ABSTRACT
This chapter focused on the marketing of hair care products to Black women through the medium of Essence and Ebony magazines. The purpose of looking at this magazines was to analyze the hair advertisements for adult women that encouraged the purchasing of chemical relaxer products that give consumers straightened hair. The chapter uses 1985 as a base year for Black-owned hair care manufacturers, 1990-1995 as transition periods in the hair care market, 2000 as a buyout year and 2005-2010 represent economic recessional changes in purchasing power and behavior of Black hair care/styling products. The chapter expands on the discussion of W. E. B. Du Bois linkage of Blacks supporting Black-owned businesses with the advancements to the race in general. Since the early 1900s, Black-owned hair care manufacturers were economically stable in the Black community. At that time, segregated business practices were the norm. The chapter shows that this segregation has harmed the Black community.
