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For decades race-based hair discrimination has impacted the lives of Black women, men, and children everywhere and finally laws are being put in place to protect our crowns. The second anniversary of the CROWN Act was recently celebrated, the bill was passed in 2019 in California. Also known as the Black Hair Independence Day, it’s a day of solidarity – being able to be bold and proud of your natural hair as Black people without worries of discrimination whether that in school or the workplace. Dove, the CROWN Coalition which is composed of the national Urban League, Color Of Change, and Western Center on Law & Poverty continue to ensure hairstyles are celebrated.

The latest updates since the passing of the CROWN Day include (the following information is provided by the Joy Collective):

  • Passed legislation in a total 13 states, up from last year’s 7 states:
    • California (July 2019)
    • New York (July 2019)
    • New Jersey (December 2019)
    • Virginia (March 2020)
    • Colorado (March 2020)
    • Washington (March 2020)
    • Maryland (April 2020)
    • Connecticut (March 2021)
    • Delaware (April 2021)
    • New Mexico (April 2021)
    • Nebraska (May 2021)
    • Nevada (June 2021)
    • Oregon (June 2021)
  • In late 2020, the federal CROWN Act bill passed in the U.S. House of Representatives. It was re-introduced this year in both the House and Senate.
  • Thirty municipalities across the country have also passed anti-hair discrimination legislation
  • Eight additional states are considering the CROWN Act and have either pre-filed, filed, or formally stated an intent to introduce their own anti-hair discrimination bills
  • The CROWN Act has introduced in twenty-two (22) additional states but did NOT move through the legislature before the legislative sessions ended. We will work to support reintroducing the CROWN Act in these states
  • The CROWN Coalition, an alliance of organizations that are dedicated to the advancement of anti-hair discrimination legislation across the United States, has grown from its original 4 founding members (Dove, National Urban League, Color Of Change and Western Center of Law and Poverty) to more than 80 supporting organizations.
  • The petition to pass the bill is now at 260k+, up from last year’s 180k

For more information on the CROWN Act: 

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