Diversity Management, News and Updates
Following a number of disturbing recent stories about school-age children getting expelled for their natural Black hairstyles, bullied by peers, or even having teachers step in and attempt to cut or “redo” their hair, legislators in Illinois have decided it was time to step in and end the madness. The…
A swanky salon on Manhattan’s Upper East Side has been penalized under the city’s hair discrimination legal guidelines, New York City’s Human Rights Commission announced last week. Sharon Dorram Color at Sally Hershberger salon is the first business in New York City to face the consequences of discriminating against Black…
Khalisa Rae Thompson had been a customer at multiple Aveda Salons for 15 years. A routine visit to an Aveda in Raleigh, N.C., would turn her otherwise good experiences with the chain into an eye-opening lesson on hair discrimination against Black women, according to ESSENCE. Thompson said she had previously…
Narvie Harris Elementary School in Decatur, Ga., faced backlash regarding its discriminatory school policy regarding acceptable natural hairstyles worn by its students. Administrators at the school created and displayed a poster of what they deemed “appropriate” and “inappropriate” hairstyles for class. The advertisement solely featured Black children. Related Story: CROWN…
Mitchell, who wears locs, introduces “Creating a Respectful and Open Workplace for Natural Hair” bill, The CROWN Act. Senator Holly Mitchell of Los Angeles wears locs, and, like many Black women, faced white colleagues’ confusion around it. “I decided to loc at 40,” Mitchell said in an interview. “I was…
C.J. Stanley Sr. took his six-year-old son to A Book Christian Academy in Apopka, Fla., for his first day at school, but C.J. Jr. was turned away because of his dreadlocks. The school had a policy on no long hair for boys, and the fact that C.J. offered to put…
For many Black women, hair is tied to identity. Award-winning screenwriter and actress Lena Waithe said queer stereotypes prevented her from cutting her hair, until now. “I felt like I was holding onto a piece of femininity that would make the world feel comfortable with who I am,” Waithe said…
Rah Thomas made a decision early on in his corporate career to work at a company that would not only accept his dreadlocks but would encourage him to wear the hairstyle. Thomas, 37, a managing director in Accenture’s Infrastructure Operations practice and co-lead of the African American employee resource group,…
Amandla Stenberg, 19, best known for her role in “The Hunger Games,” explained in a recent conversation at the TIFF Next Wave Festival in Toronto why she walked away from the audition process for Ryan Coogler’s box office smash, “Black Panther.” “One of the most challenging things for me to…
