weave.

1:09:01 > 1:09:03So what, you got to be high for somebody to touch your weave?

1:09:03 > 1:09:04Maybe.

1:09:04 > 1:09:06Weave sex is a little awkward.

1:09:06 > 1:09:09What do you do?

1:09:10 > 1:09:14I guess stay on top.

1:09:14 > 1:09:16So if you're makin' love to one of these women

1:09:16 > 1:09:18and you want to roll your hands through their hair,

1:09:18 > 1:09:20you just got to really put all the...

1:09:20 > 1:09:23Put all your effort in the bangs.

1:09:23 > 1:09:24My advice for men

1:09:24 > 1:09:26when they're making love to a woman who has a weave

1:09:26 > 1:09:29is keep your hands on the titties.

1:09:29 > 1:09:31That's probably the safest bet.

1:09:31 > 1:09:33On the titties.

1:09:33 > 1:09:34You can only touch up to here,

1:09:34 > 1:09:37but if you get here, that's the forbidden zone?

1:09:37 > 1:09:38Exactly.

1:09:38 > 1:09:39You grab it during sex,

1:09:39 > 1:09:41it's going to tear the relationship's ass up.

1:09:41 > 1:09:43It's going to hurt the relationship, definitely,

1:09:43 > 1:09:44if you grab it during sex,

1:09:44 > 1:09:45cos it's going to go here, there.

1:09:45 > 1:09:47They don't want you pulling that tail!

1:09:47 > 1:09:50Maybe we stayed together back in the old days

1:09:50 > 1:09:52cos Kunta Kinte could put his hands through Kizzy's hair,

1:09:55 > 1:09:58thus bringing them closer together.

1:09:58 > 1:09:59Kizzy was his daughter.

1:09:59 > 1:10:01Oh, Kizzy was his daughter. I messed up.

1:10:01 > 1:10:04Does your wife let you touch her hair?

1:10:05 > 1:10:08The question is, do I let her touch mine?

1:10:10 > 1:10:12So I hung out with her a couple of times.

1:10:12 > 1:10:13You know, we went from partying

1:10:13 > 1:10:16to, like, maybe we should do something.

1:10:16 > 1:10:18You know, been over to my house a couple times,

1:10:18 > 1:10:20laid up in the bed a couple times.

1:10:20 > 1:10:22I ain't get at it yet, but I'm close.

1:10:22 > 1:10:24But I haven't ran my fingers through her hair

1:10:24 > 1:10:27because I'm not sure, is she really...

1:10:27 > 1:10:28Is that all her hair?

1:10:28 > 1:10:31And I don't want to ask her is that all her hair.

1:10:31 > 1:10:34And I don't want to fool around and rub my fingers through it,

1:10:34 > 1:10:35and say, "Wait, wait, wait, wait."

1:10:35 > 1:10:38That "wait, don't do that."

1:10:38 > 1:10:39I don't want to ruin the rhythm,

1:10:39 > 1:10:42so I've been waiting for a period

1:10:42 > 1:10:44where I ask her, what are the rules and regulations

1:10:44 > 1:10:47of messing with your hair and making you feel sexy?

1:10:48 > 1:10:49But I haven't got there yet.

1:10:49 > 1:10:52I'm still waiting for that moment.

1:10:54 > 1:10:55Hold up there. Hold a minute.

1:10:55 > 1:10:58I was making love to this woman one time, right?

1:10:58 > 1:11:01And I was, you know, gettin' it from the back.

1:11:01 > 1:11:03You know what I mean, right?

1:11:03 > 1:11:04You was getting it from the back?

1:11:04 > 1:11:06Doggy-style!

1:11:06 > 1:11:09And she told me...

1:11:09 > 1:11:11She told me to pull her hair.

1:11:11 > 1:11:12And when I pulled her hair...

1:11:12 > 1:11:14it came off.

1:11:14 > 1:11:16I said, "Uh-oh.

1:11:16 > 1:11:18"I think it looks like a man."

1:11:18 > 1:11:20- Oh, no! - But it wasn't.

1:11:20 > 1:11:21- We ain't talkin' about that. - But it wasn't.

1:11:21 > 1:11:24Baldheaded as could be.

1:11:24 > 1:11:26So, you cannot touch a black woman's hair.

1:11:26 > 1:11:28You can't. Wrong. You can't do it.

1:11:28 > 1:11:29Understandably so.

1:11:29 > 1:11:32If you paid 150 for a haircut,

1:11:32 > 1:11:33you wouldn't want people touchin' your head.

1:11:33 > 1:11:36You can't touch the weave?

1:11:36 > 1:11:38When was the last time you touched a woman's hair?

1:11:38 > 1:11:401986, before the market crash.

1:11:40 > 1:11:43The market crashed in '87, October 19th.

1:11:43 > 1:11:46The last time I was allowed to touch a broad's hair was...

1:11:49 > 1:11:50'86, somewhere in there.

1:11:50 > 1:11:52White women love you to touch their hair.

1:11:52 > 1:11:55Pull it, yank it. Twirlin' 'em around by it.

1:11:55 > 1:11:56Jump off the ceiling with it.

1:11:56 > 1:11:59Jump off the cliff and hang-glide with it.

1:11:59 > 1:12:01Is this why black men... some black men favour white women?

1:12:01 > 1:12:03- Yes. - No!

1:12:03 > 1:12:04I don't favour them, though.

1:12:04 > 1:12:06But some black men... not you...

1:12:06 > 1:12:09some black men do favour...

1:12:09 > 1:12:11- White women. - Yes.

1:12:11 > 1:12:14Do you feel a level of intimacy with a white woman

1:12:14 > 1:12:15that you cannot feel with a black woman?

1:12:15 > 1:12:17- Yes, I do! - I'm not going to say that.

1:12:17 > 1:12:19I'll speak up myself! Hell, yeah!

1:12:19 > 1:12:21Because there's no rules.

1:12:21 > 1:12:24I can do things with a white broad that I can't do with a black, yes!

1:12:24 > 1:12:26Not true. You got to find the right black woman.

1:12:40 > 1:12:42It's no secret that some of the best conversations

1:12:42 > 1:12:45happen in barbershops and hair salons.

1:12:45 > 1:12:46While the big hair business,

1:12:46 > 1:12:49like manufacturing and distribution isn't in black hands,

1:12:49 > 1:12:51these barbershops and hair salons

1:12:51 > 1:12:54employ thousands of black men and women all over the country,

1:12:55 > 1:12:56feed black babies,

1:12:56 > 1:12:59and send thousands of black kids to college.

1:12:59 > 1:13:00And they continue to act

1:13:00 > 1:13:02as social centres in their communities.

1:13:02 > 1:13:05As the barber, what is your role in the community?

1:13:05 > 1:13:09I'm the doctor. I'm the psychiatrist.

1:13:09 > 1:13:11Whatever it is you need,

1:13:11 > 1:13:12if I can help you, I'll try to help you.

1:13:12 > 1:13:14It's still an industry

1:13:14 > 1:13:16where somebody can go into business,

1:13:16 > 1:13:19make a lot of money, not have a college education,

1:13:19 > 1:13:21be able to do something wonderful for themselves

1:13:21 > 1:13:23and for their families

1:13:23 > 1:13:24and maybe even their communities.

1:13:24 > 1:13:25But there's this expression,

1:13:25 > 1:13:28this creative expression of black people

1:13:28 > 1:13:30that I think is shown when we see

1:13:30 > 1:13:34all of these amazing individual hairstyles.

1:13:34 > 1:13:36But what's the definition of style?

1:13:36 > 1:13:37Right there, that's style. See that?

1:13:37 > 1:13:39It's like a sculpture.

1:13:39 > 1:13:40Hairdressers are superstars.

1:13:40 > 1:13:42Barbers are superstars

1:13:42 > 1:13:45that are bigger than doctors, lawyers.

1:13:46 > 1:13:47What are your hair dreams?

1:13:47 > 1:13:50I want to own a whole chain of salons.

1:13:50 > 1:13:52- Like IHOPs. - Right.

1:13:52 > 1:13:53What's your hair dream?

1:13:53 > 1:13:55What's my hair dream?

1:13:55 > 1:13:58To own my own salon and be a platform artist.

1:13:58 > 1:14:00Platform artist? At the Bronner Brothers Show?

1:14:00 > 1:14:03Right. Like at the Bronner Brothers Show.

1:14:04 > 1:14:06So here we are in Atlanta.

1:14:06 > 1:14:08After months of rehearsals in the heat,

1:14:08 > 1:14:10fish tanks, Botox clinics,

1:14:10 > 1:14:12churches, and day spas,

1:14:12 > 1:14:15we finally made it to the Bronner Brothers hair competition,

1:14:15 > 1:14:18all in the pursuit of good hair.

1:14:18 > 1:14:19Now let's break it down.

1:14:19 > 1:14:21We have Jason,

1:14:21 > 1:14:24the self-proclaimed Rosa Parks of good hair,

1:14:24 > 1:14:25the favourite to win

1:14:25 > 1:14:27even though no-one has seen him practise.

1:14:27 > 1:14:29I told everybody to be here around 3:00.

1:14:29 > 1:14:32It's 3:05. It is what it is.

1:14:32 > 1:14:33We've got Tanya and Kevin,

1:14:33 > 1:14:35who have some beautiful models...

1:14:35 > 1:14:37Oh, God!

1:14:37 > 1:14:38And the Heavenly Father in their corner.

1:14:38 > 1:14:39Victory, Lord,

1:14:39 > 1:14:41in the name of Jesus and the Father,

1:14:41 > 1:14:44let Your will be done.

1:14:44 > 1:14:45And then there's Freddie,

1:14:45 > 1:14:48the old pro with the tragic history of elaborate themes gone wrong.

1:14:50 > 1:14:52Are they connected, they set up OK?

1:14:52 > 1:14:54And then there's Derek,

1:14:54 > 1:14:56a guy who's all about the hair.

1:14:56 > 1:14:57Have you seen the boots?

1:14:57 > 1:15:01Wow! That is some boot.

1:15:01 > 1:15:03All of them as representative of the black hair industry

1:15:03 > 1:15:06as anything the Bronner Brothers put on their shelves.

1:15:07 > 1:15:10Yes, folks, this is the alpha and omega,

1:15:10 > 1:15:12where it all begins and some of it ends,

1:15:12 > 1:15:16where the weave monster sleeps and the world of curl leaks.

1:15:16 > 1:15:19It's the Bronner Brothers Hair Battle Royale.

1:15:19 > 1:15:22Now let's get ready to do some really good hair.

1:15:22 > 1:15:25Hair is a woman's glory.

1:15:26 > 1:15:29And that you share that glory with your family.

1:15:31 > 1:15:34OK, before we start, let's meet our judges.

1:15:34 > 1:15:37First up, the beauty surgeon, Dr Dave Ray,

1:15:38 > 1:15:42internationally known weaveologist, Sammy Jones,

1:15:42 > 1:15:45hot comb expert Britannica Stewart,

1:15:45 > 1:15:47and, of course, former champion,

1:15:47 > 1:15:50the legendary Patrick Antonio Bradley.

1:15:55 > 1:15:57Welcome to the Hair Battle Royale.

1:15:57 > 1:15:58Here are the basic rules.

1:15:58 > 1:16:00There are four categories

1:16:00 > 1:16:02that each contestant will be judged on -

1:16:02 > 1:16:04originality, creativity,

1:16:04 > 1:16:05hairstyles,

1:16:05 > 1:16:07and audience participation.

1:16:07 > 1:16:08There's a mandatory three-cut.

1:16:08 > 1:16:11Three heads of hair must be combed and styled.

1:16:11 > 1:16:14They have fifteen minutes to complete a look...

1:16:14 > 1:16:16a fantasy look or an avant-garde look.

1:16:16 > 1:16:19And finally, they must present a central theme on stage with music.

1:16:22 > 1:16:25Tanya Crumel was born in New York

1:16:25 > 1:16:27and raised in Birmingham, Alabama.

1:16:27 > 1:16:30Tanya has been doing hair for 12 years

1:16:30 > 1:16:33under the instruction of Kevin Kirk.

1:16:33 > 1:16:35She gives total thanks to the Lord every single day.

1:16:35 > 1:16:40Ladies and gentlemen, give Tanya a great big round of applause.

1:16:50 > 1:16:53# Can you feel the flows? #

1:17:04 > 1:17:07Tanya came to hit hard!

1:17:09 > 1:17:12Don't hurt her.

1:17:27 > 1:17:30She don't want no split decision.

1:17:30 > 1:17:33She wants a knockout.

1:17:36 > 1:17:39Tanya Crumel.

1:17:41 > 1:17:42How'd you feel?

1:17:42 > 1:17:46I feel good!

1:17:46 > 1:17:49Is there anything you would change?

1:17:49 > 1:17:52Just when we were all certain that Tanya couldn't be topped,

1:17:53 > 1:17:56Jason's models arrived...

1:17:56 > 1:17:59with 700 carats of diamonds.

1:18:00 > 1:18:03Even our own camera crew was taken by surprise.

1:18:04 > 1:18:06Would this be the deciding factor

1:18:06 > 1:18:10in the 60th Annual Bronner Brothers Hair Battle Royale?

1:18:10 > 1:18:13Let's see.

1:18:24 > 1:18:27I was having the most amazing dream.

1:18:27 > 1:18:30Oh, well, it's time to go to work!

1:18:37 > 1:18:40Time to get that work done.

1:18:43 > 1:18:46Exercise.

1:18:46 > 1:18:49Getting in shape.

1:19:01 > 1:19:03Now we know why Jason didn't rehearse.

1:19:03 > 1:19:06No-one needs to choreograph hot women with no clothes on.

1:19:06 > 1:19:08If you like what you see,

1:19:08 > 1:19:11let me hear some noise out there.

1:19:11 > 1:19:13CHEERING

1:19:37 > 1:19:40Jason Griggers.

1:19:45 > 1:19:48Will it be a knockout?

1:19:48 > 1:19:49You're the best, Papa.

1:19:49 > 1:19:52Thank you. We'll see who's best, Mama.

1:19:53 > 1:19:54With such a hard act to follow,

1:19:54 > 1:19:57I could see that Freddie was cracking down on her team

1:19:57 > 1:19:58and internalising the pressure.

1:19:58 > 1:20:01Make sure when I cut you or curl, you work the judges.

1:20:01 > 1:20:04Work the judges. Smile.

1:20:04 > 1:20:06Seductive. Smile.

1:20:06 > 1:20:08There's no question that Freddie is a brilliant mind

1:20:08 > 1:20:10in the hair world,

1:20:10 > 1:20:12but after the failure of Broke Front Mountain,

1:20:12 > 1:20:14her success will depend on her ability

1:20:14 > 1:20:17to translate her concept into good hair.

1:20:22 > 1:20:25It's obvious at this point that Jason's styling ability

1:20:25 > 1:20:27is a thorn in Freddie's side.

1:20:27 > 1:20:29Freddie will have to harness her amateur models

1:20:29 > 1:20:32and rely on a complicated concept to earn the belt.

1:20:36 > 1:20:38All right, make some noise

1:20:38 > 1:20:41for Freddie J., ladies and gentlemen.

1:20:50 > 1:20:53Freddie had her whole camp out there exercising.

1:21:12 > 1:21:16The judges have no idea what's goin' on.

1:21:16 > 1:21:19Freddie really made it simple this time.

1:21:20 > 1:21:23Freddie knows how to handle it.

1:21:27 > 1:21:28Oh, my goodness, what are they doin'?

1:21:28 > 1:21:30She tryin' to cut her hair in there.

1:21:30 > 1:21:33She's cutting that hair underwater.

1:21:37 > 1:21:40I think they threw her in. What's goin' on?

1:21:40 > 1:21:43I need some help. Get the lights on.

1:21:45 > 1:21:48Freddie had a secret move.

1:21:50 > 1:21:53Freddie J.

1:21:53 > 1:21:56Come on, Atlanta, give it up for Freddie J.

1:22:01 > 1:22:02Aquarium, aquarium!

1:22:02 > 1:22:04Freddie!

1:22:04 > 1:22:06You did great.

1:22:06 > 1:22:07How'd you think it went?

1:22:07 > 1:22:09I didn't even know what was going on.

1:22:09 > 1:22:12While Freddie and her team were still catching their breath,

1:22:12 > 1:22:15scores of dancers and models began to amass around Derek J.

1:22:20 > 1:22:23He is Bronner Brothers' current Male Hairstylist of the Year.

1:22:26 > 1:22:29He will radiate his greatest potential to the world.

1:22:31 > 1:22:32So you're closin' the show?

1:22:32 > 1:22:33Yeah. They opened for me.

1:22:33 > 1:22:36Now it's time to have the all-time headliner.

1:22:36 > 1:22:37So you going to take this to the next level.

1:22:37 > 1:22:38Yes.

1:22:38 > 1:22:39Good luck.

1:22:39 > 1:22:41Ladies and gentlemen,

1:22:41 > 1:22:44I know you are ready to see the Battle continue.

1:22:48 > 1:22:51He is Derek J.

1:23:12 > 1:23:15He's in the house.

1:23:21 > 1:23:24Oh, my goodness!

1:23:24 > 1:23:26Remember, the maximum number of people

1:23:26 > 1:23:29allowed on stage is ten.

1:23:29 > 1:23:32Anything more should result in an automatic disqualification.

1:23:51 > 1:23:53Uh-oh.

1:23:53 > 1:23:55I think...

1:23:55 > 1:23:58he wants...

1:23:58 > 1:24:01to knock out.

1:24:32 > 1:24:34Ladies and gentlemen...

1:24:34 > 1:24:38Derek J.

1:24:38 > 1:24:40That was way more than ten people.

1:24:40 > 1:24:42- And nude. - But they was not on the stage.

1:24:42 > 1:24:45You know what I'm sayin'? So he found a loophole.

1:24:45 > 1:24:49You can have 20 dancers on the side of the stage,

1:24:49 > 1:24:51but they can't be on the stage.

1:24:51 > 1:24:54Yeah, but if I get two plane tickets to go to New York,

1:24:54 > 1:24:56and I show up with ten people

1:24:56 > 1:24:58and go, "Well, they're not going to sit,"

1:24:58 > 1:25:00they don't let me on the plane.

1:25:00 > 1:25:02I understand what you're sayin', but...

1:25:02 > 1:25:05So this man brought 70 people?

1:25:05 > 1:25:06It's a band.

1:25:06 > 1:25:09Earth, Wind, and Fire don't got 70 people.

1:25:09 > 1:25:12Even though the judges have not deliberated yet,

1:25:12 > 1:25:14Heavenly Father, we're going to stand in our faith

1:25:14 > 1:25:16and claim victory right now, Lord.

1:25:16 > 1:25:18Who do you think won?

1:25:18 > 1:25:20We did! Of course.

1:25:20 > 1:25:22All right. Take care.

1:25:22 > 1:25:24- OK. - Stay off the pipe.

1:25:24 > 1:25:26You guys still think you're going to win?

1:25:26 > 1:25:27Of course.

1:25:27 > 1:25:29There's no question.

1:25:29 > 1:25:31We're more about the substance than the show.

1:25:31 > 1:25:33They need to bring it back where it's about hair.

1:25:33 > 1:25:35Jason's assistant was right.

1:25:35 > 1:25:39At the end of the day, it's all about hair.

1:25:39 > 1:25:42And even though none of them cut that much hair,

1:25:42 > 1:25:45one of them was about to win this contest.

1:25:47 > 1:25:48Ladies and gentlemen,

1:25:48 > 1:25:51we've got a champion.

1:25:55 > 1:25:57Our winner is...

1:25:57 > 1:26:00Derek J.

1:26:08 > 1:26:11Did you all have Derek winning?

1:26:11 > 1:26:12Yes.

1:26:12 > 1:26:14Bringing out the marching band

1:26:14 > 1:26:18actually used more than ten people at one time.

1:26:18 > 1:26:20But they were not on the stage.

1:26:20 > 1:26:21To be honest with you, he was brilliant.

1:26:21 > 1:26:23Everything tied in for him.

1:26:23 > 1:26:24Jason was number two,

1:26:24 > 1:26:27but he was actually first in the hairstyles.

1:26:27 > 1:26:28But just like in basketball,

1:26:28 > 1:26:29you have to play offence and defence.

1:26:29 > 1:26:32Freddie's I didn't quite get it.

1:26:32 > 1:26:34I was like, "Well, where is the connection here?"

1:26:34 > 1:26:36You know, these people are in the club.

1:26:36 > 1:26:39Is there, you know, a fish tank in the club?

1:26:40 > 1:26:42It didn't congeal.

1:26:42 > 1:26:44So, Tanya lost.

1:26:44 > 1:26:45What advice would you have for her?

1:26:45 > 1:26:47Originality.

1:26:47 > 1:26:49Now, if she had did her homework

1:26:49 > 1:26:51and realised that cutting upside-down...

1:26:51 > 1:26:54some of the other competitors have done that years before.

1:26:54 > 1:26:55She's new to this,

1:26:55 > 1:26:57but maybe by the third time, she'll be all right.

1:26:57 > 1:26:59This is our Hollywood.

1:26:59 > 1:27:03Competing has literally become a profession in itself.

1:27:05 > 1:27:07In trying to understand the world of black hair,

1:27:07 > 1:27:10I've been all over the world,

1:27:10 > 1:27:12and I've talked to all sorts of people.

1:27:12 > 1:27:15I've seen sodium hydroxide in its rawest form

1:27:15 > 1:27:18and in the heads of four-year-old girls.

1:27:18 > 1:27:20I've seen some people pay thousands for hair

1:27:20 > 1:27:23and others give it away to God.

1:27:23 > 1:27:25I've learned that the black hair industry

1:27:25 > 1:27:27generates billions of dollars...

1:27:27 > 1:27:30mostly for white people and Asians.

1:27:30 > 1:27:33I've hung out with the best hairdressers in the country

1:27:33 > 1:27:35and watched a thrilling hair competition.

1:27:35 > 1:27:39I've seen black women work hard in their own businesses

1:27:39 > 1:27:42to give other black women straight hair.

1:27:42 > 1:27:45So what do I tell my daughters?

1:27:45 > 1:27:48I tell them that the stuff on top of their heads

1:27:48 > 1:27:50is nowhere near as important

1:27:50 > 1:27:53as the stuff inside their heads.

1:27:55 > 1:27:58Once we realised and identified who we were,

1:27:58 > 1:27:59then it became personal.

1:27:59 > 1:28:03Now I am also free to be who I want to be no matter what.

1:28:03 > 1:28:05So my relaxed hair is just, to me,

1:28:05 > 1:28:07as African-based as an Afro,

1:28:07 > 1:28:09because all of that came out of black culture.

1:28:09 > 1:28:10But I don't think it should be...

1:28:10 > 1:28:12I don't think this is... I'm not my hair.

1:28:12 > 1:28:15You know, it's just like putting on clothes.

1:28:15 > 1:28:17It changes, it alters your appearance.

1:28:17 > 1:28:18And it also alters the way

1:28:18 > 1:28:21that you are perceived to the world.

1:28:21 > 1:28:22Hair's very strong.

1:28:22 > 1:28:24There is no good hair. Hair is hair.

1:28:24 > 1:28:27You have to embrace what God's given you naturally

1:28:27 > 1:28:28and keep it moving.

1:28:28 > 1:28:29You got to work with what you got.

1:28:29 > 1:28:31Or weave in what you don't got.

1:28:31 > 1:28:34Or weave in what you don't got. Hey.

1:28:34 > 1:28:36This is like soul music crossing over, this weave thing.

1:28:36 > 1:28:38We don't even know how many white girls

1:28:38 > 1:28:40really got weaves.

1:28:40 > 1:28:41We should look at that, Chris.

1:28:41 > 1:28:43We should find out which of these girls

1:28:43 > 1:28:46that we think got long, wavy hair really got a weave?

1:28:48 > 1:28:51Black hair care manufacturers

1:28:51 > 1:28:53have turned the black hair care industry

1:28:53 > 1:28:57into a chemical waste dump.

1:28:57 > 1:28:58Who cares?

1:28:58 > 1:29:02Not one piece of research have gone on in America,

1:29:02 > 1:29:03while we have gone to the moon

1:29:03 > 1:29:06and walked on the moon,

1:29:06 > 1:29:08when our scientists have not even walked

1:29:08 > 1:29:10on a black woman's head.

1:29:10 > 1:29:12Natural hair is freedom.

1:29:17 > 1:29:20Black women, yes, we are high-maintenance.

1:29:20 > 1:29:25But with us, you get so much.

1:29:28 > 1:29:31I just think that women

1:29:31 > 1:29:33shouldn't point fingers at other women

1:29:33 > 1:29:36for whatever they're doing to enhance their bodies.

1:29:36 > 1:29:39Other than that, do whatever makes you feel good,

1:29:39 > 1:29:41because, trust me, if a woman ain't happy with herself,

1:29:41 > 1:29:43she going to bring nothing but pain

1:29:43 > 1:29:45to every fuckin' body around it.