AYESHA RASCOE, HOST:
For many Black people, when your hair gets dry and thirsty or your naps are kind of misbehaving, Afro Sheen has your back.
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UNIDENTIFIED NARRATOR: Out of the mist of 3,000 years emerges today's beautiful Black queen, naturally beautiful, radiant. She is Black essence. Today's beautiful Queen uses Afro Sheen.
RASCOE: George E. Johnson was the entrepreneur behind Afro Sheen, which debuted in the '60s, and other popular Black hair care products. He was born in a sharecropper's shack in the South in the 1920s but went on to build a national Black hair care empire. George E. Johnson died last week in Chicago. He was 99 years old. Illinois State Representative Sonya Harper followed his footsteps by launching a Curl Clinic, and she joins me now. Good morning.
SONYA HARPER: Good morning.
RASCOE: So, I mean, we got to be real. You know, Afro Sheen - even now, sometimes, I'm like, I need something to make - I want to spray the hair to give it a little - it need a little shine.
HARPER: Absolutely. Curly hair needs extra lubrication, right?
RASCOE: Yes. Yeah. What memories do you have of this product and others created by Mr. Johnson?
HARPER: I think one of my greatest memories is wash day. You know, that day you get to wash your hair and whether you're getting braids, whether you're getting pressed out. Part of our menu of choice has always included the hair dress and the spray as well. And it was about creating something that was for us, right? It was about our identity. It was about confidence, and it was about a community. And I think that George Johnson understood that because for so many people, buying shampoo is simple. You can just walk into a store and choose from dozens of products designed for your hair. But for many Black families, that wasn't always our experience. Mr. Johnson changed that, right? It even speaks to the fact that for many generations, many of us even felt pressure to change our hair and change our appearance.
RASCOE: Yeah. And part of what he was saying was, you're, like, embracing your hair, embracing the afro, embracing our kind of roots.
HARPER: Absolutely. He created products that affirmed our beauty instead of trying to redefine it.
RASCOE: And I understand that you didn't know Mr. Johnson personally, but his work still inspired you or was a part of your inspiration when you launched Curl Clinic. Tell me about it.
HARPER: So the Curl Clinic are workshops that I have been doing, where our mission is simple. We teach every woman or person with naturally curly hair to love the hair they were born with, know the proper care and maintenance, the proper ingredients to avoid, to use, the proper regimens, everything. Know that for your hair, and that's what Curl Clinic does.
RASCOE: Well, how would you describe the Black beauty industry today?
HARPER: Well, I think that the Black beauty industry is stronger than it's ever been. I love the way that natural hair is celebrated. I love the way that Black entrepreneurs are innovating. We are demanding healthier ingredients and products designed specifically for textured hair. And everybody is following our lead, aren't they? And I think that that's real progress.
RASCOE: Yes. Well, I mean, look, now when you go to any major big-box store, they have a whole aisle for the textured hair, for Black hair products. They didn't used to have that.
HARPER: I love it. Like, it's making all the other, you know, longstanding hair care companies stand up as they also try to come for our dollars too, but that's another story.
RASCOE: Do you think that Black entrepreneurs in the beauty space are still facing unique challenges?
HARPER: Oh, definitely. Black entrepreneurs continue to struggle accessing capital. Many fight for shelf space at those major retailers. Many of them compete against companies with significantly greater resources. Innovation has never been our challenge. We know that, but access has. And you know that Black consumers spend billions of dollars on beauty products every year. Our demographic, especially here in the United States, spends more on health and beauty products than any other demographic, right? And so I think that one of our biggest opportunities is ensuring more of those dollars help to build Black-owned businesses, create Black jobs and generate wealth because that brings it right back to exactly what Mr. Johnson showed us was possible.
RASCOE: That's Sonya Harper, a state representative in Illinois. We're remembering George E. Johnson who died last week. Thank you so much for joining us.
HARPER: Thank you. Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.
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