Today is the one-year anniversary of California passing The Crown Act. Yes, we needed a law to be able to wear our hair the way it naturally grows without being discriminated against... welcome to life as a Black woman in America. We are still waiting for it to be a federal law (am I the only one bothered that we need this law…but I digress) but regardless The Crown Act paved the way for people to recognize the discrimination that we face because of something as _________ (insert the word you find appropriate here) as hair. ⠀ So...let's talk about hair baby. Do you have locs flowing free? Let's talk about all the perms and all the twist-outs. They're great to me. Y’all know the tune so hopefully, you were singing those words as you read them. ⠀ ⠀ For Black women, hair is a beautiful, complicated topic that is filled with all of the emotions. For me, losing my hair was one of the hardest things I've ever dealt with, as in harder than going through an ugly divorce and losing my eyesight…did y’all know I was legally blind…that’s for another discussion. For others, the stigmas attached to natural hair or weaves or perms, cause so many conflicting emotions we're left not knowing what to do or feel. ⠀ ⠀ We all sang with India Arie when she declared, "I am not my hair". We all know the feeling of spending hours in the hair salon and walking out wondering if we're going to break our neck when we" whip our hair back and forth". Our hair can affect the way we sleep, the activities we participate in, and the jobs we have. Yes, I said the jobs we have because we know other people draw all types of assumptions based on our hair (hence the need for the Crown act). ⠀ From the beauty shop scene in School Daze to Ms. Celie combing her step-daughter's hair on the front porch in Color Purple, and my personal favorite, the Oscar Award-winning short film Hair Love, we watch movies about it, talk about it and think about it every day. So, what do you think? How are you wearing your hair and how do you feel about it? ⠀
Whether your motto is, “big hair don’t care”, “bald and beautiful” or anywhere in between this day is for you. Let’s spend the day loving our hair, whatever it looks like, and wherever we got it from.
✔️ Share a pic of yourself with your beautiful hair or head on display on your favorite social media platform. Tag @ourtruthsonline and use the hashtags #AllHairIsGoodHair #OurTruths #TheCROWNAct ⠀ ⠀ We can't wait to see you all!!⠀
PS – For anyone reading this who didn’t know…no it is not, has never been and will never be OK to touch our hair!
Author and Our Truths founder, Christy Pruitt-Haynes combined her 20 years of leadership in organizations including The Memphis Grizzlies, MTV Networks and Infiniti with an education in Human Resources and Organizational Development to create Christy Pruitt-Haynes Consulting and change the professional landscape for women and people of color while helping organizations achieve excellence. This TEDx talk giving executive, wife, mother, aunt, daughter, sister and friend loves travel, laughing uncontrollably and losing herself in great music.
Theme song: I was here by Beyoncé
Superpower: Resourcefulness
Proudest moments: The births of my daughter Christiana, niece Nia and organization Our Truths