O, The Oprah Magazine - September 2019

Getting a

Job Shouldn’t

Mean Changing

Your Hair

Introducing the CROWN Coalition: Your

hair should be as diverse as the workforce.

HOW YOU WEAR YOUR

HAIR IS 100% YOUR CHOICE

And at Dove, it’s our responsibility

to end hair discrimination once

and for all. Dove is a proud

cofounder of the CROWN

Coalition alongside the National

Urban League, Color of Change,

and Western Center on Law &

Poverty. This newly formed alliance

worked together to help pass

the CROWN Act (CA SB 188) in

California, making California

the first state to ensure that all

black people can proudly (and

comfortably) rock any style they

choose at work or school.

BEAUTY SHOULD BE UNIFYING,

NOT EXCLUSIONARY

However, unfair, race-based hair

discrimination still occurs. Traditional

hairstyles inherent to communities

of color—think braids, locs, twists,

Bantu knots, and more—have been

painted as “less professional” in

corporate-speak based on a recent

research study with 2,000 women

in the workplace. That stops now.

The passing of CA SB 188 radically

eliminates the outdated, Eurocentric

beauty and grooming policies that

no longer reflect the world around

us. Together, we hope to protect

all employees and students from

hair-based discrimination by

changing laws.

Black women

report being

80 %

more likely

to change

their hair

from its

natural state

to fit in at

the office.

In many places

in the U.S.,

it is legal to

deny a person

employment or

admittance to

school based on

their hairstyle,

even if the hair-

style is inherent

to their cultural

identity.

BECAUSE AT THE END OF THE DAY,

ALL HAIR IS PROFESSIONAL

This initiative doesn’t end in

California. The CROWN Act has

also passed in the state of New

York, and it has been introduced

in New Jersey. Next up? A nation-

wide federal law. Ultimately, your

hairstyle choice should make

you feel uplifted, not anxious.

Let’s work together to ensure that

diversity is championed across

the board, starting today.

Black

women are

50 %

more likely to

be sent home

or know of a

black woman

sent home from

the workplace

because of

her hair.

SHANTEKA

Creative Director & Writer

IN PARTNERSHIP WITH DOVE

#THECROWNACT #CROWNCOALITION @DOVE

Creating a

Respectful and

Open World for

Natural Hair

WHITNEY

Health-care & Public

Policy Professional

GARBO

Gallery & Bookstore Owner

DOVE.COM

HELP END HAIR

DISCRIMINATION.

SIGN THE PETITION AT

THECROWNACT.COM