But, You're Big, Too, Miss Surgeon General

Okay. I know I am a bit late on this, but I have been having a few issues with my laptop (and it's finally in the process of getting fixed). Speaking of fixing things, this morning, after a few days of trying a new shampoo and using my favorite leave in conditioner, my hair has been doing very wonderful things. As a black person, hair is very important to me, and when my hair is acting the way I would like it to act, that puts a smile on my face. Now if I were a black woman, it would be even more important, and when the U.S. Surgeon General Regina Benjamin (a black woman) announced that relaxers (the black person's version of a perm, for some black women, their crack) are not good, I thought she must have a very intelligent reason other than what we do know (like how getting relaxers too often can lead to drastic to permanent hair loss or it's addictive quality, for example). This reason, however, I'm not too sure, but it begs for discourse.

According to an editorial in the Chicago Tribune, Dr. Benjamin believes that after a black woman spends $60 or more to get her hair relaxed, she is less eager to work out at the gym. Not that I disagree with what she's saying, since I know several black women who refuse to work out after a few weeks of getting a relaxer. Why? They don't want to wash out their silky straight hair after making a "critical" investment. Every woman, black, white, brown, et cetera, spends thousands of dollars on there hair within their lifetime, which shows how important it is to them. More so, out of all women, black women spend the most, making hair products for black women a $9 billion industry. But, what bothers me about Dr. Benjamin's statement is how SHE is overweight (sorry, I had to call her out on it).

I am glad she brought this to our attention, so then we can begin to use these "hair-friendly exercises" she's proposing, but I would love to see her spearhead it and do it herself. She should take the lead so every overweight woman (especially African-American ones) can get healthy. African-American women have the highest obesity rate in comparison to every other American female demographic group. These exercises, in combination with healthier eating and eating habits might just reduce this number, but, like I always say, this would happen if people actually do it. Not saying they should go from one unhealthy weight to another (as in too thin), but should reconsider their diets (and so should Ms. Benjamin).