Evanston celebrates Crown Act Day for hair equality

In a collaboration between Dove and LinkedIn, the CROWN Workplace 2023 study found that Black women’s hair was 2 1/2 times more likely to be perceived as unprofessional.

The CROWN Act aims to dismantle and address that type of race-based hair discrimination, and Illinois is one of 27 states to adopt the legislation.

Thanks to a City Council decision on Monday, the City of Evanston will observe CROWN Act Day on July 3. 

The Creating a Respectful and Open World for Natural Hair, or CROWN, prevents hair denial of employment and educational opportunities because of hair texture or protective hairstyles. 

CROWN Act advocacy 

Yeefah Thurman, owner of Dropn Pearls Hair Artistry at 1914 Main St., accepted the city’s proclamation on Monday night along with Tracy Olasimbo, family program coordinator at Evanston Public Library.

“This proclamation affirms the dignity, cultural identity and visibility of Black people by declaring our natural hair and cultural styles worthy of protection in workplaces, schools and public spaces in Evanston and across the country,” Thurman said. “This visibility helps normalize what long has been marginalized, and with normalization, we build a stronger community rooted in belonging, equity and respect, and that’s what Evanston is all about.”

Black protective hairstyles — such as braids, dreadlocks, twists and Bantu knots — are protected under the act.

In the same CROWN Act study, Black women felt that they had to change their hair for job interviews in order to fit into Eurocentric beauty standards that value straight or non-textured hair. 

Olasimbo said legislation like the CROWN Act can also educate about Black hairstyles and their significance in African culture. Enslaved women, for instance, used to style their hair specifically to communicate escape routes. 

“It’s an opportunity to educate those within and outside the community of how to take care of our hair, what it means and the story behind our hair,” she said, “It’s not just ‘Oh, we can wear our hair differently,’ but the historical context around our hair, what it means, what braids mean.” 

How to celebrate

Thurman and Olasimbo will take part in a celebration of the CROWN Act on June 29 at Fleetwood-Jourdain Center.

The event will include a fashion show, a panel discussion and opportunities for Evanston Black-owned businesses to showcase their products. A similar event occurred in December at the Robert Crown Library.

Attendees will have the opportunity to make kits for Avery’s Helpful Hair Kits, an Evanston-based nonprofit that donates curly hair products to Black and Brown children in foster homes.

“The panel discussion talks about what the CROWN Act is, what it means to the community as a whole, and especially how it helps to empower Black people to be able to wear their race-based hairstyles in places where often they have not been allowed to and have been fired for things like that,” Thurman said. 

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