CurlyNikki Responds

brebre928

Well-Known Member
If anyone cares to read CurlyNikki posted to her blog about the drama that's going on.

http://www.curlynikki.com/2014/07/curlynikki-responds-to-ebonycom.html


For those that haven’t been following the natural hair drama (and I hope you haven’t, really), let me explain. About once or twice a year, I receive submissions from non-black readers. If you look back in the annals of the site, you’ll see that I’ve always chosen inclusion over exclusion and aired the ones that contributed meaningfully to the discussion. These ‘looser curly’ pieces were met with little opposition, but nevertheless, sometimes sparked a healthy debate. But a recent interview which featured Sarah, was met with much resistance. My good friends at Ebony.com published an editorial that weighed in on the debate. Since I found the article bogus and hypocritical, I felt compelled to respond.

Read On!>>>

Dear Ebony.com,

Or should I say, Dear Jamilah, whose article "does not reflect the views of Ebony.com". The controversy concerning the definition of the term 'natural' is one that is charged with emotion and often goes hand in hand with the issue of protecting 'the sanctity of black spaces.'

Many women sincerely feel that we must keep these spaces to ourselves in order to maintain a sense of self and security. You know what, they’re right. On the other hand, a lot of non-black women identify strongly with the self-esteem issues black women face as the result of cultural and institutionalized racism. If they feel this way, then they’re right too. I believe that the most important part of my job is to provide a space for all women to enjoy the security they deserve while living in a society that openly questions their legitimacy. Jamilah, if I am only providing enough space for my readers to feel comfortable in a room (or a blog) full of women similar to me, then I haven’t provided my readers any security at all.


Now, unless you’ve been in the natural hair game for less than 15 minutes, you know this whole argument is old as hell. I’ve come down clearly on the side of inclusion before. The reasons are simple, but I’ll state them again. Success in the natural hair movement is defined by the total acceptance of our hair by ourselves, and then ultimately, others.I and other bloggers have been working hard to make the natural hair movement popular. It’s obvious now that our impact on the hair care industry and popular culture has been tremendous. Generally, this has led to good outcomes like a crap load more products options, and a warmer reception among friends, family and colleagues. Without popularity, none of this would have been possible. However, we can't have popularity without sacrificing privacy. Is it worth the trade? Hmmm...who knows. As a practical matter, what I do know, is that it is difficult to try to make something popular and accepted by not sharing it with others. #WhereTheyDoThatAt

There are other advantages, too. If women from other cultures are inspired by our stories, I'm cool with that. This means that it will become easier for black women to display their blackness outside of our ‘safe’ black spaces. As far as I’m concerned, the site is doing exactly what I designed it to do- promote the natural hair movement. As for the decision to run the article, it was mine alone. I’m a dope black chick, and so I made the site in my image. This is the main reason why it features mostly other dope black chicks. But, I never gave any thought to excluding anyone. The site is for black women, and whoever else finds it useful. If you would have bothered to contact me, I could have told you that. For those that do feel a certain way, I don’t think that those views make them racist or somehow wrong. But, I do believe that we need to learn to have this conversation without attacking each other. If you're concerned about the integrity of this 'black space', I would direct you to the thousands of black women that have been featured elsewhere on this site. No really, all you have to do is scroll down.


What I found intriguing about your decision to speak on this matter was the strong sense of entitlement you must have felt to discuss the meaning and purpose of the blog I created. I mean if I understand you correctly, you’re on my side, but only because the site was never for black women anyway? Well, damn...with friends like that, who needs trolls? So, first things first, Jamilah, it’s obvious that you’re mistaken. As it turns out, featuring other ethnic groups does not mean that my blog is not for black women. Just like Ebony.com’s failure to show up for one of my charity promotions doesn’t make Ebony.com any less qualified to promote charities. Put a pin in that. But I’ve been thinking, who really is “here for black women?” Is CN dedicated to serving black women or not? Is Ebony.com dedicated to serving black women or not?

I must admit, I like the folks at Ebony (and Essence, too), especially since you've become more natural hair friendly. I do always wonder, however, why our biggest black publications didn’t lead the natural hair charge.


*pours Kermit tea*


At any rate, I have a good relationship with the folks at Ebony Online and I try to support your initiatives. Unfortunately, your article reminded me of an incident I had working with your team last December.




Last Christmas I went to South Africa for a service mission/vacation. I began doing these culture trips a while back...let's call them Curly Culture Missions. When I go, I usually serve my readership by telling them interesting stories about women like them around the world. On this particular trip, we found a great non-profit organization, Metro Kids South Africa that works with young black women (and children) in Cape Town. We knew this would be a great opportunity to help the organization with their mission and so we went to work. We looked for media outlets with wide distribution. We figured Ebony.com was an online publication that could (let’s face it), use some interesting features and perhaps some more traffic. We reached out and were happy to find that you all were excited about the project. So we get to Africa and start emailing you stories, only to find out that all of Ebony.com was on vacation. So here I am in Africa, trying to promote a charitable cause, and with ‘Christmas vacation’ on your horizon, several excuses and a few automated email responses later, the only thing that ran was the intro article which is still on your website, here. Just saying, what would Santa have to say about that? No really, let me reiterate. This would have done good for a lot of black women and children and would’ve cost Ebony.com nothing.




We had a very successful trip, raised some money for our charity and personally sponsored one of the young ladies who acts as a mentor to the younger children (pictured above). Still, we were disappointed that y'all dropped punted the ball. We saw for ourselves that the folks of Metro Kids South Africa really needed help and I tried my best to convey that to my audience. What was equally disappointing is that you all missed the story which ultimately led to THIS, and I can’t help but wonder how many women have been encouraged by seeing such a public figure show her natural beauty in such a public way.

I do appreciate your (and Ebony.com's) attempt to get a few extra pageviews bring attention to this important issue. Ultimately, it is a legitimate question. Must we do this natural hair thing ourselves in order to preserve a black space, or should we popularize and push our movement to the broader public? Both sides have legitimate points. To those that want to define the term natural for me, I've discussed it here, here and here.

Jamilah, I would like to thank you for bringing to light a very controversial and provoking topic. But, you’ll forgive me if I don’t, right? I and the rest of the community that I fight tooth and nail to represent, would very much appreciate it if you and your contemporaries would talk less and show up more. When you write about subjects that tear down a sense of community while ignoring the work I do to build them up, you remind me of the Pharisees who prayed loud, with many words, not to be holy, but just to be heard.


And the church said…

Later gators,
Nik
 

NaturallyATLPCH

Well-Known Member
Hmmmmm...so the Ebony article prompted the response but not the response about Waterlily or Sarah wanting to start a little controversy. OR the numerous comments under the article.

I think you did the same thing Nikki. It seems you wanted to broaden your reader base. Well congratulations, it worked.

Okay.
 
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MileHighDiva

A+ Hair Care Queen
tru4reele, I need Cliff Notes too! I can't make it past "pours kermit tea." What happened in Africa that concerns Ebony Magazine?
 
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hairsothick

Black and Magical
She went in on Jamilah Lamieux and ebony.com for the article that she published regarding the white girl drama.

She then proceeded to deflect and go off on them for not doing something for some charity she has.

Then she asked them why they (and Essence) didn't lead the natural hair movement if it was so important to them.

Also, the only way to make the natural hair movement popular is to share it with others.

*insert major eyeroll here*

I'm even more done with her than I was yesterday. Out of all of the people who have voiced their opinions on this matter, she chose to go off on Jamilah and ebony. And didn't really address anything that the white girl has said at all.
 

tru4reele

Well-Known Member
She went in on Jamilah Lamieux and ebony.com for the article that she published regarding the white girl drama. She then proceeded to deflect and go off on them for not doing something for some charity she has. Then she asked them why they (and Essence) didn't lead the natural hair movement if it was so important to them. Also, the only way to make the natural hair movement popular is to share it with others. *insert major eyeroll here* I'm even more done with her than I was yesterday. Out of all of the people who have voiced their opinions on this matter, she chose to go off on Jamilah and ebony. And didn't really address anything that the white girl has said at all.

So what's the white girl drama?
 

overtherainbow

Well-Known Member
She purposely missed the point, didn't even address the real issue (Sarah's dingbat answers and twitter responses), and instead, chose to verbally attack Jamilah, after complaining about the lack of cordial debate. Then, she proceeded to be extra with hashtags and "tea pouring". Her response was useless and catty and I wish I didn't take the time to read.
I really hope this does not turn into a back and fourth argument between them.
 

JulietWhiskey

Darkside of the moon
Curly Nikki is forever wack and I'm with you hairsothick. I'm SUPER good with her!

It is clear that she is trying to broaden her "brand," i.e. her monies by including those that really don't need to be included. She's on her "New Black" hella hard!

The Natural Hair movement is popular because WE (black women) made it popular, not because folk like Sarah "linked" up with us! The moment she sold her site to naturallycurly.com should have been a clue as to where this was all going (intergrationist, stepped on, gentrification of the site).


And I don't understand what her bringing up the charity in SA had to do with ANY of this controversy but whatever.

I won't be giving Nikki Walto any more of my clicks.
 

naturalmanenyc

Well-Known Member
I'm guessing this is more about the White woman being part if the natural hair community thread. Not reading all of that.

As someone with White family members and mixed family members, I prefer White women take the time to learn about and,if necessary, care for natural Black hair.

Not here to give more clicks to that blog.
 

cocosweet

Well-Known Member
So Felicity gets a pass?
Sure looks like it.

ETA: She should have just stopped right here in her reply without dragging poor Kermit into it:
For those that haven’t been following the natural hair drama (and I hope you haven’t, really), let me explain. About once or twice a year, I receive submissions from non-black readers. If you look back in the annals of the site, you’ll see that I’ve always chosen inclusion over exclusion and aired the ones that contributed meaningfully to the discussion. These ‘looser curly’ pieces were met with little opposition, but nevertheless, sometimes sparked a healthy debate. But a recent interview which featured Sarah, was met with much resistance. My good friends at Ebony.com published an editorial that weighed in on the debate. Since I found the article bogus and hypocritical, I felt compelled to respond.

Read On!>>>

Dear Ebony.com,

Or should I say, Dear Jamilah, whose article "does not reflect the views of Ebony.com". The controversy concerning the definition of the term 'natural' is one that is charged with emotion and often goes hand in hand with the issue of protecting 'the sanctity of black spaces.'

Many women sincerely feel that we must keep these spaces to ourselves in order to maintain a sense of self and security. You know what, they’re right. On the other hand, a lot of non-black women identify strongly with the self-esteem issues black women face as the result of cultural and institutionalized racism. If they feel this way, then they’re right too. I believe that the most important part of my job is to provide a space for all women to enjoy the security they deserve while living in a society that openly questions their legitimacy. Jamilah, if I am only providing enough space for my readers to feel comfortable in a room (or a blog) full of women similar to me, then I haven’t provided my readers any security at all.


Now, unless you’ve been in the natural hair game for less than 15 minutes, you know this whole argument is old as hell. I’ve come down clearly on the side of inclusion before. The reasons are simple, but I’ll state them again. Success in the natural hair movement is defined by the total acceptance of our hair by ourselves, and then ultimately, others.I and other bloggers have been working hard to make the natural hair movement popular. It’s obvious now that our impact on the hair care industry and popular culture has been tremendous. Generally, this has led to good outcomes like a crap load more products options, and a warmer reception among friends, family and colleagues. Without popularity, none of this would have been possible. However, we can't have popularity without sacrificing privacy. Is it worth the trade? Hmmm...who knows. As a practical matter, what I do know, is that it is difficult to try to make something popular and accepted by not sharing it with others. #WhereTheyDoThatAt

There are other advantages, too. If women from other cultures are inspired by our stories, I'm cool with that. This means that it will become easier for black women to display their blackness outside of our ‘safe’ black spaces. As far as I’m concerned, the site is doing exactly what I designed it to do- promote the natural hair movement. As for the decision to run the article, it was mine alone. I’m a dope black chick, and so I made the site in my image. This is the main reason why it features mostly other dope black chicks. But, I never gave any thought to excluding anyone. The site is for black women, and whoever else finds it useful. If you would have bothered to contact me, I could have told you that. For those that do feel a certain way, I don’t think that those views make them racist or somehow wrong. But, I do believe that we need to learn to have this conversation without attacking each other. If you're concerned about the integrity of this 'black space', I would direct you to the thousands of black women that have been featured elsewhere on this site. No really, all you have to do is scroll down.


What I found intriguing about your decision to speak on this matter was the strong sense of entitlement you must have felt to discuss the meaning and purpose of the blog I created. I mean if I understand you correctly, you’re on my side, but only because the site was never for black women anyway? Well, damn...with friends like that, who needs trolls? So, first things first, Jamilah, it’s obvious that you’re mistaken. As it turns out, featuring other ethnic groups does not mean that my blog is not for black women.

Spilling that so called Ebony tea has nothing to do with the controversy at hand. I hate that she ignored addressing Waterlily's troll tactics.
 
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pattyr5

Well-Known Member
She either missed the point that was being made or her "bosses" asked her to miss it. I hope she isn't counting on those checks for her book sales to come from white girls.
 

MzRhonda

Well-Known Member
I don't get where yt folks feel their "natural" hair plight is the same as ours and I don't understand black folks who understand and feel that it is.

I don't think I had ever heard yt folks refer to their hair as "natural" until our natural hair plight took off. :nono:
 

NaturallyATLPCH

Well-Known Member
So Felicity gets a pass?

:lachen::lachen::lachen::lachen:

Y'all and Felicity!!

This somewhat saddens me. I discovered CN when I first big chopped, even met some amazing curlfriends on there. Then all went down hill with the drama that was allowed to take place on that forum. And, the forum update that just killed all participation.

It would only make sense to publish the Felicity article and this catty Ebony response to increase her site views.

OH WELL. Time to officially move on (even though I have already). *pours out 40*
 

DoDo

Big Hair, Don't Care
At the end of the day it does come down to money doesn't it?

This was all a marketing ploy, however it is a marketing ploy that is part of a larger marketing machine. As such bottom line financial numbers are important rather than individual reader support. Anything owned by texture media is just there to promote its position as a polyethnic beauty corporation.

Even in CurlyNikki's response there are so many links I didn't want to click on because they are there just for the clicks. You can explain a point rather than just insert a url. Last I checked the English language is still spoken and written.

For me it isn't about the fact she featured the white woman. It was the woman's blithe responses to the questions posed to her (no significant difficulties on her journey, in fact no journey at all really) coupled with her attitude afterwards. In addition to this there is the inescapable fact that she just did this for attention and to get her face out there, so she knew and did not concern herself with the fact that it was a delicate situation.

However, all this is happening on CurlyNikki's site because as Curly Nikki has made clear its all about publicity notoriety and most of all self promotion. I didn't need to be informed about your unrelated endeavors and your appearance on the Tyra Banks show within the context of this address.

But, hey I guess articles about her getting 'turnt up' and articles about white women celebrating the beauty and ease of their natural hair are what her site has to offer now.
 
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PatTodd

Well-Known Member
CurlyNikki = unsubscribed.

I have been getting a little sick of her blog's emphasis on 20 somethings anyway (not real relevant to me) and her self-congratulatory tone.

I think she has gotten a little big for her britches.
 

Maneylovee

This is not a trend....
I personally do not support this all inclusive method for encouraging the returning back to natural movement. The fact that these caucasian women feel like they can seriously relate to us when it comes to our natural hair is in my opinion absurd. Just because they may have thick curly hair, and they felt embarrased with the hair that grew out of their head is absolutely not the same thing as, black women having to deal with generations of being brain washed and manipulated into feeling they're hair was not acceptable or beautiful in society. A white woman with curly hair will not have the same stigma in society as a black woman embracing and loving her natural hair.
 

MileHighDiva

A+ Hair Care Queen
I need clarification, she and the South African charity led Tamron Hall to wear her hair natural on the Today Show?

I'm confused! Thank God it's a long weekend, because my comprehension and faculties are obviously down.

Sent from my Speak & Spell using LHCF
 

BostonMaria

Well-Known Member
I haven't read the whole article yet
I met CN on naturally curly and she was such an inspiration to so many of us. I was one of the first naturals featured on her blog. Makes me sad to see her go through this. Not saying what she did was right, just saying I feel bad.
 

LdyKamz

Well-Known Member
I read "Sarah" aka the white girl's interview and she couldn't even answer the questions properly. Simply because the general hair journey questions for us are not questions geared toward people with her type of hair. Natural hair for black women is not just "curly" hair that will include everyone.

I couldn't even read Curly Nikki's entire response because it was wayyy too long and I already wasted time on the white girl and then the Essence article. But I feel like Curly Nikki has decided that she doesn't care whether or not the women that helped her get started are still fans as she rises to the top. It looks as if she's already pretty happy with including her new buddies with silkier hair textures. Let's see how much they can help her when they realize the advice she's dolling out doesn't apply to them and they disappear.
 
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Holla

Well-Known Member
CN missed an opportunity to express her viewpoint in a clear, concise and articulate manner. Instead she chose to state her opinion with a snarky undertone, in a passive agressive manner, and full of colloquialism.

If I were Ebony, I would not have associated with her brand either. She came across as very unprofessional. She is too old to not know better.
 

MzRhonda

Well-Known Member
I personally do not support this all inclusive method for encouraging the returning back to natural movement. The fact that these caucasian women feel like they can seriously relate to us when it comes to our natural hair is in my opinion absurd. Just because they may have thick curly hair, and they felt embarrased with the hair that grew out of their head is absolutely not the same thing as, black women having to deal with generations of being brain washed and manipulated into feeling they're hair was not acceptable or beautiful in society. A white woman with curly hair will not have the same stigma in society as a black woman embracing and loving her natural hair.

Exactly - were any female yt singers back pre 60's have to wear wigs when performing for acceptance..... ?????





 

MzRhonda

Well-Known Member
I need clarification, she and the South African charity led Tamron Hall to wear her hair natural on the Today Show?

I'm confused! Thank God it's a long weekend, because my comprehension and faculties are obviously down.

Sent from my Speak & Spell using LHCF

I think she meant to point out Tamron/she was showcasing Tamron's natural hair during that trip and they failed to cover the trip and showcase that. :ohwell: but after the Today show they now have the article all over their site.
 

curlytwirly06

Well-Known Member
Bye Nikki. For a long time I have been getting a "me me me" vibe from you and your blog. Your information is not even helpful or groundbreaking anymore. I can find my info somewhere else. I refuse to give you anymore clicks for not addressing what you should have but instead go after your own people. I guess money does talk though...
 

Starbucks

Well-Known Member
What I found intriguing about your decision to speak on this matter was the strong sense of entitlement you must have felt to discuss the meaning and purpose of the blog I created.

I think she's being very arrogant about the "blog she created," as if her thousands of black subscribers had nothing to do with her success. I refuse to give her website any clicks or hits. There are other resources for me and Nikki shouldn't get the big head.

The second half about the volunteering was deflecting and had nothing to do with this. The second half should have addressed Sarah's attitude and the way she belittled Nikki's own subscribers.

This whole thing shouldn't be that hard to grasp. There is a difference between a website vieawable by all vs. what is featured. I may visit Asian websites out of interest, but I don't expect to be featured on their websites, or Diwali, or anything else. And they definitely don't feel guilty about not doing so. But all of a sudden, we're supposed to roll out the red carpet because someone feels entitled to be featured, even if she wouldn't feature us in the reverse. :look:

Can u get a cliffs note of the entire debate? Lol I have no clue what's going on

http://www.longhaircareforum.com/showthread.php?t=733333
 
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