Amna: Today is known as crown
act day, in honor of the date
when legislation prohibiting
discrimination based on hair
texture or style was first
passed at the state level.
Our communities correspondent
, Gabrielle hays, in St. Louis
has more on what this means in
her city.
Gabrielle: Natural black hair is
often unfairly seen as
inappropriate in many spaces
like the work environment,
schools, or even on camera.
Legislation first passed in 2019
is aiming to make that
discrimination illegal.
At the same time, many black
women, like entrepreneur Leslie
Hughes, are embracing their
natural hair.
>> My curls have been a journey,
so I just wonder what has your
hair journey been like?
>> Girl, the same, it's been a
journey with a lot of ups and
downs.
Gabrielle: The crown act first
, introduced in California,
stands for create a respectful
and open world for natural hair.
23 states have passed similar
bills.
Some states, like Missouri, have
not.
Cities within the state however
have, including St. Louis.
♪♪
Hughes started a festival to
celebrate natural hair in St.
Louis called frizz fest, so she
could carve out a space for
self-love.
>> I was really happy if just my
family showed up.
And from the first event we had
600 rsvp and I was like, oh my
god.
But now it's having thousands of
people showing up like I am just
in awe.
Gabrielle: Kimberly Norwood, a
law professor at Washington
university, says sot hair
-- says the crown act is meant
to ban hairstyle discrimination
nationwide, discrimination that
heavily targets the black
community.
>> It started maybe in 2019 or
so to sort of respond to a lot
of employment policies and
school policies that were
punishing people who had hair
texture like mine, pretty much
punishing people of African
descent and prohibiting people
from wearing their hair in the
natural state.
Gabrielle: Norwood has spent
years researching racial bias.
She says black people should
feel safe to wear their hair how
they want, especially in places
like schools where black
students are disproportionately
disciplined.
>> People aren't getting offers
because of their hair, not
because it's not clean, unkempt,
because it's in braids.
Because it's in an afro, because
it's in loss.
Right.
And that is something that is
pretty cononcted to African
descendant people.
So it's a real targeted form of
discrimination that that
woefully negatively impacts
black Americans in particular.
Gabrielle: A 2019 study by
personal care brand, dove, found
that black women are one and a
half times more likely to be
sent home from their workplace
because of their hair, and are
also 80% more likely T change
their hair from its natural
state in order to avoid
discrimination in an office
setting.
For Hughes, Norwood, and many
others, normalizing natural hair
for black people everywhere is
more than just undoing decades
of harmful hair practices, it is
also about coming to a place of
self acceptance.
>> When I was a child, my mother
used to put a hot comb, called
it, on a burner, and that burner
had gas fire and then she would
straighten my hair.[00:14:35]
-- My hair.
And then that limited my ability
to run, my ability to swim
because your hair will revert to
, its natural position.
>> Our hair is who we are, our
different hairstyles.
It's part of our our heritage,
our ancestors.
So being able to feel like we
can live freely and comfortable
in every space, exactly how we
want is very important.
Gabrielle: Law professor Norwood
says it's the people behind the
crown act in the spaces like
frizz fest in St. Louis that
fight to ensure natural black
hair doesn't face
discrimination.
>> We can't just go off and sit
in a corner, right.
Licking our wounds because our
hair has been rejected.
We have to continue the fight.
Gabrielle: Big steps and small
that aim to shift perception of
natural black hair.
For the pbs newshour, I'm
Gabrielle hays.
Amna: Online, you can read more
about what cities are doing to
prevent hair related
discrimination.