WEBVTT - Megyn: Don’t Touch My Hair! | Angela Rye SoloPod 0:00:00.200 --> 0:00:03.760 Native Landpod is a production of iHeartRadio in partnership with 0:00:03.880 --> 0:00:05.040 Reason Choice Media. 0:00:05.559 --> 0:00:08.760 Welcome, Welcome, Welcome, Welcome, Welcome, welcome, welcome. 0:00:12.640 --> 0:00:15.520 Thank you, Governor Shapiro for that warm wealth. 0:00:15.600 --> 0:00:17.840 But somehow a neighbor of mine, and I tell him 0:00:17.840 --> 0:00:19.640 this when I see him, he says, you know, your 0:00:19.640 --> 0:00:21.079 hair looks really nice like that. 0:00:21.760 --> 0:00:23.440 You don't have to wear a street. 0:00:23.440 --> 0:00:26.680 And it was that conversation at sixty first in Baltimore 0:00:26.880 --> 0:00:29.920 that gave me the confidence to try something new for myself. 0:00:30.240 --> 0:00:32.479 And I had no idea at the time that there 0:00:32.479 --> 0:00:35.839 would ever be an opportunity to change the law in 0:00:35.880 --> 0:00:40.240 the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania. And I'll tell you my mother 0:00:40.400 --> 0:00:42.280 when I left the house at now, what's this law 0:00:42.400 --> 0:00:45.360 really going to do? How is it going to really 0:00:45.400 --> 0:00:47.920 help people? And how is it going to change things 0:00:48.240 --> 0:00:50.559 in Pennsylvania? And I had to run because I. 0:00:50.560 --> 0:00:51.200 Was a little late. 0:00:51.479 --> 0:00:54.280 But Mom, if you're watching, this is going to help 0:00:54.320 --> 0:00:58.480 people by making sure that wherever you work or wherever 0:00:58.520 --> 0:01:00.600 you're applying for a job, they can't look at your 0:01:00.600 --> 0:01:03.920 hair and size you up, not based on your qualifications 0:01:04.120 --> 0:01:06.600 and all of the professional development you have and all 0:01:06.600 --> 0:01:07.440 of your education. 0:01:07.760 --> 0:01:09.960 They will not look at your hair and decide you 0:01:10.000 --> 0:01:10.640 can't work here. 0:01:10.720 --> 0:01:11.240 That's right. 0:01:11.400 --> 0:01:13.400 They will not look at your hair and decide you 0:01:13.440 --> 0:01:15.840 don't belong in this c suite. They will not look 0:01:15.880 --> 0:01:18.520 at your hair and say you can't be in the boardroom. 0:01:18.880 --> 0:01:20.920 So I don't know if the headlines get to Heaven, 0:01:20.959 --> 0:01:23.360 but if they do, I hope my grandmother gets to 0:01:23.400 --> 0:01:24.920 see this moment. 0:01:26.480 --> 0:01:27.760 Welcome home, y'all. 0:01:27.840 --> 0:01:31.039 It is an honor to be with you after the holiday. 0:01:31.120 --> 0:01:33.920 I hope you ate well and we're able to find 0:01:33.959 --> 0:01:37.600 something to celebrate in such a challenging. 0:01:37.160 --> 0:01:39.680 Time in this country. This was one of mine. 0:01:39.760 --> 0:01:43.600 Recently, the Kronacts just passed and was signed into law 0:01:44.000 --> 0:01:48.520 by Governor Joshapiro in Pennsylvania right before the holiday on 0:01:48.600 --> 0:01:51.800 November twenty fifth, and I am thrilled to be able 0:01:51.840 --> 0:01:54.560 to have this conversation today with facts. 0:01:54.600 --> 0:01:56.760 There's a lot going on out there. 0:01:57.200 --> 0:02:00.120 Talking about this law and why it matters, and you 0:02:00.160 --> 0:02:03.360 really need to be talking about hair discrimination, and yes, 0:02:03.600 --> 0:02:08.280 we actually do. Case inpoint is one particular example that 0:02:08.480 --> 0:02:09.840 struck my core. 0:02:10.520 --> 0:02:11.280 In Texas. 0:02:11.360 --> 0:02:13.360 There's a young man by the name of Daryl George, 0:02:13.360 --> 0:02:15.920 and I want you to hear this story. 0:02:16.160 --> 0:02:19.119 Seventeen year old Texas High school student Darryl George will 0:02:19.120 --> 0:02:22.600 continue in school suspension Monday after his school says he's 0:02:22.639 --> 0:02:26.200 in violation of their dress code for having dreadlocks. George 0:02:26.200 --> 0:02:29.240 attends Barber's Hill High School near Houston, where the dress 0:02:29.240 --> 0:02:32.880 code includes condition that boys' hair should not extend past 0:02:32.919 --> 0:02:37.120 their eyebrows or below their ears. Darryl's mother, Darysha George, 0:02:37.440 --> 0:02:40.640 has said that her son's been suspended since August thirty first, 0:02:40.639 --> 0:02:42.960 when he was first told he needed to cut his hair. 0:02:43.320 --> 0:02:46.000 It's the same week Texas has passed the Crown Act, 0:02:46.040 --> 0:02:50.280 which prohibits employers in schools from discriminating and penalizing people 0:02:50.320 --> 0:02:53.840 because of hair textures or protective styles such as dreadlocks 0:02:53.919 --> 0:02:56.920 or braids. Texas is one of twenty four states that 0:02:56.960 --> 0:02:59.640 have enacted a version of this law. The school has 0:02:59.760 --> 0:03:02.040 argued that their dress code does not violate the law 0:03:02.080 --> 0:03:04.720 because it does not mention length. They also say it 0:03:04.800 --> 0:03:09.960 is designed to prevent distractions and still discipline and teach authority. 0:03:10.240 --> 0:03:13.600 The George family argues the policy as prejudice against its 0:03:13.639 --> 0:03:14.760 black students. 0:03:15.600 --> 0:03:17.440 So in that story, you heard that at that point 0:03:17.480 --> 0:03:21.160 twenty four states have passed their versions of the Crown Act. 0:03:21.560 --> 0:03:24.920 Now after Pennsylvania signed their built into law that leaves 0:03:25.000 --> 0:03:27.960 us at twenty seven states. I I want you to 0:03:28.000 --> 0:03:32.640 hear from the creator, the strategists behind this very very 0:03:32.680 --> 0:03:37.080 powerful work with this clip and then something right after morning. 0:03:37.320 --> 0:03:41.080 I am doctor azilib Asamoa, and I am known as 0:03:41.280 --> 0:03:47.839 the Crown Act Champion and scholar. If a smile does 0:03:47.920 --> 0:03:51.960 not give it away, I am overjoyed to be here today, 0:03:52.200 --> 0:03:55.840 especially to enact something that is so near and dear 0:03:56.000 --> 0:03:59.400 to my heart, in the city where I. 0:03:59.320 --> 0:04:01.960 Have lived and grown and not too far. 0:04:02.040 --> 0:04:05.400 Away from my alma mater at some point, university that 0:04:05.560 --> 0:04:08.119 helped prepare me to do the work I have done 0:04:08.240 --> 0:04:12.840 since I left the nest. This public policy campaign is 0:04:12.920 --> 0:04:17.080 my brainchild and a nationwide effort I have led since 0:04:17.320 --> 0:04:23.200 twoenty eighteen. Determining it was necessary to change the law 0:04:23.760 --> 0:04:27.919 to help redress the long standing and problematic practice of 0:04:28.040 --> 0:04:30.440 racial discrimination in the form. 0:04:30.320 --> 0:04:31.320 Of hair discrimination. 0:04:32.200 --> 0:04:37.080 I subsequently developed the national legislative, social impact and coalition 0:04:37.200 --> 0:04:42.560 building strategies for this movement because for too long, a 0:04:42.680 --> 0:04:48.240 myopic notion of professionalism and Eurocentric standards of beauty have 0:04:48.400 --> 0:04:51.520 perpetuated racial inequity and exclusion. 0:04:52.520 --> 0:04:54.680 Too many black children have. 0:04:54.760 --> 0:04:59.919 Been suspended and missed what should be valuable instruction time 0:05:00.440 --> 0:05:03.719 because their hair worn in ways that are aligned with 0:05:03.800 --> 0:05:08.960 their racial identity have been deemed a violation of school rules. See. 0:05:09.680 --> 0:05:12.360 Too many black adults, as the Governor. 0:05:12.080 --> 0:05:15.479 Shared, have been passed over for promotions, had offers of 0:05:15.520 --> 0:05:20.320 employment rescinded, and even been fired for showing up authentically. 0:05:21.640 --> 0:05:26.719 And with an undeniable correlation between the use of chemical 0:05:26.760 --> 0:05:33.159 relaxers and the increased likelihood of developing uterine fibroids and cancer, 0:05:33.600 --> 0:05:39.960 the cost of conformity is simply too expensive. This is 0:05:40.120 --> 0:05:44.240 my baby, but even as a policymaker and architect, it's 0:05:44.279 --> 0:05:47.880 something I am very clear I could not deliver on 0:05:47.960 --> 0:05:53.039 my own and I genuinely could not dream of a 0:05:53.080 --> 0:06:01.760 better team or I've been working with for decades, Senator 0:06:01.839 --> 0:06:06.560 Benson Hughes. Because black men in politics matter. Yes, Yes 0:06:06.920 --> 0:06:10.919 to my dear sister and service who I am thrilled 0:06:11.440 --> 0:06:17.799 to call Madam Speaker, and to my sister and social action. 0:06:18.200 --> 0:06:28.480 Better joining us now is doctor Azua b Is Samoa, 0:06:28.560 --> 0:06:31.400 who is again the brainchild behind the Crown Act and 0:06:31.520 --> 0:06:34.160 is joining us today. I also get to call her 0:06:34.240 --> 0:06:37.440 sister've been proud of this work for so many years. 0:06:37.440 --> 0:06:41.200 Azuauld talk about the path to fifty states. I know 0:06:41.200 --> 0:06:42.919 we're at twenty seven, and you know it's just like 0:06:42.960 --> 0:06:45.080 when somebody first gets married and their parents like so 0:06:45.120 --> 0:06:47.000 when the kids coming right. So you got the real 0:06:47.080 --> 0:06:51.120 fie in the losses Uh in Philadelphia, I mean in Pennsylvania, 0:06:51.120 --> 0:06:53.320 but it was signed actually in a shop in Philly. 0:06:53.920 --> 0:06:56.000 I know that that is close. It's so important to 0:06:56.040 --> 0:06:59.520 you given your connection to the state. But talk about 0:06:59.520 --> 0:07:02.000 where you see the path going forward, especially in the 0:07:02.160 --> 0:07:03.320 age we live in right now. 0:07:03.800 --> 0:07:06.599 Well, first, let me just thank you for lifting the issue. 0:07:06.640 --> 0:07:08.800 It is because people talk about it that it is 0:07:08.839 --> 0:07:12.360 so successful. As you shared, it is my brain child. 0:07:12.480 --> 0:07:14.640 But as you saw in the clip, it is not 0:07:14.800 --> 0:07:18.480 something that I can do alone. So I conceptualize the idea, 0:07:18.800 --> 0:07:23.760 developed a national legislative, social impact and coalition building strategy 0:07:24.240 --> 0:07:27.240 for the movement, and have been leading it since twenty eighteen. 0:07:27.640 --> 0:07:30.239 A couple things are important. One it is the twenty 0:07:30.280 --> 0:07:33.680 eighth state. I should note I to pass a version 0:07:33.720 --> 0:07:35.840 of the Crown Act. And I say version because not 0:07:35.920 --> 0:07:38.680 every state actually has the Crown Act. I get to 0:07:38.720 --> 0:07:40.760 say which ones are and are not the chron Act 0:07:40.840 --> 0:07:45.520 or a couple don't. But twenty eight states have outlawed 0:07:45.600 --> 0:07:50.200 race based hair discrimination in some form or fashion, meaning 0:07:50.280 --> 0:07:54.280 literally laws. It is important to note a couple of 0:07:54.320 --> 0:07:57.200 things as well. We know that we don't have the votes. 0:07:57.280 --> 0:08:00.600 I only deal in electoral politics because I can about 0:08:00.640 --> 0:08:03.520 the implications related to policy. 0:08:03.960 --> 0:08:05.240 So we got to work to. 0:08:05.200 --> 0:08:08.240 Elect people who will support a Crown Act or a 0:08:08.360 --> 0:08:11.720 reparations or whatever issue you know is important to a 0:08:11.720 --> 0:08:13.040 specific demographic. 0:08:13.520 --> 0:08:15.040 That is who we work to elect. 0:08:15.080 --> 0:08:18.760 And so again, the connection between politics and policy needs 0:08:18.800 --> 0:08:23.560 to be known and can't be understated. This is a 0:08:23.600 --> 0:08:29.080 strategy that is local, state, and federal. I have not 0:08:29.280 --> 0:08:33.959 yet been able to pass it in the United States Senate. 0:08:34.040 --> 0:08:35.920 It is important to note that it has passed in 0:08:35.960 --> 0:08:38.439 the House twice. I have to lift the black men 0:08:38.480 --> 0:08:43.480 in the movement. Obviously this issue disproportionately impacts black women. 0:08:43.720 --> 0:08:46.280 But the two people I actually spoke to about this 0:08:46.440 --> 0:08:50.559 before it was introduced in any state anywhere was former 0:08:50.600 --> 0:08:54.880 Congressman Cedric Richmond and Senator Corey Booker. So I gotta 0:08:55.080 --> 0:08:57.360 always shout out the brothers as I did with Senator 0:08:57.440 --> 0:08:59.600 Vincent Hughes, who's my senator back in Philly. 0:09:00.320 --> 0:09:01.520 Local, state and federal. 0:09:01.600 --> 0:09:03.920 Where you do not have the votes on the federal level, 0:09:03.960 --> 0:09:06.040 we work on the state level, where we do not 0:09:06.160 --> 0:09:09.320 have the votes in the state legislature to pass it. 0:09:09.640 --> 0:09:10.959 We work at the local level. 0:09:11.240 --> 0:09:14.640 My goal is to extend statutory protection to our hair, 0:09:15.360 --> 0:09:22.280 explicitly categorizing hair as a racial characteristic, so that the 0:09:22.360 --> 0:09:27.440 maximum amount of coverage is obviously enacted and so more 0:09:27.480 --> 0:09:29.960 people are protected. As we saw on that clip, I 0:09:30.000 --> 0:09:35.120 had a naturally curly do today why and next week 0:09:35.200 --> 0:09:39.040 I will have Senegalese twists. So I am working to 0:09:39.080 --> 0:09:42.480 protect and preserve our rights to rock our crowns how 0:09:42.520 --> 0:09:43.040 we see fit. 0:09:43.080 --> 0:09:45.000 And again I thank you for lifting this issue in 0:09:45.040 --> 0:09:45.520 this movement. 0:09:46.040 --> 0:09:48.679 I I'm thrilled to do it. You know, it's fascinating 0:09:48.720 --> 0:09:51.240 that you said, you know, this is something that of 0:09:51.280 --> 0:09:54.840 course disproportionately impacts us. That is why I wanted to 0:09:54.960 --> 0:09:58.640 pull the clip of the young man Darryl George in Texas, 0:09:58.640 --> 0:10:03.360 because it also impacts young men first to know, and 0:10:03.440 --> 0:10:06.199 so one of the things that I think to your 0:10:06.240 --> 0:10:09.360 point about you know, the variations in our styles. When 0:10:09.400 --> 0:10:13.600 I was at CNN Azua, I had a conversation with 0:10:14.000 --> 0:10:18.040 the woman who was over contributors, and I had my 0:10:18.120 --> 0:10:21.560 hair done my cousin just bringing them up in cornrows. 0:10:21.559 --> 0:10:23.200 She wanted to see if she get the parts right 0:10:23.320 --> 0:10:24.960 or something. So I had corn. 0:10:24.800 --> 0:10:26.720 Rows when I went on air, and the number of 0:10:26.760 --> 0:10:29.199 black women who were like, thank you, sis, you know 0:10:29.440 --> 0:10:31.640 you're making such a statement, and I'm like, I didn't 0:10:31.679 --> 0:10:32.079 even I. 0:10:32.080 --> 0:10:33.800 Just you know, I'm just showing up. 0:10:34.320 --> 0:10:37.520 Two weeks after that, they came up with a standards 0:10:37.559 --> 0:10:41.199 document for me. And the standards document wasn't just about 0:10:41.200 --> 0:10:43.839 my makeup like it is for my white counterparts. 0:10:44.040 --> 0:10:46.240 It's about how my hair is going to be worn right. 0:10:46.559 --> 0:10:48.920 It needed to be blown out straight, you know, silk 0:10:48.960 --> 0:10:51.680 pressed type situation. And I was like, yeah, I'm not 0:10:51.720 --> 0:10:53.800 doing that, y'all, not about to burn my curls out. 0:10:53.920 --> 0:10:56.080 And also I reserved the right to wear brads. 0:10:56.120 --> 0:10:59.439 It's little black girls who are watching on air right 0:10:59.480 --> 0:11:02.520 that expect to see themselves reflected authentically, So. 0:11:02.480 --> 0:11:03.320 I'm not doing that. 0:11:03.600 --> 0:11:05.440 Ended up being it wasn't a huge thing, but it 0:11:05.480 --> 0:11:07.560 was enough to have a conversation about, and that in 0:11:07.600 --> 0:11:09.640 and of itself annoyed me. There are many of our 0:11:09.679 --> 0:11:12.920 sister friends who cannot have that conversation and work and 0:11:13.080 --> 0:11:15.760 it be okay. And to that point, I want to 0:11:15.760 --> 0:11:20.680 play this particular clip from Megan Kelly. She had something 0:11:20.720 --> 0:11:23.559 to say about with Michelle Obama said, has. 0:11:23.400 --> 0:11:27.600 There ever been a more racist person? Lady, She's a racist. 0:11:27.679 --> 0:11:29.640 That's what we've learned about Michelle Obama. It was a 0:11:29.679 --> 0:11:32.480 slow reveal, like we started to learn. First we found 0:11:32.520 --> 0:11:35.000 out she doesn't like America, and then we found out 0:11:35.040 --> 0:11:37.000 on her show she doesn't like her husband, I mean 0:11:37.080 --> 0:11:39.040 at all. Then we started to find out she's really 0:11:39.040 --> 0:11:42.840 obsessed with herself, she's somewhat narcissistic, and then we found 0:11:42.880 --> 0:11:44.280 out she's a racist. 0:11:44.440 --> 0:11:46.120 She really can't stand white people. 0:11:46.679 --> 0:11:48.480 Every problem in her life is as a result of 0:11:48.480 --> 0:11:51.400 some white person who she imagines is judging her, Like 0:11:51.760 --> 0:11:54.239 we're actually spending time thinking about whether. 0:11:54.000 --> 0:11:56.120 Her hair is curly or straight. I had to do 0:11:56.200 --> 0:11:58.680 this for you, Michelle, on behalf of all whites. We 0:11:58.760 --> 0:12:02.000 have better things to do, So get over yourself. 0:12:02.720 --> 0:12:04.840 I mean, it's so delusional. 0:12:05.000 --> 0:12:06.560 So I want your reaction to that, And then I 0:12:06.559 --> 0:12:09.560 actually want to play the clip she's talking about where 0:12:09.600 --> 0:12:12.360 Michelle Obama dealt with this on her book tour. 0:12:14.360 --> 0:12:18.760 Initial thoughts, So reverse racism not a thing. The lack 0:12:18.800 --> 0:12:23.920 of education is very clear in that clip two. I 0:12:24.200 --> 0:12:29.480 have better things to do than to address a nonexistent problem. 0:12:30.240 --> 0:12:35.000 The policing of black bodies, the effort to control them, 0:12:35.160 --> 0:12:37.960 is something that has existed for as long as we've 0:12:37.960 --> 0:12:40.319 been here this go round, I should say, because we 0:12:40.360 --> 0:12:42.920 know we came before Columbus, that's known for this audience. 0:12:43.720 --> 0:12:48.640 But when they brought us here enslaved, they have desecrated 0:12:48.679 --> 0:12:51.040 our hair, They have referred to our hair. 0:12:50.880 --> 0:12:52.319 As fur and wool. 0:12:52.520 --> 0:12:55.200 We know that the problem predates all of us alive, 0:12:55.760 --> 0:13:00.640 because they created a law in Louisiana that required black 0:13:00.679 --> 0:13:03.040 women to cover our hair. 0:13:04.679 --> 0:13:06.000 Now, the claim was. 0:13:06.000 --> 0:13:08.760 Oh my gosh, it's so unsightly. We know that's not true. 0:13:08.920 --> 0:13:11.880 Your men are checking always have been. So to sit 0:13:11.960 --> 0:13:15.239 there and to suggest that people are making up problems, 0:13:15.360 --> 0:13:18.840 and I do this voluntarily. I have been funding this 0:13:18.920 --> 0:13:23.720 movement for years. This is my passion project. To suggest 0:13:24.280 --> 0:13:27.600 that I am out here working on something that you 0:13:27.640 --> 0:13:31.040 know is not a real problem is absurd, But again, 0:13:31.160 --> 0:13:31.720 so is shit. 0:13:32.960 --> 0:13:36.400 That's the full point in period so on that speaking 0:13:36.400 --> 0:13:38.680 of the absurdity of it all, because there are white 0:13:38.679 --> 0:13:40.920 people who have not only thought about it, but develop 0:13:41.000 --> 0:13:44.160 policies to keep our particular hairstyles and all of the 0:13:44.200 --> 0:13:48.199 creativity and beauty that comes with it out of boardrooms, courtrooms, 0:13:48.240 --> 0:13:51.320 school school, classrooms, all of the things. But this is 0:13:51.320 --> 0:13:54.440 what Michelle Obama had to say about our hair embrace. 0:13:55.200 --> 0:13:59.760 Let me explain something to white people. Our hair comes 0:13:59.760 --> 0:14:03.080 out of our head naturally in a curly pattern. So 0:14:03.200 --> 0:14:06.760 when we're straightening it to follow your beauty standards, we 0:14:06.800 --> 0:14:08.240 are trapped. 0:14:08.480 --> 0:14:11.440 By the straightness. That's why so many of us. 0:14:11.360 --> 0:14:16.079 Can't swim and we run away from the water. People 0:14:16.160 --> 0:14:19.080 won't go to the gym because we're trying to keep 0:14:19.120 --> 0:14:24.040 our hair straight. For y'all, it is exhausting, and it's 0:14:24.080 --> 0:14:29.760 so expensive, and it takes up so much time. Braids 0:14:29.960 --> 0:14:32.760 are for y'all, so we can work harder and focus 0:14:32.800 --> 0:14:35.880 on the work. So why do we need an act, 0:14:37.280 --> 0:14:40.600 an act of law to tell white folks to get 0:14:40.640 --> 0:14:45.320 out our hair. Don't don't tell me how to wear 0:14:45.440 --> 0:14:58.040 my hair, don't wonder about it, don't touch it, just don't. 0:15:04.800 --> 0:15:07.280 So solandro the song about it don't touch my hair. 0:15:07.400 --> 0:15:09.840 And she's not, of course, saying that we don't need 0:15:09.880 --> 0:15:12.040 the law. She's saying that we shouldn't need the law. 0:15:12.560 --> 0:15:14.200 I don't think the brains are for white people. I 0:15:14.240 --> 0:15:15.880 ain't never been for white people for me, but I 0:15:15.920 --> 0:15:17.080 disagree with some of this clip. 0:15:17.080 --> 0:15:18.920 But I do want to hear from you, doctor Azua. 0:15:19.400 --> 0:15:22.320 I think we are probably aligned and that I obviously 0:15:22.360 --> 0:15:26.840 reject the notion of conformity. I take issue with these 0:15:26.840 --> 0:15:30.960 Eurocentric standards of beauty that suggests that we must conform 0:15:31.520 --> 0:15:34.720 or again not be you know, upwardly mobile. They're always 0:15:34.720 --> 0:15:37.640 talking about bootstrapping, but then you you know, want to 0:15:37.680 --> 0:15:41.680 impose policies that you claim are you know, race neutral. 0:15:42.080 --> 0:15:44.640 But we know that that's not true, and so I 0:15:44.720 --> 0:15:48.520 don't subscribe to the thought that I have to. I 0:15:48.600 --> 0:15:52.800 do again, maintain the right to embrace the full versatility 0:15:52.960 --> 0:15:56.160 of my hair. I can go from one to another 0:15:56.280 --> 0:15:59.520 to another style all in the matter of a week, 0:15:59.800 --> 0:16:02.800 which is why again I am fighting to protect and 0:16:02.880 --> 0:16:05.800 preserve our right to do what we want to do. 0:16:05.800 --> 0:16:06.520 With our crowns. 0:16:06.720 --> 0:16:10.360 You mentioned something that's critically important as it relates to 0:16:10.440 --> 0:16:13.560 the child I call my son Darryl George, who came 0:16:13.640 --> 0:16:15.960 up here, by the way, never posted about it or 0:16:15.960 --> 0:16:18.360 really talked about it publicly, but I wanted him to 0:16:18.360 --> 0:16:25.600 feel the love because he was isolated. He was criminalized 0:16:25.680 --> 0:16:31.000 for rocking his locks. It was enraging on multiple fronts. 0:16:31.520 --> 0:16:36.320 There are so many violations with that school district level policy. 0:16:36.360 --> 0:16:41.720 Because the Act, the actual Crown Act, is law in Texas, 0:16:41.840 --> 0:16:45.040 so they have the accurate Crown A, not legislation inspired 0:16:45.040 --> 0:16:45.400 by it. 0:16:45.720 --> 0:16:47.960 But this school district sought. 0:16:47.880 --> 0:16:54.520 To impose a rule that infringes on people's rights on 0:16:54.640 --> 0:16:58.440 multiple fronts, including on the gender front. My dissertation is 0:16:58.480 --> 0:17:01.360 on this topic. So when I speak, I speak with authority, 0:17:01.440 --> 0:17:03.800 not just as a practitioner, but as a scholar. There 0:17:03.880 --> 0:17:08.480 is no credible research that suggests that the way one 0:17:09.200 --> 0:17:14.240 wears his or her hair is correlated with the ability 0:17:14.280 --> 0:17:19.400 to be able to be a good student, citizen, friend, scholar. 0:17:20.720 --> 0:17:23.399 So there's no research that suggests that that is the truth. 0:17:23.520 --> 0:17:26.560 What we have seen, however, when people want to side 0:17:26.680 --> 0:17:30.520 step or attempt to side step, they very clear law 0:17:30.840 --> 0:17:33.320 is We've seen people then come up with things like 0:17:33.480 --> 0:17:36.159 length the Crown Act is written properly. I work with 0:17:36.240 --> 0:17:40.520 brilliant attorneys to conduct research to ensure that the language 0:17:40.560 --> 0:17:45.920 could withstand, you know, any sort of jurisdictional scrutiny, and 0:17:46.040 --> 0:17:48.760 the Crown Act is written properly, but we've seen them 0:17:48.840 --> 0:17:52.400 use length as a proxy for race. So in that 0:17:52.480 --> 0:17:56.040 particular school district, which is the same one we should note, 0:17:56.440 --> 0:18:00.320 is the same school district that told DeAndre Arnold that 0:18:00.400 --> 0:18:06.640 he could not participate and his graduation exercises because he 0:18:06.680 --> 0:18:10.359 wore locks, which for him, given his father's identity, was 0:18:10.359 --> 0:18:14.480 a great source of ethnic pride. We've seen, you know, 0:18:14.480 --> 0:18:17.439 I think the world kind of collectively gasped, or at 0:18:17.520 --> 0:18:22.000 least members of our community did, watching a boy because 0:18:22.040 --> 0:18:25.480 the adultification of black children is a real thing in 0:18:25.520 --> 0:18:29.600 New Jersey. Who was forced to make a decision nobody 0:18:29.680 --> 0:18:32.640 really should have to make, but certainly no child, and 0:18:32.680 --> 0:18:36.560 that was to either allow for his identity to be 0:18:36.600 --> 0:18:40.280 attacked and his locks cut by someone with no regard 0:18:40.320 --> 0:18:43.840 for them, or to forfeit a match he had actually 0:18:43.880 --> 0:18:47.240 earned the right to participate in. We've seen it time 0:18:47.280 --> 0:18:50.600 and time again. Faithefity sent home in tears because she's 0:18:50.680 --> 0:18:56.000 rocking box braids, cooked twins. Massachusetts repeatedly punished in school 0:18:56.080 --> 0:19:00.280 suspension because they're rocking braids. This is not an imaginary problem. 0:19:00.320 --> 0:19:02.880 We have enough issues in this country that we don't 0:19:02.920 --> 0:19:06.240 need to pretend that racial discrimination in the form of 0:19:06.240 --> 0:19:09.159 hair discrimination is a thing if it is not. And 0:19:09.200 --> 0:19:11.639 so I get so sick and tired of people saying 0:19:11.680 --> 0:19:14.439 that's not a thing and bringing in their mullets and 0:19:14.440 --> 0:19:17.280 their mohawks and what have you, when I am being 0:19:17.480 --> 0:19:22.560 very clear that this is about racial discrimination, not hairstyles. 0:19:22.800 --> 0:19:25.920 If you want to wrap a lime green mullet, rock out, 0:19:25.960 --> 0:19:28.199 but that's not what the Crown Act is about. The 0:19:28.280 --> 0:19:33.000 Crown Act is about identifying our hair as a racial 0:19:33.720 --> 0:19:38.639 characteristic explicitly and to extend the statutory protection to natural 0:19:38.680 --> 0:19:43.320 hair and protective styles, which we know include you know, 0:19:44.040 --> 0:19:46.600 a lot's braids, twists, band two nots et cetera. 0:19:47.240 --> 0:19:48.240 This notion. 0:19:49.960 --> 0:19:53.080 That we are making up issues is problematic and in 0:19:53.119 --> 0:19:56.679 the case of Daryl George, his rights were violated and 0:19:56.720 --> 0:20:00.080 we continue to fight and will not stop until he 0:20:00.160 --> 0:20:02.560 is made whole, at least to the extent that it 0:20:02.600 --> 0:20:05.879 is possible, as it relates to him losing access to 0:20:05.960 --> 0:20:08.600 what was supposed to be what we call faith, which 0:20:08.640 --> 0:20:10.800 is a free and appropriate public education. 0:20:12.200 --> 0:20:14.399 I love it, AZEA. I want to do this next. 0:20:14.800 --> 0:20:19.280 Sometimes the Megan Kellys of the world feel comfortable engaging 0:20:19.440 --> 0:20:23.760 in the type of hateful discourse, misinformed discourse at that 0:20:25.000 --> 0:20:27.480 not only about our hair, but about our personhood. She's 0:20:27.520 --> 0:20:31.359 regularly attacking black women on her platform. As you said, 0:20:31.400 --> 0:20:34.560 reverse racism is not a thing, but sometimes there are 0:20:34.600 --> 0:20:37.640 black people on their side of the equation. I don't 0:20:37.640 --> 0:20:39.320 even call it the isle anymore because I don't know 0:20:39.400 --> 0:20:41.760 what it is now the math and math and over there. 0:20:41.800 --> 0:20:45.960 So as some of them over there that decide that 0:20:46.080 --> 0:20:49.520 we are the problem. And there is a black woman 0:20:49.680 --> 0:20:51.879 radio host by the name of Kathy. I don't know 0:20:51.920 --> 0:20:55.160 her last name, but she's a radio host in Pennsylvania, 0:20:55.720 --> 0:20:59.480 and she had this to say recently about the Crown 0:20:59.520 --> 0:21:03.359 Act and it passage. Nick is saying, we don't have 0:21:03.440 --> 0:21:05.840 the video, but I know there's a video because I 0:21:06.480 --> 0:21:08.360 maybe I pulled the wrong thing, but I'm gonna pull 0:21:08.359 --> 0:21:12.200 this video up. But the point is Kathy on this 0:21:12.400 --> 0:21:16.960 on this tweet, she went on with her full wig 0:21:18.440 --> 0:21:22.880 and it respectfully looks bad. It's Kathy Burnett. She said, 0:21:22.960 --> 0:21:26.040 black people like these because the supposed to be me. 0:21:27.320 --> 0:21:28.760 I think it's us because I like horn. 0:21:29.560 --> 0:21:33.320 So black people like these people, by the way, make 0:21:33.359 --> 0:21:35.720 it difficult for black people like me. When white people 0:21:35.760 --> 0:21:39.320 see me, they think they're talking to these black people here. 0:21:39.800 --> 0:21:44.000 So instead of talking to me about CAPEX and bad investments, infrastructure, 0:21:44.040 --> 0:21:48.520 real estate opportunities, they try talking to me about hair racism. 0:21:49.040 --> 0:21:53.680 You people are stupid, and so I wanted to bring 0:21:53.760 --> 0:21:57.720 this forward. This woman ran against doctor Oz in twenty 0:21:57.760 --> 0:22:02.520 twenty two. She says she's a homeschool a veteran. Let 0:22:02.520 --> 0:22:04.679 me just blow this up so you guys can just 0:22:04.720 --> 0:22:07.760 see what we're talking about. This is Kathy, and that's 0:22:07.840 --> 0:22:10.720 Kathy's wig there. So I don't know if this can 0:22:10.760 --> 0:22:13.199 help you, But maybe if Kathy set herself free and 0:22:13.280 --> 0:22:16.920 became black people like us, she wouldn't have to put 0:22:16.920 --> 0:22:23.200 that electrocution wig on her head. So anyway, but there 0:22:23.200 --> 0:22:25.520 are several Kathy's right, I mean, on their side of 0:22:25.520 --> 0:22:29.959 the equation. There are people who believe that us standing 0:22:30.040 --> 0:22:33.480 up for ourselves, looking for equitable outcomes in terms of 0:22:33.520 --> 0:22:37.040 how we present that we're being problematic in some way 0:22:37.080 --> 0:22:38.960 by not conforming to these standards. 0:22:39.480 --> 0:22:44.480 The idea of we can't talk about multiple issues is 0:22:45.040 --> 0:22:49.639 one that I obviously reject. Does that mean that, because 0:22:49.920 --> 0:22:52.040 you know I've been working on the crin ex since 0:22:52.040 --> 0:22:54.480