Written by Nicole

Canadian crooner Justin Bieber made the news this week after posting an Instagram photo of himself wearing some dreadlocks.

As expected, social media lit up with declarations of how this was offensive, and yet another incident of cultural appropriation. This is not his first hair-related kerfuffle, as something similar happened back in 2015, too. And even more expected, it was black women leading the charge in comment sections taking him to task for his questionable hair style. In fact, even CNN made mention of this in their article covering this, saying “On social media some Black women called Bieber’s hairstyle offensive and disrespectful and urged him to change it and apologize.”

One would think there are about four score and twenty more things that are offensive and disrespectful before we got to some clumpy hair but I guess not.

But it got me thinking – surely there must be more pressing matters black women can direct our attention to, right? After all, I’m sure Justin being in the industry he’s in has no shortage of black males in his circle. Perhaps one of them can take him to the side and scold him or educate him or whatever the desired outcome is.

So instead of spending any time thinking about a man’s hairstyle who has no direct relation to your life, here are some things to closely watch on social media instead:

• Goldman Sachs and other initiatives to invest in black women

  There are many eyes on black women. Some eyes, sadly, will be drawn to the foolery. And other eyes are keenly watching and acutely aware of black women’s unique talents to turn a dollar out of fifteen cents. One such entity is Goldman Sachs, who has pledged to invest $10 billion in black women over ten years. And it’s not just them! Other big-name companies, such as Cartier, Visa, and Tory Burch all have something that enterprising black women can get a piece of! Like the kids say – get your coins, sis!

• Laws restricting access to abortion

  Whatever your stance on abortion, it’s still important to pay attention to which way the winds of reproductive rights are blowing. For example, just this week, Oklahoma Governor Kevin Stitt, signed three anti-abortion bills into law, including ones to criminalize the procedure in certain cases and cost providers their medical licenses for performing them. Even if you don’t live in or near Oklahoma, it’s still good to know.

  And not long ago over in Arkansas, a bill was signed into law banning abortions in all cases, except to save the mother’s life. There are no exemptions made for rape or incest.

  While you may not live in either of these states, the bigger picture is that the ultimate goal is to undo Roe v. Wade. If you are of reproductive age, or have friends and family of reproductive age, this, not some singer’s matted hair, is what should be trending.

• The rapidly rising yet unpublicized domestic violence epidemic

  On the blog we have mentioned the domestic violence issues that black women uniquely face. And yet, hardly anyone, even other black women, speak up against or draw significant attention to the problem. At the end of last year, the figures showed that black women and girls were murdered at a rate at every eight hours. We are just at the end of April now, and it’s inching closer to every seven. Yesterday, April 28th, marked the 400th black female victim of violence. Instead of hopping in a comment section to declare your annoyance at this dude’s greasy head, expend your energy for something that matters. You can follow Black Femicide – US for more information.

Don’t get me wrong, I know we can walk and chew gum at the same time. And life would be utterly joyless if we concentrated solely on the hard-hitting topics all the live long day.  But the thing is, I don’t think we’re walking and chewing gum. For things like Justin’s hair, or the latest cheating scandal, or surgery rumors, or what have you, we are out en masse. But when things that can directly impact us are up for discussion, it’s noticeably quieter. Is it an intentional distraction? Maybe it is, maybe it’s not. Regardless, as we continue on this crazy year, I suggest we only put our energies in people and places that ultimately serve us, inform us, and of course, pays us.