- 22 hours ago
Dre Brown discusses passing the crown to create a movement to help end hair discrimination with Esi Eggleston Bracey and Holly Mitchell.
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00:00Hi everyone, I'm Dre Brown, a proud self-esteem educator, and I am so excited to be here with
00:10you today because it is Crown Day, a celebration of our hair independence. If you haven't heard,
00:17today marks the one-year anniversary of California Governor Newsom signing into law the Crown Act,
00:23banning race-based hair discrimination in both workplaces and schools. The groundbreaking bill
00:29was introduced by Senator Holly Mitchell in early 2019, and today we have her and A.C. Eggleston
00:36Bracey, EVP and COO of Beauty and Personal Care at Unilever North America here to share their stories
00:43and discuss the changes that we collectively have made and want to see into the future. So ladies,
00:49let's, without further ado, let's get this conversation started. Happy Crown Day.
00:54Happy Crown Day. Happy Crown Day. Happy Crown Day. Well, good to see you,
01:01Senator Mitchell and Dre. Good to see you both. We've been together many times along this journey,
01:08so it's so nice to see you all and welcome. So ladies, I want to thank you. I want to get into
01:14this conversation. To the both of you, you've both been so instrumental in helping to bring an end to
01:21hair discrimination and via the Crown Act. And I'm sure there's other works that you've done in the
01:27community to really elevate this particular element beyond just hair. And we know that there's layers
01:34to this, but it's got to feel really good to celebrate your first Crown Day together again.
01:42Just share with us, tell us a little bit more about the Crown Act for those in the audience who don't know
01:48how it was established and what we've done so far. AC, go ahead. Sure. It is such an exciting day
01:58to think about today marking the one year anniversary of what Senator Mitchell calls our
02:04Hair Independence Day that we've called Crown Day. It was about a year and a half ago. I run the beauty
02:11and personal care portfolio for Unilever and Dove is my biggest brand. And Dove is super committed to
02:18making sure beauty is universally accessible to each and every person, that we all have the experience
02:25of being beautiful and there are no barriers to that. And it just blew our minds that in 2018 and 2019,
02:33that children were denied access to school because they would wear braids or locks and that adults
02:42were denied employment because they had braids or locks or many natural hairstyles. And we thought
02:49that's not okay. And so we set out and really challenged the legislative community. How could we work
02:56together to really create a change? And in fact, recognize we could make a change. And as a part of
03:03that, I'm so proud of Senator Holly Mitchell that said, you know, it's not all right. And I'm going to
03:08make a change in my district and in my state. And she came forth with what we know today as the Crown Act
03:15and while we're celebrating Crown Day. And she and her team created this idea of Crown, creating a respectful
03:21and open world for natural hair. They actually called it workplace. And we should just hear from
03:28Senator Mitchell and how she worked her magic. As we created on Dove, the Crown Coalition to support
03:35her. Dove with partnership with the Western Center on Law and Poverty, the National Urban League and Color
03:44of Change were the supporting efforts in Senator Mitchell's pioneering efforts. And because of
03:51Senator Mitchell's efforts that you're going to hear about, we now have seven states who have passed
03:56this legislation, two municipalities, we've got federal legislation, we've got 20 more who have
04:03introduced legislation. So why I'm so proud, I call Senator Mitchell my hero is she pioneered and paved the
04:09way, paved the way. And at one point, I am confident we will have federal legislation that's introduced in
04:16all 50 states because of what she led. So Senator Mitchell.
04:21So thank you, AC. And that's how it happened. I have behind me our in house poster. AC will remember
04:29that the day that she was here for the bill signing with the governor one year ago today. I asked everybody
04:35to sign our poster and the little sticky notes you see AC are the states that have come on board to
04:40introduce the bill after. So that's how we keep track of the national progress here in my office.
04:46And, you know, from my perspective, this was a classic example of how you operationalize Black Girl
04:52Magic from a locked Black woman in the California State Senate to AC. We had a Black female lobbying team
05:04that did much of the work in terms of educating policymakers here. It was amazing to sit in
05:11Judiciary Committee and in committees in both houses of the Senate and the Assembly to really have
05:16conversations about hair being a race-based trait. And to have amazing attorneys who have done,
05:23this has been their body of work for years, to help define for some of my colleagues what a race-based
05:29race-based trait is. To think how far we've come in a year and the kinds of conversations
05:33we are now having in these hallowed halls all over the country is really profound. And again, for me,
05:40and even the governor said when we had the bill signing ceremony, which is one of the first he conducted
05:47as a relatively new governor at that time a year ago, that this wasn't just about hair and he didn't
05:52want anybody to trivialize it. It was about how we present ourselves in schools and the workplace
05:58and being accepted for who we were. We were challenging a Eurocentric model of not just beauty,
06:06but acceptance. And this notion that I would be a different policy maker or would have fewer bills
06:12signed into law or could manage the state budget as I do as a budget chair of the fifth largest economy
06:19of the world any differently if my hair were straightened or rocking my locks was just ridiculous.
06:25And so I'm proud that we were able to launch into this conversation a year ago, which I think has
06:32helped transition into a global conversation of a black lives do matter and the experience of black people
06:41in the workplace, in school matters as well.
06:44I agree. I think, thank you both. This is a powerful piece of our culture and we can all agree
06:53that hair, like you said, is not a trivial part of our culture. When we go back through generations,
06:59we will understand that it is truly a way we've expressed our blackness and we've expressed to
07:06people who may not understand our culture. This is true to us. And this is something that sustains
07:11us and reminds us of the magic that is who we are. So I would love for you ladies to share a little
07:17bit about your individual relationships with your hair. I know you spoke, Senator Mitchell,
07:23about having locks and how that's personal to you and has nothing to do with your legislative ability.
07:29But yes, I would love to hear about from both of you what your relationship with your hair has been
07:34and continues to be and how passionate you are about where you want this legislation to go
07:41and what you hope to achieve moving forward.
07:44Yeah, I think my personal experience with hair is just a reinforcement of how much your hair is a
07:49part of your identity and your confidence. For me, I reflect back on being a kid and I always wore my hair
07:57in braids. Every summer, even beyond summer, I had what we called at the time, French braids. And I had
08:04beads in my hair and I was always so proud of my French braids, always wore French braids. And I wore
08:10French braids probably until I was, gosh, 13 years old at least, right? And it started from when I was
08:20five, six years old. And that was just the norm. And then with time, when I went into more
08:28diverse environments, I can see as I reflect back, it was viewed less appropriate, maybe too Afrocentric
08:37to wear my braids and my beads. And on special occasions, I would lose my braids and I would get a
08:45press and curl. Well, what we called at the time, Shirley Temple curls in my generation. And as I got
08:52older, that turned into a perm and that turned into a straighter hairstyle. And as I had advanced
08:59through junior high school and high school and into college, you know, it became a wrap. And then by the
09:04time I went into corporate America, you know, there was no question I was going to wear straight hair and
09:09a bob. And as I look at that, why is that so? It's consistent with what our crown research study shows.
09:16You believe that and you're taught that your natural hair texture is viewed as untidy, unkept,
09:23unappropriate. And if you want to be professional or appropriate, you should have a straighter hairstyle.
09:30And I'm not knocking straighter hairstyles because, you know, we can play it up and play around.
09:36But the problem is that we think we have to conform and put our identity aside and our natural
09:43traits to express ourselves. So when I had the revelation, because I was on autopilot, it wasn't
09:50even conscious, you know, you know, my community, my mother, my grandparents would say, girl, you're
09:56gonna, you know, you can't go into that corporate environment with natural hair. And when I realized that
10:03I was complicit and complying, I made a choice and decided to grow out my perm and wear my hair natural.
10:11And I remember that was back in 1995. And the experience I had when I got rid of my perm
10:18was like freedom. I had a short, small, natural. And since then, I've worn all different kinds of
10:25hairstyles from twists to various locks to all sorts of different protective styles to
10:32express my hair. But I've been natural since 95 and the experience of joy. And then to think there are
10:40people in this country who do not have that opportunity to make that choice. Because their
10:46school or their corporate environment says they cannot get education, or they cannot get a job
10:53because of it is just, I can't accept that. I just can't. If I think about the joy and freedom I
11:00experience, and as I look at actually, the advancement of my career, because of the confidence and the
11:06freedom that I experience, everyone should have that freedom. And all of it is, is an embracing of
11:11who we naturally are. So textured hair is professional. It is brilliant. It is smart. It is
11:18magnificent. And that's what we're celebrating on crown day. Our hair is amazing. It's everything.
11:25It is. And it truly does reflect, I love how you said, being free to express yourself gave you
11:32confidence that was powering your, you to excel through your career. And we have seen, we see
11:38that you are now, you now sit at the helm of you with the power and authority to spread that word now
11:44through your works. And we see it and we feel it. Senator Mitchell, I imagine in a different sector of
11:51the business world, in politics, there's probably a lot of other standards there that you can, you've had
11:56to come up against. And you talk about your lock journey all the time. Would you mind sharing with
12:01our audience just a little bit about that? I'd be happy to. Like AC and every other Black woman I
12:07know, I have done it all. I have weaved, I have pressed, I have permed, I have cut off and gone
12:15natural and then grown it out and gone through that same series again throughout the course of my life.
12:20You know, I remember hearing someone say that, you know, our hair was an accessory and I've treated it
12:24as so. Absolutely. I have a very similar, uh, brave story of AC. Although my mother, I think,
12:31permed my hair for the first time at five or six. I remember going with she and my grandmother to the
12:36beauty shop on Saturdays, um, and getting the perm. And, and it was twofold. A, it was new and the easy
12:43thing to do. And second, my hair texture was very different from my mother's. So I think it was also
12:48her inability to really know what to do. She, she, she, you know, couldn't turn a curling iron with
12:55one hand. And so my ears suffered for many years. Um, and so I started wearing braids. I was introduced
13:02to braids. My god sister Patrice Russian gifted me my first professional braids. And so Sabangalee
13:08Bradley West and Mecca Frazier, um, um, did amazing styles throughout my middle school, high school,
13:17and college experience, uh, with the elaborate bead work with, you know, shells and mother of
13:22pearl. Um, I spent, you know, all my summer earnings on, on buying new beads for my elaborate braid
13:29styles, wore braids all through high school and college, excuse me. And it wasn't until this experience
13:36with the crown act and hearing from these young women in high schools across the country, a young man,
13:41an intern, uh, Kawika Smith in my office, um, in Los Angeles, who was fighting a school-based
13:48policy for his high school. It wasn't until I connected their stories with my own history that
13:54I realized when did wearing our natural hair and wearing our hair braided as young black girls become
14:01a distraction to others? You know, I'll confess I was in high school 40 years ago.
14:07Uh, and I can't imagine if I had been told at that critical developmental stage of my life that I
14:14couldn't wear my hair braided attending a predominantly white high school, um, what that would have done
14:19really to my constitution, to my development and growth, to the woman I am today, to the woman who
14:25decided at 40 leading a large nonprofit organization, um, uh, four or 500 employees that I was going to
14:36lock for my 40th birthday. And I was conscious of how that would be perceived by the external world.
14:45I was conscious that it would be perceived as a political decision. I was fine with that,
14:49but I was also conscious that I was the CEO of an organization and I had the luxury to do so.
14:57Um, it's been 16, 17 years ago now, and it was before I decided to run for office.
15:02So now I decided to throw my hat into the ring and we looked, uh, nationally. And while there
15:09were some black women in Congress who were wearing their hair, natural in cornrows to cornrows,
15:15we didn't see anybody nationally that was locked. So I decided, well, we can be a first. I'm not scared
15:21of that. I then took the extra step to make sure that the, you know, forces that be in campaigns,
15:28you know, campaign teams, strategists, you know, consultants, everyone has an opinion
15:33on what you need to do to be considered electable. Um, I took the initiative to just
15:40let everybody know upfront, my hair is not negotiable.
15:45So that wouldn't even create a sense of conflict if they came to me with a suggestion.
15:50And like, let me just set this up. So we don't have to talk about non-negotiable,
15:59because I believe then what I believe now, um, that people were going to choose to vote for me,
16:05to elect me as their elected representative, not for how I choose to wear my hair,
16:09but what's inside my head and the voters, uh, in the assembly district then and the Senate district,
16:15uh, every election since have remained true to that. And my hair has never been a question.
16:21I love it. And I do appreciate how you, you set the boundary. You said it's a non-negotiable.
16:27And I think that's a strong statement that sets an example for women who go in and say,
16:32I'm going to give you amazing work. I'm going to do, I'm going to serve my community. I'm going
16:36to serve in my job, but my hair has nothing to do with it. So it's not even going to be a question.
16:41I love the value and the importance of the crown act was for us to put the law to give people
16:48the protection under the law, to have those conversations with their HR departments. That's
16:53the whole point.
16:54It's like we have your backs. Like you go and have your confident conversation, but know that we have
16:58your backs. I love it. Exactly.
17:00I, and I want to, I want to share with all the women that this is, this is a movement that is
17:05moving forward. We are not done. Um, but such a wonderful start. I want to get one more question
17:11before we have to wrap up. There is, it's so interesting with where we are in the world.
17:16We're in the middle of a pandemic and there's so many things that people are doing to adjust to just
17:22the new normal. And one of the things we're seeing is a lot of women that are home, you know,
17:27the salons have been closed. They're, they're embracing their natural hair. And I mean, I don't
17:32know if it is, is, is the closures of the salons or the, the uprising of black America, just coming
17:39together and creating this passion of just our identity. But there are women embracing their
17:45natural hair more and more every day. Are you all seeing that in your, in your communities and in
17:50your, in your circles of sisterhood? I'm absolutely, I'm absolutely seeing it because
17:57it's not a necessity. You know, you don't have your hair stylist. So your usual comfort zone
18:03of all the different styles we wear, you know, you're just letting it breathe. And so in that,
18:08what we, across Dove, who again, co-founded the Crown Coalition as a part of this Crown Act,
18:15also did create an amazing product called Dove Amplified Textures to help nourish the transition,
18:23actually, from permed or straight hair to natural because of all the moisture it provides. And we
18:28have a range of other products as well. We've got Suave Naturals line, Shea Moisture has a number of
18:34products to help. But even outside of the product, I want to go back to a point that you said very much,
18:41Dre, is we're not over yet with the Crown Act. And I always have this call to action whenever we do
18:47these kinds of discussions and panels is that, you know, who's ever listening can really help us make
18:53this federal legislation. Because there's only seven states right now. We're proud of that. We have so much
18:57more to do. So my call to action is always please go to thecrownact.com and sign the petition so that
19:06you can let your state or municipality know that you want the Crown Act in your state. We have 70,000
19:13signatures. We've got to get to 100,000. So I love this to have that difference. And I always say there's
19:19like three ways to crown. You can also go to dove.com and do backslash crown, or you can go to
19:25crowncoalition.com. So any way you want to crown, sign the petition. Easy to remember the crownact.com.
19:34Any way you want to crown. I love that.
19:36Any way you want to crown. Let's pass the crown on crown day. So the next generation
19:42doesn't have to deal with this nonsense. We're doing it for them.
19:45And thank you. Thank you, Senator Mitchell. I wanted to give you another chance. Is there
19:51anything you want to share before we leave our audience today? This has been a wonderful celebration.
19:57You know, I realize I've done a number of panels via zoom during this period,
20:02because women are also beginning to use this opportunity to learn their hair. You know, I,
20:07like I said, I think my mother took me to the beauty shop the first time since I was five,
20:11and I had weekly appointments. Most of my life still go. Thank you, Gwen Staples, my lottician
20:17regularly now. But you know what I realized, and I was telling the women during this process,
20:22I had no idea what the natural texture of my hair really was. When you are permed at five,
20:27I had no idea what my natural hair texture was. So this is also a period of discovery. Thank you to
20:34Dove and all of the amazing products that are now available. You walk in any retail store,
20:40and it's a whole aisle of natural hair care products. And so a couple of the zoom events
20:46I've been on where hairstylists are there, you know, the whole notion of the transition,
20:51people assume you have to cut your hair to start fresh. We are learning something critical about
20:56ourselves. Can you imagine being 55 years old and not having a clue what your natural hair texture is,
21:04because it has been, you know, artificially straightened and chemicals used on it all of
21:09my life. And so this really is a moment of self-discovery. Thank you for the products to help
21:14with that transition. But that's what I think is unique about this period. Because we couldn't get
21:20to our hairstylist, who we've been trusted with carrying our hair without any real innate knowledge
21:26of our own. We're now having to learn about a major aspect of our own bodies, what my hair texture is,
21:33how it responds to one product over another. That's been a real, I think, upside. That's the
21:39silver lining in this cloud. And it's also not just because we couldn't get to our hairstylist. This is
21:46like the perfect storm. For a year now, the law has protected you. We've created protection for the
21:53workplace and schools. This has now created the opportunity through the pandemic, but also the
22:00opportunity through a renewed enlightenment about who we are as Black people and our effort to stand
22:07in our space as Black people and show up the way we were born. So I'm pleased that we were able to do
22:13this work a year ago, help usher in this opportunity for the entire country to follow California and create
22:21crown acts everywhere. I love it. Thank you guys so much. You are truly both of you. I have had a
22:29wonderful time working with you on this past year, on this journey, and I can't wait to see what comes
22:34from the crown act and all of the passion around Blackness and Black hair that we are creating. So
22:40thank you all. As everyone watching, as AC Eggleston Bracey said, you have lots of ways to get involved
22:49with this movement. Dove.com slash crown, crowncoalition.com or thecrownact.com. Please
22:56sign the petition. Please continue to support, contribute your name to the list. And remember
23:02that this is an expression of who you are, not just what you look like. And we're going to keep
23:07fighting for you because we have your back. So remember, boldly embrace yourself, embrace your hair.
23:13And until next time, we will be here furthering the effort. The crown act is not going anywhere.
23:19So we'll see everybody soon. Thank you so much for tuning in. Happy crown day. Thank you so much,
23:25Senator Mitchell. Thank you both. You're very welcome.
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