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00:00how y'all doing oh yeah what's going on essence this is fun it's amazing y'all all right okay
00:23very good guys thank you so much for joining us my name is Dre Brown and I want to thank essence for
00:31having us back I'm so excited to be back here with my friends at Dove you know today we're going to be
00:36talking about a topic that's really near and dear to my heart and I'm imagining to most of you it's
00:43the idea of race-based hair discrimination and it's like we it's in our veins we know this it's
00:52you know the the notion of let me go straighten my hair for this job interview or you know they
00:58looking at me funny at work so let me cut my locks off you know this is a plague that has affected
01:04our community us trying to align with these narrow Eurocentric beauty ideals but what we really need
01:11to talk about right now is how these pressures are affecting the next generation right so you know
01:18what we found is that kids are being impacted by race-based hair discrimination and lots of
01:25different ways you know we have started a movement called the crown movement and we are championing not
01:32just all black and brown people but specifically our young people as the next generation you know the
01:39progress that Dove has made by co-sponsoring the crown act has been immense and this is legislation y'all
01:46to end race-based hair discrimination on the federal level let's give it up for that it has been passed in 17
01:55states and here governor John Bell Edwards signed the crown act into law in Louisiana just last month that
02:04is very exciting so you know when Dove first started this journey you know we celebrated signing the first crown act
02:14which was in California we celebrated that here at Essence Fest so we're gonna keep coming back and celebrating but our work is far from over with this you know our focus began back in 2019 with the Dove crown research study
02:29that found that we're in the workplace black women were one and a half times more likely to be sent home from work because of how they wear their hair come on y'all and then you know unfortunately we were continuing
02:44to see these stories we have example after example and now we're seeing examples with our babies we can't forget that Louisiana's own Faith Finity was sent home from school because she wanted to wear her hair in braids
02:59really and then we had DeAndre Arnold who had met all of his wonderful requirements and was told that he couldn't join his peers crossing the stage at his graduation if he didn't cut his locks off
03:12this is a problem y'all and we have to realize that this is something that if we can get resources for these kids now we are getting ahead of it and the crown movement is doing that so we made a film
03:26Dove created a film that really was inspired by some of these stories and we released it earlier this year and I want to show this to you so let's take a look at this film and so you guys can help
03:38understand a little bit more about race-based hair discrimination in these schools let's keep it going
03:43my dad always told me that I should love my hair
03:50so I did
03:53wait for me right here for a second
03:55excuse me sir we have a
03:57a straight hair policy
03:59here I'm afraid I can't let you
04:01attend school today
04:02even when it wasn't
04:05easy
04:06talked about this you can't wear braids if you want to walk
04:09graduation
04:13even when no one else did
04:20my dad always told me that I should fight for my hair
04:24so I am
04:39yeah let's give it up you know with all that we have going on in the world that's disheartening we got our rights
04:52being threatened left and right
04:54it's a lot it's a lot of stress but we have to continue the fight so we're going to talk about this today specifically how
05:01all of you can join us in the crown movement and help lift up these children and help protect them through the crown act and to talk about that are two of
05:12these are amazing champions y'all of the crown act the crown movement and have been in this work
05:19they go the the intro you already heard we've the intros go without saying but I'm gonna give it up again we have AC Eggleston Bracey CEO of Unilever North America personal care and president of Unilever USA thank you AC and the one and only Tabitha Brown is here with us
05:38actress
05:41actress
05:42wife
05:43mom
05:44author
05:45vegan goddess
05:46I'm gonna give it to you
05:48goddess
05:49so ladies let's get into it
05:51AC
05:52I want to start with you
05:54I know that you have been on the front lines of this
05:56and we were last together so it feels like a family reunion
06:00in 2019
06:02and so much
06:04I mean we don't so much has happened since then
06:07where has the crown act
06:09come
06:10how far have we come since we were last together here at essence
06:13yeah one it's so great to be back in essence
06:16it's amazing to look out in this audience and we're back y'all
06:19essence has played such an incredible role in this movement because the whole idea of the crown act came to be at the essence festival actually in 2018
06:28and I will say so much has happened from them all the titles that they mentioned the thing I'm the most proud of is being the executive founder of this crown movement
06:36and the other thing is just Tabitha joining this movement organically because she knew how important it was to have hair freedom
06:43so in 2018 actually before 2019 and 18 Dove brought together something called the Dove Black Beauty Alliance and we were talking about all the areas that black people were threatened and what we wanted to do about it and in that this idea of championing for our hair came up and so what we're excited about is we formed a coalition and then by
06:532019 July 3rd at the next essence we had one crown act passed and that was in California because of Senator Holly Mitchell who said I'm going to champion this change it was our hair independence day that was one state y'all California that started that now
07:00Let's see 2020
07:112020
07:132022
07:16we have 17 states
07:21we have 17 states
07:30y'all in three years 17 states that means 20 million Americans black
07:37Americans have rights and protection hair discrimination is racial
07:42discrimination let's just be clear and so we've come a long way but we still
07:46have our work to do because that means there's 33 million more there's 33 more
07:51states where it is actually legal to send Faith Finity home because of her
07:55braids so we've been up to the work but we got more to do yes and I mean that's
08:00a lot less can we get a round of applause for their progress you know we
08:05continue the work at Dove to really kind of cultivate this research because this
08:09issue is so pervasive we found in 2021 when we released the Dove research study
08:15for girls that 53% of black mothers whose daughters had experienced hair
08:22discrimination like this say that they experienced it as early as age five
08:29Tabitha like wait that's whoo you have shared that you you had a similar
08:35situation can you tell us a little bit about that I did actually you know as
08:40early as five right I remember being in kindergarten and you know I grew up in
08:45North Carolina and so come on North Carolina all right very good yes but I
08:51grew up in North Carolina and you know in the south we you got your hair pressed and
08:56things like that I hadn't started that yet so my hair was very thick and it was
09:00very big if it was you know elusive my mama always put plaits as we called it
09:05won't praise it was plaits like two two plaits okay but I had friends at school
09:10that did not look like me of course and they got to wear their hair you know in
09:14their ponytails and it would be loose and I would beg my mama please let me
09:17wear my hair loose to school in my ponytails and so finally one day she let me
09:21wear my hair in two ponytails and it looked like I had two big pom-poms right
09:25and so I rode the bus you know back then you could ride the bus by yourself at
09:30five okay and so I okay I got to school and my teacher when I walked in she said
09:37why did you take your hair loose on the bus and I said I did my mama let me wear
09:41my hair like this today she says there's no way that your mother let you walk out
09:45the house like that and when it was nap time she took it upon herself to braid
09:51my hair and when I woke up we're talking excuse me almost 40 years ago and I still
09:57remember this like it was yesterday that lets you know the trauma right I woke up
10:02and I was distraught I was crying it I was so upset because a I felt like I did
10:07something wrong because my mama told me I could wear my hair that way but she
10:11didn't believe me because it it wasn't appropriate for school your mama didn't
10:17tell you to do that listen you just it came possible that your mama told you right
10:21let me let me tell you what she learned when my mama got to that school that my
10:25mama told me that I could wear my hair like that okay she probably didn't do her
10:33own kids hair after that okay she was like I'm just not messing with it it's
10:39like I mean and how did like I know that you were traumatized but did you think
10:43about that over and over again like did you even think like I'm not even gonna
10:48ask because I just don't want to deal with the possibility of somebody saying
10:52something was it like you know I can't remember all of the thoughts that
10:57happened after that you know weeks after but I do remember it wasn't long after
11:02that my mama started to press my hair so what I realize now as an adult that it
11:07affected my mama yeah right because prior to that I wasn't getting my hair
11:11straight that's right so right in order for me to wear my hair straight she
11:15started pressing it yeah and so so that it wouldn't cause any problems yeah so it
11:20was acceptable exactly wow I mean thank you for sharing that I think we all have
11:26stories that kind of sound like that if the I know you have such a personal
11:30connection to crown but I curious how has the movement really impacted your
11:36personal life yeah the story that Tabitha shared is one that is common to all of
11:43us and I remember when I was really young how proud I was of my pom-poms and my
11:48afro I remember I there's this picture of me when I was seven or eight a picture
11:52day I had this big afro and I remember vividly how excited I was to wear this
11:57afro for picture day and I always wore braids with my beads and you can hear
12:01the beads clanging like many of us and I did gymnastics and I would fall and the
12:05beads would hit but I would still love my braids and my beads but then by the time
12:09like the research study showed I was 10 11 or 12 I was getting my hair pressed and I
12:15was getting it permed with all the scabs society told me it was not okay and so all
12:21through high school all through college it was permed in a bob or in a wrap and I thought that
12:27was just normal that was appropriate it was scholarly it was business appropriate so when I
12:32walked up in corporate America I looked like everybody else with a straight little bob and my
12:36little glasses and my little suit then I had an aha moment where someone called me on it and
12:41basically showed that I said I was conforming and I was like not me and I'm like you know what
12:47you're right and in six weeks I had cut off that perm and my hair was shorter than yours Dre because I
12:54was not going to conform it wasn't for me I didn't want to show people that you had to conform to get
12:59on in corporate America and what I experienced was the most joy joy come on joy I was so happy and it's
13:08like I got a pep to my AC step I was doing my thing and my career started taking off because
13:14I cut my hair who knew it was a liberating it sounds like it was liberating to you it was liberating and
13:20so when I hear this nonsense of kids who were told they have to change their hair to go to school and
13:26don't have access to being who they are in the world I believe we are all born with gifts and talents
13:31and the opportunity in life is for us to uncover them and when people oppress us through our hair because it
13:36is discrimination it is not okay especially young people and so seeing that I knew but on behalf of
13:43Dove we had to do something about it and you know what y'all we have we're talking about Dove and Tabitha
13:50but it's all y'all it's the whole village of legislators as you all signing that petition at Dove.com
13:56slash crown we have almost a half a million signatures that let these legislators know this is important
14:02to us that's how we're going to get this legislation passed so it's personal to me
14:06because it's who we are it's giving our gifts and talents to this world that's right I love that
14:11and I'm so grateful for you and your leadership I mean you walk the walk you talk the talk and that's
14:17really important in us showing up for these kids Tabitha you also walk your talk yes and we and you walk
14:24your talk for these babies you have your show tab time and it is it is inspiring it's nurturing it's loving
14:32but it mostly it really does care it instills care how does this show do you think prepare or nurture the positive self-awareness and
14:43self-image of kids in the face of not just this these challenges but all of the things that face our young kids
14:49kids now well you know the intention for me for the show was for children to learn to see themselves right despite how they look despite where they're from
15:00but to really see themselves so they can love themselves and to understand themselves and also to know that our feelings can change about how we feel about ourselves about others and that's okay yeah right that we can have our moments and that's the reality of the world
15:18the world right the world is always changing and people are always changing and we are always changing and so I just really wanted kids to be able to learn that in a fun way but also be a representative right because for me I didn't see a black woman with an afro when I was little on a show with you know cartoons or anything
15:38and so to be that woman who is unapologetic who is really promoting joy and love but also doing it in a fun way for children I think that that says it all
15:50you do and honestly joy is a real it's it it is a wonderful teaching tool because I'm sorry I still be watching tab time and I might not be the Democrat
16:00and that's your business okay and you can do that but we all have a child inside of us that we do you know we have to feed her and him so so grateful for these contributions
16:11but like AC said we've made many many strides but strides but the work is so far from over AC I want to know
16:20what is on the next frontier what is the vision for the crown movement movement moving forward and how can
16:29we as well as everyone in this room be a part of pushing that movement forward yeah so we cannot stop
16:36you all until everyone in this country is protected and so that means getting the crown act passed federally
16:43we have passed in the house of representatives it's been twice this year we passed and now we need to get it
16:49passed in the senate that makes it federally before it's signed by the president so we have to get that done
16:55and that's what's up next the bill has been introduced so we need your help please go to dove.com slash crown to sign the petition
17:02or have a letter issued or written to your legislative official to let them know this is important that's how we will get this passed so that's super important
17:10that's what's next
17:12can I just say one thing absolutely
17:14what I want to make sure that we're clear on is that if these if the act is not passed in every state that means every state does not allow freedom
17:22do we understand that it is our right to walk around like this if we want to
17:28it is our right to walk around like this if we want to it is our right to walk around like this if we want to
17:33so if every state does not pass it then we're not all free including our children
17:41yes right so please sign the petition
17:43yes and I mean essence is an event that represents every state I I'm sure we got brothers and sisters
17:51from Alaska up in here this weekend so as long as this room is filled with all of us it's all of our
17:57our champ our thing to champion and today after this panel you can find out more about how you can be a champion
18:05with us tomorrow y'all mark your calendars because like we said we have been celebrating
18:11the milestones of the crown act here since 2019 and tomorrow will be the third annual
18:18national crown day so after this panel please come to the dove booth that's number 2020
18:25and you can meet ac and tabitha and you can learn more about how you can celebrate crown day with us
18:31and how you can continue to forward the mission of the crown movement and we will eventually
18:38sooner than later much sooner than later see 50 states pass this and see this as federal legislation
18:45and guess what each and every one of you will be protected this is a protection we thank you so much
18:51for your enthusiasm for listening to us for being here with us and for continuing to champion the crown
18:57our independence day july 3rd thank you thank you guys so much dove.com forward slash crown make sure you sign the petition
19:12thank you all
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