What does the Gorilla Glue Girl and Dr. Obeng have to do with Black History Month and Black Excellence?
Image Source: BBC
Hello, everyone. Today, I just wanted to do an impromptu solo episode, I have not been doing this a lot since I started the podcast, because, of course, you all know, I very much enjoy interviewing people.
I very much enjoy learning about their process and their journey.
But I couldn't help but notice this very fascinating story with this woman named Tessica and the Gorilla Glue.
And the only reason it kind of came to light for me because I saw it posted everywhere, like most of you, if you haven't heard of it already, just Google that like most of you had. And I just immediately instinctually thought, wow, this person wanted social media attention.
So I didn't really pay much attention to the story.
But when I was hearing that this was still a problem for her a month later, that's when I started to feel a little concerned and a little annoyed in some ways because I thought, why did this have to be the most viral story during Black History Month?
Right. I mean, of course, as a human race, there's going to be some people who make decisions that maybe aren't the most, you know, intelligent decisions for themselves at the time.
So I'm by no means saying we are exempt of that. I wouldn't even make any sense.
But I was just wishing this would be another time where something like this could be highlighted if it had to be highlighted. And what I mean by that is it was kind of a distraction from the month, to be honest.
That's where I am coming in with this, because these are the kinds of things.
Right, these kind of, you know, joking meme ish kind of things I feel have been really pushed on black people in a sense, because it's a lot easier to consume through media, these kind of stereotypes versus our achievements. And as someone who volunteers for a black professional association in my city, that's what I'm really about, really showcasing the talents and the contributions black people have made to society. So for some of you hearing my podcast today, you may not know that about me, but I'm actually quite active in a group called BCACPA.
And so seeing this was a little bit annoying just because I felt like it took the attention of that. And I think those are things that should be highlighted.
There's so many massive contributions being made, things that you may not even know have black led owners behind them, like from a tech perspective, probably one of the most used things in business right now, a company named Calendly that's actually run by a Nigerian.
He's the founder of that scheduling app.
For example, we go back historically, George Washington Carver, he had over 300 inventions. So I think that's where I was coming from with this is like, oh, I wish there was another time or something this silly because I'll always be those people, right? They'll always be those people who are in that category looking for clout. That's something like that would be highlighted.
I did actually get more into her story after I realized she had the glue on her hair for a month.
And at that point, I was actually genuinely concerned for her because with the toxicity of the gorilla glue, she was at risk of scalp damage.
As someone with a very sensitive scalp that just made me cringe.
I used to chemically straightened my hair. I do not today. My hair is all natural because I am so sensitive and there are a lot of toxins. And that's, of course, whatever your views are on hair relaxer and growing natural, that's a whole other conversation.
So I was actually worried for her when she was saying it was giving her headaches and all sorts of things. And I thought, man, like she's really thrown herself in a serious situation for the sake of, you know, clout.
And one of the things that was really fascinating to me is that a black doctor was actually the one who reached out to her and said that he would deal with the situation for free. So this is a chemist and plastic surgeon, Dr. Obeng, based in Beverly Hills. And I watched the video. I watched him taking the hair and figuring it out. And then I heard some, you know, music from Teddy in the background. And I thought, this is probably a Nigerian. Dr. Obeng is Ghanian.
So I was kind of excited by that. But, yeah, he went on to further explain how he figured out the solution that would break down the solvent and just the process he went through of testing it to finally find something that would. Take this girl out of her hair. It took them four hours, but when she had gone to emergency beforehand, they said it would take 20 hours.
So why am I highlighting this? This is really cool to see a doctor that was actually able to create a good solution to the problem and highlight what is actually happening more often during Black History Month is these work people who are working very hard.
There's too many statistics alone. And I can say from a Nigerian perspective, there's so many other amazing groups in the diaspora doing things from the black community.
But for example, in the Harvard Business School, Nigerians only make up one percent of like the American population.
Yet they make 25 percent of the Harvard Business School. And this was actually said by a reporter on FOX News.
So this is really interesting information and information that doesn't always make mass media.
So I think that in light of Black History Month, what does the Gorilla Glue Girl and this doctor have to do with Black Excellence and Black History Month? And I think it's just thinking about like, what can we showcase?
Of course, you know, people in the black community are known for having vibrant personalities and being, you know, warm and welcoming for the most part.
And, you know, having we come off animated. Right, because we're usually full of life. But I think that that some of those stereotypes have been taken advantage of and sometimes even created boxes that people are comfortable seeing us in. I think it's really important to also showcase these achievements.
And so it was really cool for me to see that a black doctor was able to solve this problem and that it was actually able to showcase him as a doctor and his expertise. I think that was super important. So I would say that's the silver lining in this story. And of course, like I said, everyone's entitled to their decisions on whether they want to make decisions in their best light or just because they want to be funny. That is something that is beyond anyone's control.
But I do think it's really important that as we are putting more content out there, not that you aren't free to be silly sometimes and be yourself and do whatever, but just to be mindful of the balanced view and the opportunity, especially now in twenty, twenty one, that we have to create a balanced view of the perspective of the black community.
So that is what I just wanted to say, just the food for thought today for the podcast.
And I hope you have a great rest of your month. If you are looking for an awesome Black History Month event, you can come to the one that my group is running because it's virtual. And so that link will be in the show notes as well.
Want to know more about the Black History Month Event my group is running? Go to this link: https://www.eventbrite.ca/e/black-history-month-event-tickets-140622584937
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Fiyin Obayan is the founder of Okiki Consulting, where she helps business owners communicate their personal brand or company brand stories through video content, in order to communicate to their target audience.
She has been participating in video storytelling for 9 years starting with her previous Myspace Channel, and to her personal YouTube Channel. As an entrepreneur, She has learned to develop that skill for the social media and now specialized in using it for the LinkedIn platform. Through posting regular content from September 2019, She has gone from 1000 connections to 8000 connections on the platforms and gained clients and she wants to empower others to do the same.
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