July marks a historical month and a bold achievement for the CROWN Act.
Image Source: @thecrownact
The third of the month commemorates five years since the legislation, which stands for Creating a Respectful and Open World For Natural Hair, was passed in California in 2019. The CROWN Act prohibits discrimination against hair textures and protective styles in the workplace and educational institutions. Since it was first enacted in California, the legislation has been enacted in 26 states.
The Annual CROWN Awards
Ahead of its signing anniversary, Dove hosted the annual CROWN Awards in June. The event in Los Angeles celebrated Black women and girls striving to redefine traditional beauty and hair standards. The CROWN Awards recognized honorees across different categories of entertainers, entrepreneurs, and community leaders.
Image Source: @thecrownact
Media personality Tai Beauchamp hosted the extravagant luncheon and presented the CROWN Awards in front of a vibrant crowd. Before Beauchamp kicked off the celebration, a small, intimate group of attendees gathered to take photos and share affirmations about how they viewed their crown.
Guests set the tone of the lively event by using terms such as “magical,” “authentic,” “freeing,” “versatile,” and “powerful” as positive phrases to describe their hair. A presentation of a delicious selection of Southern cuisine followed with options ranging from mac and cheese to collard greens, banana pudding for dessert, and more.
In partnership with bodycare brand Dove, a founding member of the national alliance CROWN Coalition, awards were presented to honorees for their strides in uplifting and empowering Black communities to embrace their natural hair in all spaces. This year’s selection of honorees featured actress Uzo Aduba (“Orange Is The New Black”), Graceyn “Gracie” Hollingworth (“Gracie’s Corner), LaTosha Brown (Southern Black Girls & Women’s Consortium Founder), Eunique Gibson (Because of Them We Can Founder), and Supervisor Holly Mitchell ( Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors).
The list of categories and honors awarded included:
- 2024 Entertainment Award – Uzo Aduba
- 2024 Young CROWN – Graceyn ”Gracie” Hollingsworth
- 2024 Vanguard Award – LaTosha Brown
- 2024 Business Award – Eunique Jones Gibson
- 2024 Legacy Award – Supervisor Holly J. Mitchell
Attendees heard from honorees Aduba, Brown, and Mitchell as they accepted their awards. Each recipient took the time to share their personal hair journeys and the inspiration they pulled from past experiences, leading them to advocate for advancing Black beauty in their respective crafts.
“This award means so much to me because I feel like it is representative of me,” Aduba said. “To be recognized by this community and world for who I am, you’re authentically seeing me and celebrating.”
Legislation like the CROWN Act makes it illegal for corporate institutions to discriminate against people based on their hairstyles and urges them to be more accepting of cultural differences. At the same time, the CROWN Act serves as a reminder for textured hair communities to accept themselves.
MY CROWN Journey
Being present in a room filled with women who shared similar stories about their natural hair journey, I couldn’t help but reflect on my own. As a natural with 4c hair, loving and proudly wearing my kinky curls took time. Unlike others who’ve known their hair type since birth, it wasn’t until I was 16 years old that I saw my curl pattern.
Until my teenage years, I relaxed my hair for as long as I can remember. It was like clockwork. Every six to eight weeks, I would endure the –sometimes painful– treatment of perming my hair. As I continued to relax my strands, my curiosity grew as I aged about my natural hair’s identity. Despite flipping through baby pictures, I didn’t know whether my hair was curly, coiled, or kinky.
A part of me felt disconnected from fully knowing myself because it was decided for me at an early age how to wear my hair in this world. The resurgence of the Natural Hair Movement in the 2000s was pivotal in my hair journey. Seeing more people embrace their natural hair inspired me to take matters into my own hands by discovering my curl pattern. In 2016, I quit perms and did the “big chop” to find out.
My eight-year natural hair journey hasn’t been the easiest, as I quickly learned that the world does not always accept textured hair. I’ve experienced the awkward phase of wearing an uneven afro and heard offensive descriptions of my 4c hair being characterized as “nappy.” Those encounters made me quickly realize that my confidence had to be rooted in self-acceptance – a quality at the core of the CROWN Act movement.
Join the movement by signing the petition that urges remaining lawmakers to ban race-based hair discrimination nationwide.
