Hair heists and weave thefts on the rise

    

     News reporters often don’t report on this crime seriously. And when it’s discussed among friends there are slight giggles and laughs – with the phrase “are you serious”, usually tacked on for good measure. But the truth of the matter is, hair weave thefts are becoming more common place – and in some instances the crimes turn out to be downright deadly.  
   
     In December, a Conyers, Georgia woman was killed over the sale of hair weaves, according to a report from the RockDale Citizen. You can click here to get more details on that crime and click here for a follow up to that story. 
   
     Even prior to the shooting, beauty shops from Atlanta to Texas have reportedly been the targets for these hair heists. Most notably, burglars broke in a southwest Atlanta shop using a rock a few years ago, and made off with $30,000 worth of hair extension packages, according to an article published on V-103’s web site.
 

     But why hair weaves? Why are these pieces becoming a target for thieves? Simply put, the false hair is profitable – highly profitable and the demand is off the charts. Everyone from Beyoncé, to your next door neighbor is wearing some type of extensions. The American market alone for hair extensions has been estimated at more than $250 million annually. On top of that, packs of hair weave can run from $20 to more than $200. 
   
     Can anything be done about these crimes? Well, until the media starts taking them seriously, and can stop snickering while they’re discussing these thefts, then unfortunately I don’t think things will change. Also, more importantly, until the demand goes down… until weaves go out of style (which is highly unlikely), I think that we’re only going to see a steady increase of these weave thefts. 

Check out this video that chronicles a hair weave heist in broad day light. 

Don't judge a book by its past

     A few weeks ago, America was taken aback by footage of an Omaha Nebraska toddler that was prompted by adults to curse and utter out vulgar phrases. The recordings made quite a stir as the Omaha police union posted the video footage on their website and called this the Thug Cycle.

    

     Popular pundits tackled the story from all sides – from attacking the parents, to attacking the police association for making comments regarding the video. There’s one particular angle that I want to discuss and that’s the question of whether or not this video is being blown out of proportion and that events like this are isolated in this country.
   
     Well, I’m here to say no. This isn't isolated. But that's not to say that you can't overcome what you've seen in your past. And I’m not going to speak about what I have heard about, but rather what I have experienced and how that shaped me into the man I am today. I’m a 35-year-old black man, who grew up in a rural South Carolina town, during the 80s and 90s.

     When I was 6-years-old, I witnessed my next door neighbor savagely beating a woman out in broad day light with a wooden board. His porch was filled with spectators of both sexes that cheered him on after each painful strike. No one did anything to break it up – until an off duty police officer just happened to pass by and took the neighbor into custody.

     I can remember when I was in middle school – a man, who lived right down the street from my parents hit his pregnant-teen daughter in the head with a  glass plate. I still remember her cries as her family held a blood soaked towel to her head … hoping to staunch the bleeding. At the same time, he yelled out that this was his home and he runs it, and no one could tell him any different.

    I recall a young couple that lived in front of my parents’ home, that would have bare knuckle fist fights in view of everyone at the end of every month. Often times the woman would be on the losing end.

     Some of the things I saw and experienced as a child are unspeakable, but they were common place for my neighborhood back then. They were also the foundation for me to want something better for myself and my family.

     I now have a wife, that I have never and will never lay a hand on,  as well as a daughter now, and they are both far removed from the foolishness that I along with countless others in my neighborhood experienced.

    Some weren’t as fortunate and went down a different path, but a strong mother, who saw to it that I graduated from college, and a father who stayed in the household, helped shape me into the man I am today.


     So I close with this, children are often exposed to a whole lot more than they should be, but that isn't always an automatic death sentence. Some are able to become productive members of society and escape the "Thug Cycle." You can be successful.