With the recent downplay of natural hair vloggers by Essence Magazine, many vloggers/bloggers have been asking others for one, simple request…be supportive instead of tearing one another down.
Here is African Export’s view on the topic:
[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=esS5sXG455Q&feature=youtube_gdata_player[/youtube]
There is truly enough internet to go around, so there is no reason to “diss” natural women sharing their journey with the world.
Guest blogger, Jenni Lovette, had the following to say.
“There is nothing like having a strong support system. Whether it’s your family, friends, church members, co- workers, or just the general public, we all need support.
As women, we spend way too much time sizing each other up and I feel it’s time to change the whole idea that women don’t support each other. Can we do that?
I’m not saying you have to build a complete marketing program for your fellow lady friend, but a little push here and there has never hurt anyone. I absolutely LOVE sharing other designers, and biz owner’s info by word of mouth and social networks. It’s just my small way of showing love & support.
Being a small business owner today can be a dream OR a nightmare depending on how you pave the way. Add being a woman to that equation and who knows what battles you’ll face.
I say all of this to say, I love all of the designers, artists, crafters, creative minds, etc, and I will always support small businesses to the best of my abilities.
I challenge everyone who’s reading this to help another business out from time to time. Retweeet a link. Refer them to someone. Do a blog post on them. Review a product and give your honest feedback. BUY something!..LOL There are SO many ways to show support and trust me, it’s not taking any profit away from you.
God blesses those who bless others.
I love you guys!
Be encouraged……….”
Jenni Lovette~~
View the actual post for yourself here.
And also SUPPORT Jenni &Nina in the meantime:)
Http://youtube.com/beautifulbrwnbabydol
Http://jennilovette.com
Http://jennilovette.blogspot.com
Http://youtube.com/feelfree2luvjenni
Comments
7 responses to “SUPPORT! (REposted)”
I totally agree with you. At the end of the day, it’s more about being supportive. And I honestly don’t think that bloggers and vloggers should turn to, count on, or expect large corporations like Essence magazine to be supportive of their efforts. At the end of the day, Essence wants to be profitable (understandably, we live in a capitalist society) and will try to generate buzz for their online community over that of others. We have to rely on each other to a certain extent, as you mentioned.
Of course, there’s a way to encourage naturalistas to use the internet to get information, and do it right. That’s what my remix of the Essence faux pas attempts to do. Check it out http://naturalhairinthemedia.com/2011/12/18/essence-magazines-natural-hair-faux-pas-how-it-should-have-been-said/
I sooooo agree. That is why we started Natural La Glam. We have a feature called the MOBB feature which stands for minority owned brands and businesses. We are all about beauty, fashion and hair but most importantly we do it to support other minority owned small businesses.
I invite you to our blog to check out all the MOBB features we’ve had so far. Thanks.
Well said sis! I’m not sure if Essence also knows that NaturallyCurly.Com and Curly Nikki use vloggers and they support vloggers on their blog! They even came out and shot photos of curlies at a meetup! So I am a bit confused! However, as long as we keep uplifting each other we will always come out on top! xoxo
And it’s not that Essence was completely in the wrong, they just spoke out of place. No one asked them if they thought we should be listening to Youtubers…I think 90% of people know to take advice from others with a grain of salt (is that the saying??). If I try something just because another person did, I cannot get mad at them if it doesn’t work. Seeing as that’s not a major issue in the YT world, I’m not sure why Essence even said anything about it. Just because a person is a “stylist to the stars” doesn’t mean they know it all so I need to take their advice with a grain of salt as well. They didn’t think that short statement would cause such an uproar I suppose.
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Wow. I was pretty shocked to read about Essence but love this post. I agree with supporting. Here in DC we have a plethora of fashion/beauty bloggers and its just NOW feeling like we all support each other. I make it a point to retweet and link on my blog others who are making a difference or who have inspired me. Blogging is NOT a competition and we should all work together!!!!!
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