the Patrick Ta conversation isn't about makeup.

Good morning. My name is Anta. And in my last two videos, I have gone viral for encouraging Black women to scratch their intellectual itch. A question that continues to be asked in the comment section of both those posts is what would I suggest a Black woman to read if she hasn't an itch and doesn't know how to scratch it. So we're going to do three things right now. The first is skincare. The second is talk about bell hooks. The third is pivot all of this energy towards Patrick Ta because I think he deserves it right now. Straightening our hair is an essay published by bell hooks in 1989. It was added to a larger piece of literature called Thinking Black or pushing back. And thinking black and thinking feminist, something along the lines of that. The first time that I read the essay, I was 16 years old and one of the most important things she writes about is how oppression plays tricks on us and makes us think that our preferences are simply preferences and not adaptations to systems that were meant to hinder us. She talks about Black women's hair. But the conversation isn't about Black women's hair. It's about power. Bell hooks noticed in her personal and professional life that anytime beauty was discussed, people always moved to defend individual choices, whether Esther is right, which she clearly is, or harm was intended. But all of those questions are too small. The more interesting question is why we're still surprised when the beauty industry centers certain features, centers certain people, while simultaneously pushing us, while simultaneously pushing us all the way down on the totem pole. Surprisingly though, bell hooks did not care to offend. She didn't care to steal the creative and very critical contribution of a woman of color to an industry that has already been elevated by our interest and our research. And Patrick Ta and his team didn't think that they were doing anything wrong because the preference doesn't hold space for women like Esther. The preference never thought in a million years that I, a woman of color, would be indulging in a face mask at this hour on this day. I'm supposed to be working. I'm supposed to be taking care of someone's kids. I'm supposed to be in someone's field. Me. The prettiest woman, the most attractive woman are well-read, consistently critical of not only their surroundings but themselves. Patrick Ta's conversation isn't about makeup. It's about the fact that the prettiest woman, the most attractive woman are well-read and consistently critical of not only their surroundings but themselves. I appreciate you all for pushing me deeper into my bag. And for reminding me that the prettiest is pretty does, but the prettiest woman, the most attractive woman are well-read and consistently critical of not only their surroundings but themselves. Straightening our hair can be found online with a few simple strokes of your keyboard. Just type in straightening our hair bell hooks into Google and it will pop up. May my life be forever changed. I appreciate you all for pushing me deeper into my bag. And for reminding me that the prettiest is pretty does, but the prettiest woman, the most attractive woman are well-read and consistently critical of not only their surroundings but themselves.