By Edward Henderson, California Black Media 

Black hair care industry manufacturers are rallying to defend their products against “attacks” from customers, scientists and federal government officials who claim they are harmful. The companies are being accused of producing relaxers with potentially toxic ingredients that may cause cancer.

On the frontlines of that defense in the Golden State is California Curl heiress Cheryl Morrow, who is also publisher of the San Diego Monitor News.

Morrow, daughter of the late Dr. Willie Morrow who invented and popularized the “California Curl,” also known as the “Jheri Curl” or “Jerry Curl,” has been vocal about debunking the cancer claims as misleading. She also highlights the pioneering spirit and innovation that led to the creation of products for Black hair care by Black companies before mainstream companies entered the businesses.

“In 2022, you come out with a study with an inconclusive correlation that all of a sudden subjugates a Black legacy of hair care manufacturing to be vilified, demonized, criminalized and connected to cancer,” Morrow told California Black Media.

That same year, civil rights attorney Benjamin Crump filed a mass tort lawsuit on behalf of Jenny Mitchell, a Black woman who he claims contracted uterine cancer after her use of chemical hair straightening products sold by L’Oréal USA. Crump is suing that company as well as entities that assisted in the development, marketing, and sale of the products including Motions, Dark & Lovely, Olive Oil Relaxer, and Organic Root Stimulator.

In August 2018, Mitchell – who says she has no family history of uterine or other cancer – was diagnosed with the disease and underwent a full hysterectomy.

According to the study, published by Journal of the National Cancer Institute, also known as the “Sister Study,” frequent users of chemical hair straightening products, defined in the study as more than four uses a year, were more than twice as likely to develop uterine cancer than those who didn’t use those products.

“Black women have long been the victims of dangerous products specifically marketed to them,” said Crump in a press release. “Black women have been told they have to use these products to meet society’s standards.”

Morrow hosts events in the community and online to educate the public about Black hair care products.

“All of that is not by accident,” Morrow insists. “In creating relaxer advocates, my goal is not to protect one brand or manufacturer over another. My goal is to tell the truth, make sure the consumer is informed, to make sure that the industry in relaxing gets innovated.”

As part of her efforts, Morrow hosted an event in San in December titled “Take Your Hands Off Our Legacy.” It showcased Black hair professionals and technicians who educated consumers about the legacies of pioneers like Annie Malone, S.B. Fuller, Marjorie Stewart-Joyner, Joe Dudley, and Dr. Willie L. Morrow.

“They have the language in the lawsuit that the manufacturers did not and should have known that the relaxer was dangerous. My response to them is that they should’ve known that, actually, Black people have made their products safer and have been doing that since 2007. Dr. Morrow already did it with California Cream.”

Court records show that about 75 cases have been filed in the mass tort lawsuit, which was formed at the beginning of February 2023.

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