black hair politics
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Calling Foul: Virginia Referee Barred From Future Games After Complaining About 10-Year-Old Girl’s Hair
Another day, another person who has an issue with a black child’s hair. A youth basketball referee in Chesapeake, Va., has been barred from reffing future games in the city after making negative comments about a young black player’s hair. As local news team WAVY reports, the unnamed but veteran referee singled out the 10-year-old…
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In Another Case of Dreadlock Discrimination, Texas Elementary School Insists 1st Grader Cut His Locs
In a disturbing case of déjà vu, another six-year-old is being turned away from school for wearing his natural hairstyle. Texas-based writer T.L. Browning posted to Twitter in early January, understandably furious that her son Jonathan was ordered to cut his locs over the winter break before being allowed to return to school when classes…
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Black Hair Matters: The Affirmative Power of Politicians Like Ayanna Pressley and Stacey Abrams
When Ayanna Pressley got her Senegalese twists done for the first time about three years ago, it was a moment of affirmation and recognition. “I just really loved it,” she told The Glow Up. “I felt my most authentic and powerful self.” Speaking over the phone this past September, Pressley explained that when she was…
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Education, Not Discrimination: NAACP Legal Defense Fund Asks Florida Schools to End Biased Hair Policies
As children returned to school this fall, new teachers and classmates weren’t the only things that greeted some students. More than one story surfaced of children being turned away, or sent home from school, because of culturally-specific hairstyles like braids or dreadlocks. One such child was six-year-old Clinton Stanley, Jr., whose story went viral when…
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Watch: Nappily Ever After's Sanaa Lathan Says You Don't Need Marriage to Be Complete
Sanaa Lathan broke the internet when she revealed her big chop last September. Lathan, who has dazzled the big screen since the late ‘90s, has rocked a number of styles throughout her career— but this moment was different. Lathan’s big chop was a part of her role as Violet Jones in Nappily Ever After, which…
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Celebrating the Natural Hair Journey: Behind the Scenes at Texture on the Runway
New York Fashion Week is well under way, and models with various textures of hair sashayed down the runway to represent. Why have a show dedicated to showcasing coils, curls and kinks, you say? Because natural hair matters. Texture on the Runway—founded by Naturally Curly—featured braids, afros, up-dos, and locs as styled by some of…
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Stranger Danger: Random White Woman Narrowly Avoids Catching Hands After Touching Black Woman’s Hair
Here’s the problem with growing up in a world that tells you you’re entitled to everything (even owning and colonizing people at various points in history): If you don’t know (or learn) better, you’re inevitably bound to touch something—or someone—that doesn’t belong to you. That’s what happened on Thursday in a Georgia establishment called Little…
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Aspiring to the A-List? Viola Davis Talks Inclusion, Inequities and Acting in Her Natural Hair
It’s strange to consider a world in which Viola Davis isn’t considered “A-list.” The woman already has a star on the Walk of Fame and is just one Grammy away from being achieving “EGOT” status (surely, someone’s got an audiobook that could use her talents, no?). So, when a new interview with the star in…
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New Licensing Requirements for New Jersey Braiders Remain Tangled in Legislation
Looks like it’s one step forward, one step back for New Jersey braid practitioners, as legislation introduced to abolish the current licensing requirements for braiders was conditionally vetoed by Gov. Phil Murphy, with suggestions for revisions before he’d reconsider. As The Glow Up reported in July, New Jersey Assemblywomen Angela McKnight (D-Hudson) and Shanique Speight…
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Splitting Hairs: Celeb Hairstylists Kim Kimble and Tokyo Stylez Sparked a Shady Debate Over Legitimacy
One is a legend in the hair game and the other is steadily making a name for himself creating of-the-moment looks for any number of famous heads, but an exchange of shade between celebrity hair gurus Kim Kimble and Tokyo Stylez this week sparked a lengthy debate about who really gets to call themselves a…