question for the internet brain

someone on my flist has got to know this one: what's the average amount/type of care if you've got thick, v. coarse, curly-to-kinky hair and want it to look like this or this? (Pam Spalding is the first; Rep. Cynthia McKinney is the second.) I know that thick, v. coarse, and straight is the usual for Asian hair, and I've been told that historically Asian women used an oil (kind of like a pomade, I'm guessing) to condition their hair, sometimes nightly, to keep it healthy. Would something similar be done for thick, coarse, kinky African hair?

Not requiring anyone to give me a dissertation (though I wouldn't complain if you can/would), but even a website that has basic facts about how to get the look(s), how to take care of them, what kind of upkeep is required -- that would be really awesome. There's got to be something out there, I'm sure, but my google-fu seems to be lacking on this. (Mostly because the top 300 hits on any search are all blog posts about Michelle Obama. Not that I'm complaining, but I know her style requires chemical processing, and I'd like to find info on styles that do not require processing.)

Any ideas, advice, sites with reliable info?