My Crown is My Glory: The Crown Act Expansion
(Photo by Christina Morillo from Pexels)
How many times have you let work dictate your style? Or rendered yourself at the hands of the blow-dryer set to hell for the blow out?
It’s been awhile since we’ve discussed the CROWN Act but this update couldn’t come at a better moment in time and our discussion is perfectly placed as we end out Women’s History Month with this monumental win for Black Women’s hair and shift into Black Women’s History month. In my September 2019 blog over on annodright, I gave the background information of the Crown Act and its importance to the work that I do. As a brief recap, the CROWN Act, Creating a Respectful and Open World for Natural Hair Movement was started in January of 2019 in efforts to remove the stigma attached to the natural hair styles and choices of Black Women. By July of 2019, California was the first state to make the movement a law with petitions circulating for many more states to follow suit.
On March 12, 2021, via their Instagram page the @thecrownact announced that 8 states have joined California and made the CROWN Act a law thereby making it illegal for women’s hair preferences to be used in discriminatory ways within workplaces. No more is the need to feel the pressure of having “acceptable hair.”
While legislation is great and helpful, it needs to be supported by action. Black Women’s hair has been an issue for so long that many of us aren’t really sure how to overcome our hair issues. It will require training for everyone. For us we need to retrain ourselves and begin to look at our hair and it’s texture differently. We need to address the things that traditionally plagued us in our hair journeys or have been taught under the guise of socially acceptable presentation to now realize, understand and embrace that our natural hair textures and patterns have always been socially acceptable. This topic was and is a part of my life’s work. I wrote a dissertation on it. I encourage you to make Cocoa Butter & Hair Grease: A Self-Love Journey through Hair & Skin an activity in your daily self-care time. Journal, journey and reflect on all the things that have come to be a part of who you are but not necessarily in ways that are uplifting and encouraging. This journey restores the uplift, the sense of pride, and increases your love of self. It gives you more things and ways to love you.
For others, let’s start with one simple thing to get the elephant out of the room, “No you can’t touch it.” Please do not raise your hand without invitation to touch a Black woman’s hair. And yes, I put it on a t-shirt! Hair and its appearance are just two of the many ways that racism appears in workplaces. Comments such as “Have you ever considered not wearing it like that?” or “Is that really your hair?” are actually offensive and unwarranted. In order to change the structures that promote racist practices and cultures within workplaces requires that employers are ready to do the work. Don’t just have a “DEI Consultant” on board for the sake of title and you only want them to plan the Black History Luncheon in February or create the monthly flier of what to do to include everybody but there are no further conversations or actions involved in doing that work. Invest in a trainer to come with a comprehensive program and be prepared to do the work and yes I am available! Schedule your Call to Action today to discuss bringing The Blacker the Berry program to your office.
Changes in mindsets bring about changes in behavior. While we are all responsible for committing to the work of ourselves, if we are all committed and doing the work, then we can begin to see the change that everybody talks about. Let’s get to work!
