Iconic Black Hair-care Brand Bronner Bros. Promotes Rachel Dolezal's Hair-Braiding Tutorial
After a mini hiatus, Rachel Dolezal is back with YouTube hair-braiding tutorials, and the internet isn’t having it.
The former NAACP president and self-identifying Black woman is making YouTube tutorials about braiding extensions into your hair using a plethora of products including Bronner Brother's Pump It Up Styling Spritz.
The brand must’ve loved it because they reposted her.
See the Instagram video here.
Now, there’s nothing wrong with other communities celebrating Black culture or braiding extensions into their hair. We see it all the time while on resorts on islands such as Jamaica, Bahamas, and Barbados. Not to mention, tourists are known for getting their hair braided by native women, but being that it’s Black History Month, supporters on Instagram are wondering why Bronner Bros. would promote Dolezal after all of the fraudulence and foolishness we’ve witnessed this woman commit over the years.
Bronner Bros. defended their actions after receiving backlash for supporting Rachel’s video when the brand certainly has a ton of content surrounding Black women using the Pump It Up spray. Their reply read, “we do and we share those also," followed by a bunch of heart emojis.
Not only were fans disappointed with Bronner Bros., but after watching the tutorial, viewers realized that she’s actually using products that are harmful to hair. Dolezal, who changed her name to Nkechi Amare Diallo, is using Eos and Burts Bees lip balm so her braids can hold.
When posting the mini tutorial on her Instagram page, commenters were left asking why she’s using these products instead of using edge control or hair wax.
Rachel’s caption read, “The Burt’s Bees or lip-balm method for thin/fine ends to keep ends in the braid.. mini tutorial2 #hair#braids #braidingbeganinafrica I’ve been braiding for 26 years, and yes I use a variety of products on different hair types. I only use lip balms with wax + moisturizing agents when I’m braiding my own hair or other slippery/fine/thin hair types. Only doing this tutorial because y’all asked for it. Keep the vibes positive, please. I didn’t invent hair braiding: it originated in Africa and I learned from looking at pictures and from Black women in Mississippi as well as years of just practice.”
We appreciate "Nkechi" for acknowledging the origin of hair braiding, but we still can’t understand why she thinks it’s OK to give tutorials on braiding ethnic hair, even if she claims her fans asked for it.
At this point, we’re all just confused and hoping that she picks up another hobby.
And it looks like Bronner Bros. listened to their viewers, because after about 1,500 comments, they have since taken the Instagram post down.