Are We Obligated to Buy Black? My Response to Harsh Criticism Toward a Fellow YouTuber.

Hey, Everyone! I’m glad you paid a visit to my site. 😀

Are we obligated to buy black only? I buy black, but not all the time. I’m going to tell you why I asked.

So, couple nights ago I was up late catching up on my favorite YouTube channels and I clicked on Naptural85’s latest video on the Pantene Gold Series line. She did a great job reviewing the product like she normal does for product reviews and D.I.Y.s.
Watch the video here.
Yes, I am a fan of her’s, but not a Stan! Meaning, I am not one to think that she can do no wrong and I don’t agree or like everything she does. But in my head, she is a sister from another mister.
Usually, when I like a review, demo, vlog, etc. I may skip reading the comments because folks like to troll HARD! Yet, I read through the comments and I can’t remember why. Maybe I was going to leave a comment or question about the product… I don’t know because I got really distracted by comments like these.

“Pantene is hiring Blacks but it is not Black-owned. Of course they are not stupid, they know where the money is going to come from. Please support Black-owned companies. Keep the profits in the community!”

“sick and tired of whites profiting off of us. With all that’s going on in this world, I refuse to allow that to happen with MY money. Pantene doesn’t give a damn about any of us. They’re just trying to make a dollar. I will only support those who have a real interest in me and my people.”

” Sponsored products always get rave reviews, even though many people who use it don’t have the same result!”

“Love you Whit, but I support Black owned as much as I can. Pantene is white own and they see profit in including Black people..they’re not stupid, so I kind of ignore your tutorial sorry. Then again…Panteen got the big bucks and since your family is expanding maybe it’s not about Black but about green. I know your life long dream is owing a home and Boston is very expensive. This makes sense. Pantene has the big bucks for sponsorship, you do you.its about your family and your financial situation.”

What the hell?! Who are these people?!

That last comment is from Satan. That woman let Satan use her to be messy. I’m not playing when I say that either. She hit on VERY personal points of Whitney’s life and tried to make her feel guilty for doing what everyone else in the world does and that is whatever the hell they want. You don’t come at someone and mention their body, family, home, and money. That is one of the many things Satan does to bring us to crumble in defeat. Just pointing out who the real enemy is and no, it’s not that woman.

Everyone does whatever they want. Unless you are a newborn baby or have a disability, whatever you twitch your muscles to do is in your control to do. Period.

Yet, I respect some of the concerns that most white-owned companies don’t care about us and we should support our own people. White-owned companies are jumping on the fact that many of us have returned to our hair to its natural state because they are losing money from the fact that we no longer buy their relaxers or other products that cause more damage to our hair. They were the ones who lied and convinced us that our hair isn’t normal or manageable.

White-owned companies not caring about us is nothing new! Why are we acting like that’s a new thing? Did we think they cared about us when they we selling us relaxers? Flat irons? Teaching our children in their schools? Creating food deserts in our community causing us to heavily rely on their McDonald’s, Rally’s/ Checkers, and Burger King?

Anyway, my responses below shows a better light on how I feel about these comments and the notion of an obligation to buy only black-owned.

Mobile screenshots below.

Apparently, I watch too much WWE with my husband and read the original comment in my Steve Austin voice.

There are more comments that follow my statements. Feel free to visit the video’s comment section and find my following responses.

I also, don’t care if the video was sponsored. I’m not going to get on a virtual soapbox and mention every unnatural, unsponsored or sponsored, and non-black-owned products that Whitney has featured on her channel. But they can be found if you search for them.

She COULD feature only black-owned hair care products on her channel and the same goes for me and my channel, but how honest would that be if that is not what we do in real life?

Why are people expecting YouTubers do create videos for free when you don’t do what you do for free? And millions of people watch YouTube videos all day long and the revenue from those ads are literally pennies compared to the work that goes into creating content that is pushed out daily for viewers. Creating high-quality (or even low-quality. Ahem!) YouTube videos frequently isn’t cheap or easy. This is coming from someone who is just getting close to 500 subscribers after I started almost two years ago.

Now, mind you I would have said the same thing if it were anyone else’s channel because I am strongly tired of some people acting like that there is an obligation to buy ONLY from black-owned companies. No one should feel so pressured to buy or even demo products and services JUST because they are black-owned. That’s like saying, I’m obligated to buy from companies ran by women because I am a woman. No! I buy what works, what fits, what costs less, what makes me feel better, what fits my values, from companies who show women that look like me, and what I like!

Every product or service that is black-owned won’t be to our liking and we aren’t obligated to keep spending money on things we don’t like. That’s wasteful.

If you want everything you use to be black-owned, there’s nothing wrong with that. I’ll be behind you. However, until you can find everything you want to use that is black-owned, keep using whatever the hell you want.

To me, the first step to acting like a free black woman is to realize that I am free to do what I please with what and whom I please and I shouldn’t be treated as if my “black card” is real and attached to how I spend my money… or lack thereof.

So, if we are obligated to buy black-owned everything? Then, we should be earning black-owned money, right?

Thanks so much for reading. Please subscribe to stay updated on posts that are coming out. I recently purchased some products that are black-owned and I will be doing an honest first impression with those products.

Please, leave a comment and let me know what you think.

Take care!

~Ebony/ CoilySue86