Growing up in Wilson, Jessica Harris, like many Black women, began using hair relaxers when she was just a pre-teen. She felt cultural pressures and beauty standards pushing her into it. “Since probably I was about 13 or something,” she said. Today, she’s battling ovarian cancer for the second time, with no family history of cancer. Harris is among many plaintiffs across the country suing beauty brands, believing their products caused their diseases.
“It feels like they targeted us,” she told WRAL News.
Represented by attorneys MaryAnne Hamilton and Stacy Miller, Harris is part of a bigger movement. The legal team from Miller Law Group in Raleigh is determined to hold beauty corporations accountable for the health issues allegedly caused by their products. Companies like L’Oreal and Revlon are named in the lawsuit.
Numerous studies have examined the link between hair relaxers and cancer. According to the National Institutes of Health, women who use these products “more than four times a year” are “more than twice as likely” to develop uterine cancer.
“This is clearly an example of putting profits over people,” Miller said. “They’re still selling them today. In the face of a potential national recall.”
Harris’s prognosis is uncertain. Cancer has made almost everything in life a struggle – even tasks as simple as walking or getting in her car. She laments the time lost doing things she loves and hopes the lawsuit will bring awareness and change. “I hope they can make sure the companies that made these relaxers put some kind of warning signs, or let Black people know how they can harm them, and make a relaxer that can straighten Black people’s hair without harmful chemicals,” she said.
