Creating A Respectful and Open World for Natural Hair Act of 2022

Floor Speech

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Ms. PRESSLEY. Madam Speaker, I rise today on the floor of the House of Representatives, the people's House, to declare that Black girls with our braids, locs, Afros, all forms of natural hairstyles and, yes, even our smooth alopecian bald heads, belong everywhere.

Today, we take an important step toward codifying this fact into law by passing the CROWN Act legislation I am so proud to co-lead in partnership with Representatives Watson Coleman, Moore, Lee, and Omar.

For too long, Black girls have been discriminated against and criminalized for the hair that grows on our heads and the way we move through and show up in this world.

In my home State, the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, two twin sisters, Deana and Mya, high school students, were disciplined for showing up with braids. They were given numerous detentions, kicked off the track team, banned from prom, solely for their hairstyle.

In their own words, these scholars and athletes were judged more for their heritage than their homework.

No more.

For those sisters and thousands of other students who face discrimination based on their hair, the CROWN Act is for you.

For recent graduates who fear they must change their hair or cut their locs to secure a job, the CROWN Act is for you.

For our elders who have faced and fought this racism for generations, the CROWN Act is for you.

Just yesterday, the Massachusetts State legislature made history by passing similar legislation. By passing the CROWN Act today, we affirm, say it loud, Black is beautiful and so is our hair.

Whether you are a student in a classroom, an employee in the workplace, or the next Supreme Court Justice, or the Speaker pro tem, you deserve to show up as your full self, rocking your crown with your head held high.

I urge a ``yes'' vote for every person who has been asked to shrink or to apologize simply for the beautiful way with which God made them.

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