the crown act
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Glamour's September Cover Story Focuses on the Stigmas Surrounding Black Hair in the Workplace
Glamour Magazine has unveiled its September cover story, which is all about the stigmas of Black women’s hair. The package follows six Black women and the workplace discrimination they’ve been subjected to because of how they choose to wear their hair. The story was guest-edited by journalist Ashley Alese Edwards, and the socially distanced cover…
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The Big Payback: Gabrielle Union, Dwyane Wade and Matthew Cherry Give Hair Love to Student Told to Cut Dreadlocks to Walk at Graduation
Texas high schooler Deandre Arnold may not be walking with his graduating class at Barbers Hill High School in Mont Belvieu, Texas, this year, but he will be walking the red carpet on Oscars night, thanks to Hair Love director Matthew Cherry, producers Gabrielle Union and Dwyane Wade, and personal care brand Dove. Deandre, a…
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C’mon Kansas! Will the Sunflower State Be the Next to Ban Hair Discrimination? [Corrected]
Toto, I don’t think we’re going to have trouble wearing our naturally textured hair in Kansas anymore—at least, we hope not. OK, that’s optimistic (and to the best of our knowledge, there’s no easing on down the road involved), but what’s promising is a new bill (pdf) proposed by Wichita Democratic Senator Oletha Faust-Goudeau, which…
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Black Girls With Braids Reportedly Banned From Harlem Production of Black Nutcracker
Even in one of The Root’s Blackest Cities in America—black girls can’t wear natural hair for a black-themed musical production. This is the scenario that reportedly played out at Uptown Dance Academy’s production of “Black Nutcracker” in Harlem on Thursday. According to PIX11, Lisa Skinner said her two daughters —9-year-old April and 10-year-old Brooke—were banned…
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New Jersey Just Became the Third State to Vote to End Hair Discrimination [Corrected]
A mere week after presidential hopeful Sen. Cory Booker (D-N.J.) introduced legislation that would ban hair discrimination nationwide, his home state of New Jersey is making it official, passing a bill that prohibits discrimination against a person due to their hairstyle, an issue that disproportionately affects black people who choose to wear their hair in…
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Seeking to End Hair Discrimination Nationwide, Cory Booker and Colleagues Bring the CROWN Act to Congress
After successfully passing in California and New York with at least six more states pending, the CROWN Act (Create a Respectful and Open World for Natural Hair) may soon be signed into law nationwide—that is, if presidential hopeful Senator Cory Booker (D-N.J.) and several of his congressional colleagues have their way. As reported by Insider…
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CROWNing Glory: New York City Just Resolved Its First Hair Discrimination Case—and a Celebrity Stylist Is Going to Pay
“Heavy lies the crown,” they say—and for celebrity hairstylist Sally Hershberger, the punishment for the type of discriminatory practices that birthed the CROWN Act has come down heavy indeed, as she and business partner Sharon Dorram are on the losing end of a $70,000 civil lawsuit. In fact, according to the New York Times, it…
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‘Vanessa Huxtable’s Hair Was Not Always Perfectly Pressed’: Shonda Rhimes Talks Natural Hair Representation on Television
On a mild-weathered Wednesday evening, I traveled toward Downey, Calif., to visit the Los Angeles County of Education and was swept with an immense sense of pride. As I awaited the esteemed panel to take the stage, I couldn’t help but smile at the sea of beautiful black girls coiffed in different hairstyles—braids, twists, afro…
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Big Hair, Don’t Care: A 5th-Grader Stands in Defiance of the Policing of Black Hair
“So, yesterday, I went to school, and I wore my hair in an afro like this…and a lot of people had a lot of mean things to say about it,” said Nashville fifth-grader Promise Sawyers, gesturing to her enviable halo of natural hair in a now-viral video on YouTube. “So that made me feel some…
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From Jackie Aina to the CROWN Coalition, Black Women Lead Glamour’s List of Women Changing the Beauty Industry
It’s our turn. That’s the message Glamour magazine is giving black women, with the release of its “Women of the Year All Year” list honoring the biggest influencers in beauty. Of the 12 women the magazine profiled for 2019, eight are black, indicating that our influence is finally moving beyond being fodder for appropriation to…