Summary: This week I'm joined by Peter Adefioye, Mica Simone and Ruth Mukete to discuss Weave Economics Black women are estimated to have spent half a trillion dollars on hair care in 2012. That’s more than some countries GDP, including Greece. When I learnt this I was in disbelief considering that there is also much poverty within some African-Caribbean communities. This lead me to my next thought… Where the hell is all this money going and could this revenue be used to strengthen economic power? The weave industry is a multi-billion dollar sector and it's largest consumer group is people of African decent. Today, black people own less than 30% of the black beauty industry, yet we are heavily financing it. This podcast aims to explore • Why do black women spend so much on hair and beauty? • Why aren’t we investing this money in education, housing, healthier foods etc? • Could establishing our own hair and beauty enterprises be a solution to resolving some of the issues within our community? • Is the natural hair phenomenon an opportunity to take ownership of the Afro hair industry? • It’s no secret that some of the weaves that we wear is the natural hair of our Indian, Brazillian and Peruvian sisters. So are they then paid for their donations? Is the hair contributed in an ethical approach? Check out Ruth's MissAfroBeauty.com Visit Black Folk Hot Spot: http://bfhsnetwork.com For information on Boycott Monday: http://www.okayplayer.com/news/black-out-monday-international-boycott-announcement.html Also, please support One Child One Dictionary to help provide dictionaries to children in Nigeria https://www.indiegogo.com/projects/one-child-one-dictionary Listen to the podcast and don't forget to visit www.20Somethingpodcast.com Subscribe on iTunes: https://itunes.apple.com/gb/podcast/20-something/id725309306 Have something to say? Email me: naomi@20Somethingpodcast.com Like our new Facebook page to stay updated: https://www.facebook.com/pages/20Something-Podcast/1403091129913232
