Former First Lady Michelle Obama says she opted to not wear her hair natural while the Obama's were in the White House. CNN contributor Cari Champion joins CNN This Morning to discuss. #CNN #News
Michelle Obama says US ‘wasn’t ready’ for her natural Black hair
Amen to this segment. My daughter has long beautiful hair and her mother makes her perm it and it drives me crazy. Whatever your hair looks like, it’s YOURS. Be proud of it. Wear it naturally. Screw what people say.
@Plen122 Hershel Walker?
@D Thomas LOL running away
@D Thomas That’s it, that guy sure gets around!
@Tony yea, you are right.
*Anyone is free to do what the heck they want with their hair.*
*I’m sure you’re one of those people who’d make fun of Donald Trump’s hair.*
I caught and had to stop a complete stranger from reaching out to touch my child’s afro when we were standing in line a few months ago. Keep your hands to yourself!
Gives one the creeps
They had chia pets as kids and touching them was addictive. I bet a 12-step for afro-petters sprung up.
When I was in Japan with my family, I saw Japanese people looking at my daughter’s hair like they wanted to touch it but the only person who actually DID touch it was some random white girl.
‘We gotta ease up on the People’
😂😂
The woman is AMAZING 💯💯
👍 💯💯🙌🏽🙏🏽🤗
💩💩💩💩💩💩💩💩
Agreed!
🤮🤮🤮🤮🤮🤡🤡💩💩💩😂😂🤮🤮🤮
Ladies you’re beautiful , never let anyone take your joy !!
Which ladies? There are plenty of ugly ladies out there.
That picture of the black boy wanting to touch Obama’s hair still gives me chills. I truly understand.
@Allegedly Angel Yes I know that. You completely missed the point. You said the boy wanted to touch the presidents hair bc he was in disbelief that he was meeting the president. Then why hasn’t any other boy done that to any other president before that?
It clearly wasn’t about the boy being in disbelief. It was about the look and texture of Obama hair that made the boy want to touch his hair.
@Milky Way it wasn’t. The boy saw someone who looked like him and the boy chose to touch Obama hair as a representation of wow someone like me is the president.
@Sarah Langley Okay, fine..I will let you get away with that explanation. But I still think it was odd that he chose to touch his hair of all things. I am not black so I would have never even thought to do that. But okay.
@Milky Way i am Black and i don’t understand the boy gesture either. I don’ t think he touched Obama hair because he was in disbelief. Like you , i think ( i maybe be wrong) that it was about hair. But i assure you it’ s not a Black thing …All Black men wear their natural hair.
I am a Black person from Africa and we don’ t have this discrimination about our own natural hair since we are all Blacks..i find it sad that in US so much futile details such as women hair make the news….and all the discrimination these Black women have to endure in the work place…sad because the USA is supposed to be a country where Human Rights are respected and letting someone be the way they were created should be the n01 Human Rights..
Am sad to that artificial hair trend is being exported to Africa too.
There is too much artificial beauty going on for ALL women these days!!!
@Nikki Nikki Thank You! I knew I wasn’t being racist like the black woman accused me off. It was odd for a boy to want to touch another males hair. In any culture. Thank you for validating me. I have been wrongfully prosecuted!!! Justice!!!! ❤️
I like how they unpacked this topic.
Exactly. Don’t touch people’s hair period! Or ask to touch their hair. Period!
You may touch my hair. Down there.
The First Lady Michelle Obama is an intelligent woman, very well educated and quite beautiful. Sadly people judge others based on skin color, hair, tattoos, etc. If we stopped judging with our eyes and started seeing with our heart, we would have the capacity to see the beauty in each person…
*Quite beautiful? You need your eyesight assessed.*
@Moon Shoes
I’ve been sober 100% of my life. Like President Trump, I have never tasted alcohol.
@Albert Green Congratulations, your predictable response just proves my point. She is accurately describing legitimate experiences to give a frame of reference that many people, including you, misunderstand as judgment. Perhaps if you took the time to understand the context that she speaks of, wouldn’t feel compelled to defend yourself by cutting and pasting paragraphs from different speeches to push a narrative.
@Albert Green If you feel offended by her speeches, then you should work on yourself. A hit dog will holla.
@D. P. C.
Listen carefully to me. I have the real experience of being black in this country not going to Princeton (and later Harvard) and growing up very poor without parents.
She is pretending to be someone she is not because that’s all she can do to be wealthy and popular.
I was able to gain success by actually building and creating instead of pimping the suffering of other people.
She is a complete and absolute fraud just like her husband. She has a history of making up lies about her past to create a fake narrative of suffering she never had.
You are a sucker.
Haven’t you ever wondered why you have to work for a living while these people live wealthy without ever having a real job?
Michelle is beauty and grace personified. I’m more concerned with a person’s character than the kinkiness of their hair. ♥
🤢🤮
Agreed!
*You need your eyesight assessed.*
Agree. Michelle Obama is a very intelligent and kind and beautiful lady with class.
I loved that Don brought forth Mrs. Obama’s statement and this topic. As a Black woman that has been wearing my hair natural for over 20 years, it was the scariest and most courageous decision when I did the “big chop “to cut out the relaxer. However, I caught the most negative energy & comments from my own people about it, which is another dimension to this conversation that we need to address. In my opinion, we as Black people are still struggling with self-love & the need for white validation.
@Doug H Without AA they wouldn’t have been given the chance in the first place because white people already assumed they were inferior. Why would you give an inferior person a chance? I’m not sure if it’s still necessary now because I live in a pretty progressive area of the country. I’d be willing to suspend it to see if anything statistically changed. 🤷🏾♂️
you do realize J love, Texture Curl/Kinks are not exclusive to Black women… so don’t claim that from other minorities.
I am unhappy that the black community is so harsh on itself due to white pressure. I think blacks look better with their own natural hair and I can’t be the only one thinking it. I’m old and white and I loved the 60’s Afro hair. Wish it would come back.
@Sean Young We have EEOC to prohibit discrimination on the basis of race. What would be fair is to reward people not on race, but how many disadvantages they faced (economic, bad schools, poor parenting) and yet still managed to succeed despite those disadvantages.
Relaxers are bad! Dangerous chemicals that should not be on your head.
When I got hired for a job at Whole Foods I had my hair in a protective style. I then washed my hair and my natural hair was out, and my boss started to give me a hard time about it. He wouldn’t say anything about the other employees with different ethnicities who had their hair out, but he would give us black girls a hard time about our hair. I quit right on the spot one day because he tried to tell me to straighten my hair. I couldn’t believe that this was an ongoing issue in America but clearly I was wrong. I will never forget how I felt in that moment and I vowed that I wouldn’t let anybody tell me what to do with my hair at any job.
@allabout perspective if you are not black then you won’t get it. Black women are especially getting the worst treatment for wearing their natural hair. I personally love natural black hair.
@TruthOverFear I don’t live in the USA and have never heard any of the black people I know mention anything about hair. so I’m pretty sure it’s a USA thing.
edit Just called a friend and talked to his wife she is born in Kenya and said that it had happened that some people had been curious about her hair but that she never had any negative comments about how she wears her hair, It looks different every now and then. We live in a small town above the Arctic Circle in Sweden, just 2500 people but a pretty international town, in this small town there are people from 5 different African countries and at least 5 middle eastern countries and many European countries but don’t know anyone from the American continent living here.
@allabout perspective it is an American thing. We talk big about diversity and inclusion but white people still have a problem with Black natural hair
I would have hope you would have sued. Racism. White people wear their natural hair. I wear mine.
@Thomas Hernandez A protective style is one that helps reduce the amount of exposure to the elements particularly dry air, use of chemicals to straighten the hair, and not having to use a curling iron or straightening implement.
Examples of protective styles would be to wear your hair in two large braids, two strand twists, use of scarves or turbans to keep your hair up and covered, French braiding, etc.
Essentially a style that is not free flowing, that requires the use of brushes or combs. Frequent use of heating instruments and excessive combing or brushing tends to break your hair. Coily or kinky hair tends to be more fragile and so stressors like that should be avoided. So many black women if they do not wear a naturally protective style like locs (which are permanent), wear a protective style to “rest” their hair.
It’s no one’s place to tell anyone how to wear their hair! As long as you are comfortable with it, that’s beautiful.
No, this isn’t how beautiful works.
You being comfortable with something doesn’t make it beautiful automatically.
I remember when Malia Obama wore twists and it was a huge issue and accused them of making a radical political statement and said it was inappropriate to represent America. I can’t imagine if Michelle wore braids or twist in 2008. When the Obamas did a fist bump is was “radical”. We have come a long way 💞
Rude…We don’t say anything about White Women’s fake orange skin.
@Turn the Page Some black and white people have had respectful and great times together. That’s important too.
OmGOD they went crazy with the “ fist bump”❤ I loved it!!! Do forget the “ tan suit “❤
Hmmmm, I wonder how this persecuted couple were voted into the WH for 8 years
By such a shitty racist country and became multi millionaires a 100 time over and live in the whitest place in USA and never wear their natural hair which I find AA hair beautiful. They are phonies always putting a wedge between Americans with their stupid comments. 🤮
Or maybe not given a of of White Power types are taking over the GOP now.
She was correct in her assessment. I remember when I transitioned to natural hair how people assumed it was a political statement. No! I am going to wear MY hair as it grows out of my head naturally.
@genevievegenevieve5205 If you consider 2012 a long time ago…then, yes.
So you don’t get it cut?
@Thomas De Quincey Not now. I have locs, down to my waist. I wore an afro before loc’ing it.
@akatheempress the empress of?……..do tell us Henny.
Considering how bad Malia Obama was attacked for wearing her hair in twists at the time I can’t imagine that going well. They swore Malia’s twist were “radical” when it’s just our hair.
Michelle Obama would have looked beautiful with the braids. It would have been amazing to see her in her natural hair. ❤
They lost their minds about Malia Obama when she wore her natural hair. We were not getting jobs wearing twists, braids and Afros so it’s been an uphill thing to wear out hair without it being considered a “political statement” or pushback. Braids or Senegalese twist..etc would have been too much on the campaign trail and especially in the White House. So much has changed and it’s nice to see 🥰
@Delores Pfeil 😂 a simple google search will suffice.
I can’t believe that many people would care this much over someone’s hair.
@Vlad the Inhaler nobody cares… This is part of the lie they have been selling black America for decades… And they are still buying it. Because assholes like the Obama’s get on TV and start telling black people that they are worthless and will never get anywhere without help from the democrats. How people can’t understand this by now is mind boggling? It is so in your face obvious at this point
@Vlad the Inhaler ikr, like jada pinkett
There are so many different aspects to this conversation that I wish cable news had time for!
Specifically I wish they had been able to touch on the dress codes and perceived professionalism that we as a society view straight (ie more white styles) and traditionally Black hairstyles- like natural hair, afros, dreads, braids. To have a dress code in a professional setting that specifically bans these styles for no other purpose than to “look professional” is a problem perpetuating a problematic perception of what it means to be “professional”. I’m saying that by requiring Black people to white-ify their hair in order to enter a professional setting we are saying that professionals need to look white- otherwise they are not welcome. I think we need to be more accepting of braids and fro’s in the office, and employer’s should probably reevaluate their dress code if they haven’t in a long time and public schools need to stop treating dreadlocks like illegal contraband!
My hair is not kinky but it is very very thick. Because of this I *HAVE* to find a hair stylist who can handle thick hair! If I could I would probably go to Cost Cutters or Fantastic Sam’s or the like – I don’t really care much about my hair, but a cut color and some highlights is $400 + tip! I have to save up for it! When we ask women for hair styles that are even more unnatural to their hair texture, we are asking them to spend a whole lot of time and *money* on something that is inconsequential to their abilities to do their jobs!
It was a tough time to go natural without it being considered a political statement. I got so much crap when so did the big chop. Even now it’s hard for reporters to wear braids, twists..etc. Thankfully we have the crown act now but the during that time it would have been a distraction Malia was considered unfit to represent America because of her twist 😣 but it’s been cool to see things change through time. I have loved seeing the twists,braids and Afro now✨☺️
You can be this dumb 🤯
Oh brother. 🙄
Hey, I’m a white girl and I think it’s hilarious that when I was growing up and Afters were popular, my mother and her sisters all got perms so they could have Afros too! Absolutely bring them back for everyone! I love y’all’s honesty! Sadly, no matter what kind of hair a girl has she wants to kind the other girl has… Thank you advertising