
If you hadn't heard of 'Jon & Kate Plus Eight' a few months ago, chances are you've heard of it now. What started out as a lighthearted TLC reality show about Jon and Kate Gosselin and their two sets of multiples -- sextuplets and twins -- has turned into a grisly study of divorce, infidelity and our nation's nasty tabloid culture. The family has fallen apart before America's very eyes. There's one thing, however, that has refused to falter, refused to wilt, refused to budge even an inch in the face of domestic tragedy. That thing is Kate Gosselin signature hairdo.
"Everybody wants it," the mom of eight told Entertainment Weekly in May. " It's work. I have very, very thick hair, so it's not going to work for everybody. ... My stylist gets calls from all across the country."
While Gosselin -- and several entertainment journalists worldwide -- seems to think her hairstyle is a one-of-a-kind, in-demand Gosselin original, I'm going to have to disagree. Very few blonde reality stars might be rockin' the Kate, but it's a style that I've seen black women wearing for years and years. I mean, years. And several black celebrities (see Ciara's new short 'do) have been stepping out in a similar style recently with hardly the same amount of fanfare and publicity.
After the jump, check out some of Gosselin's celebrity hair twins. Who wears it better?
2008 Deaths
Odetta Holmes
"The Voice of the Civil Rights Movement" was a singer, actress, guitarist, songwriter and activist.
December 31 1930 - December 2 2008.
Ray Tamarra , Getty
Bernie Mac
Comedian, Actor
Oct. 5, 1957 - Aug. 9, 2008.
AP
Isaac Hayes
Singer, songwriter, record producer, composer and actor.
August 20, 1942 - August 10, 2008
Reuters
Miriam Makeba, "Mama Africa"
South African folk singer and anti-apartheid activist.
March 4, 1932 - November 10, 2008.
Reuters
Jennifer Hudson's 57-year-old mother, Darnell Donerson, brother, Jason, and 7-year-old nephew, Julian King, were killed in 2008.
AP
Shakir Stewart
The Island Def Jam executive who became head of the legendary rap label following Jay-Z's departure, killed himself on Nov. 1. He was 34 years old.
Getty
George Carlin
Stand-up comedian, actor and author.
May 12, 1937 - June 22, 2008
Getty Images
Madelyn Dunham
Barack Obama's grandmother
October 26, 1922 - Nov 3, 2008.
Getty Images
Levi Stubbs
Oct. 17: The iconic lead singer, second from left, who gave voice to Four Tops classics like "Reach Out I'll Be There" and "Baby I Need Your Loving" died at 72 from complications of cancer and a stroke. Abdul Fakir, far left, is now the sole living member of the original quartet.
Corbis
Dee Dee Warwick
Oct. 18: The soul songstress died after months of declining health. Warwick, the sister of soul legend Dionne, also achieved a great deal of success, both as a solo artist as well as with her sister.
Corbis


Comments: (289)
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By: cc on 9/10/2009 9:53PM
um, what is wrong with you people? this is 2009 and it really saddens me to see grown ass women and men fighting over race like some children or the racist people stuck in the 60's..get over yourselves please.
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By: Katrina on 9/11/2009 12:30PM
It's so typical...a lot of white folks think that they are the beginning and end of everything LOL
tsk tsk tsk.
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By: barbarascy385 on 9/11/2009 2:54PM
Both races imitate each other, but on the subject of this haircut, Mrs. Gosselin did NOT invent this haircut. I started seeing this kind of haircut in the late 80's. Salt N' Pepper's haircuts were not exactly like this, but it was pretty close. Hell, even Cindy Lauper had her version and that dates back to at least 1983 or 1984. Missy Elliot was rocking this look in a couple of her videos say about five or six years ago. What did Mrs. Gosselin invent? It sure wasn't this haircut.
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By: Sister Fedup on 9/15/2009 7:24AM
Never forgetthis autrocity. There are more savages who have not be caught.Black women you are on your own unless a white maen gang rape you and these scum bag organizations can use you like the hoaxers Tawana Brawley and Duke strippers.
A Political Season
Al Sharpton - National Action Network
Julian Bond - Chairman - NAACP
Maude Ford Lee - President - West Palm Beach Branch NAACP
Sabu Williams - Director - Florida State Conference NAACP
I'm writing to protest the recent actions of the NAACP and the National Action Network in the Dunbar Village rape case. As you know, on June 18th, 2007, a black woman and her 12 year old son were viciously and savagely attacked by 10 black men and boys in a West Palm Beach Florida public housing project called Dunbar Village . The woman was brutally gang raped for over three hours, tortured and forced to perform oral sex on her 12 year old son at gunpoint. They were doused with chemicals, poured into their eyes and the woman's vagina in an attempt to destroy evidence. They were saved from being burned alive only because the rapists could not find matches. No one called the police during the three hour attack. No one came to their aid when the attack was over. They had to walk a mile to a hospital before they were assisted by anyone.
On Tuesday, March 11, 2008, Al Sharpton and the West Palm Beach NAACP held a press conference accusing the prosecutor of treating those arrested in this case unfairly. You demanded that the prosecutor offer bail to the boys arrested in this case and not try them as adults, because this was being done by the prosecutor in another gang rape case involving white perpetrators in a different Florida jurisdiction.
Following the attack, vigorous efforts were made to contact NAN and the NAACP and enlist your aid in getting help and attention for the victim of this horrific crime. An NAACP spokesman, when contacted, said they would not respond because "it was outside their mission". Despite repeated calls to the National Action Network, there was NO RESPONSE. No statement on behalf of the victim, no protest, not one single word. Contrast this to the swift and vocal response Al Sharpton and NAN exhibited to the Duke rape case. In the Duke case, loud and vocal support of the victim and calls for justice for her attackers, but in the Dunbar Village case.......complete silence. The difference between the two cases? At Duke - the alleged attackers were white men; in Dunbar Village, the alleged attackers are black men. Contrast the response in this case to the NAACP's vigorous defense of Michael Vick for merely killing dogs, but the brutal and horrific gang rape of a black woman in front of her 12 year old son provokes not a single word.
For almost a year, NAN and the NAACP had nothing to say in support of the black woman victim and her son. You made no calls for the West Palm Beach police to swiftly find these criminals, of whom six are still on the loose. You did nothing to my knowledge to offer help to this woman and her child to help them recover. In all points, you exhibited a complete moral indifference to the crime committed against this black woman. Now, almost a year later, you come rushing to the defense of....the rapists??!!!! Your actions send the clear message that crimes committed against black women are not important to your organizations unless they present an opportunity to protest perceived racism and if exploiting a poor, gang raped black woman can help you grab some media spotlight for that purpose, thats okay.
I ask, where is your moral compass? How is it that the vile nature of what you are doing is not apparent to you? You are championing rapists while deliberately, purposefully ignoring the vicious gang rape and torture of a black woman. Your actions make clear that neither you Al Sharpton as a black man, nor the NAACP, value the dignity, safety and well being of black women. Your actions make clear that the rape and violation of black women is okay depending on the race of the violator. You will protest the rape of black women by white men, but you will say nothing about the rape of black women by black men and in fact will defend the black rapists of african american women. It is a second violation of this woman and indeed of all black women as vile as the first.
Your behavior in this case is morally indefensible and despicable. There is no justification for it, no basis in morality that would support what Al Sharpton and the NAACP are doing. I demand that you reverse course. I demand that you turn the resources of your organization to providing support and aid to the innocent victims in this case, not the perpetrators. I demand that you publicly in word and deed put pressure on the West Palm Beach authorities to find and arrest the other six rapists still on the loose.
If you are unwilling to immediately and publicly acknowledge the error of your actions in regard to the Dunbar Village case, I and as many others as I can persuade to join me, will pursue every avenue available to make the public at large, the media, your membership, your financial and political supporters, your sponsors and the entire world aware of your willing and informed support and encouragement of the brutal rape and torture of a black woman. My outrage is shared by many others. NAN and the NAACP will be held accountable.
The actions of Al Sharpton and the NAACP to support rapists of black women is a moral abomination, a moral atrocity. It degrades and sullies the good the NAACP has accomplished. It should not be allowed to stand. It is non negotiable. If the NAACP and NAN must be ripped apart and rebuilt anew to restore its moral compass and establish as sacrosanct the dignity, value and safety of black women, that is preferable to organizations which knowingly support the violation and rape of black women.
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To our readers. If you agree with the above, make it a letter template for other people. Forward it, twit it, facebook it, newsvine it, digg it, and anything else you can think of. Turn it into a viral hurricane of outrage and accountability.
You can communicate directly to the organizations with the info below:
NAACP: Julian Bond -Chairman
4805 Mt. Hope Drive, Baltimore MD 21215
Toll Free: (877) NAACP-98
Local: (410) 580-5777
National Action Network
Al Sharpton
Crisis Department
106 W. 145th Street
Harlem, New York 10039
212-690-3070
877-NAN-HOJ1
crisis@nationalactionnetwork.net
revalmedia@yahoo.com
NAACP: Florida State Conference
DIRECTOR: MR. SABU WILLIAMS
ADDRESS: 230 Seneca Trail; Crest View, FL 32536
TELEPHONE: (850) 301-2095 FAX: (850) 301-2098
E-MAIL: sabu1@aol.com
West Palm Beach County Branch - Unit # 5143
President: Maude Ford Lee
Mailing Address: P. O. Box 4131 West Palm Beach, FL 33407
Telephone: (561) 655-9798
E-Mail: unit5143@naacp.org
This behavior should not be allowed to stand. Let's put a stop to it.
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By: Marisela on 10/21/2009 12:20PM
I think Kate looks stupid shes ugly no matter what hairstyle.The reason all this racist stuff starts on here is because of the author of this article.Why try to point out that black women had this hairstyle first? Its a racist article that gets people mad. As a hispanic im also offended to see someone said we are part black get over yourselves already we are hispanics and dont associate us with AA cuz as much as you wish that were not!!!
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By: Jenn on 9/15/2009 7:29PM
everyone talking about kates new look on the view its still the same ugly hairstyle but curled... you can put a skirt on a turd but its still just a turd!!
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By: Gary on 10/15/2009 5:52PM
There are cave drawings of Egyptian women with this hair style 4000 years before Jesus. Please.. nothing anyone can do with hair that hasn't been done before.
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By: Gary on 10/26/2009 5:07PM
There are cave drawings of Egyptian women with this hair style 4000 years before Jesus. Please.. nothing anyone can do with hair that hasn't been done before.
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By: cdhutch370 on 10/29/2009 12:45PM
So do a lot of black folks.
tsk tsk tsk
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