1 00:00:05,320 --> 00:00:07,720 Speaker 1: Hey, this is Bridget, and this is Emily, and this 2 00:00:07,760 --> 00:00:21,600 Speaker 1: is stuff Mom never told you. And today I'm pretty 3 00:00:21,600 --> 00:00:23,880 Speaker 1: thrilled to talk about a topic that if you know 4 00:00:24,000 --> 00:00:26,479 Speaker 1: me or have ever listened to an episode of this show, 5 00:00:26,880 --> 00:00:29,520 Speaker 1: you know it's very important to me, and that is hair. 6 00:00:30,240 --> 00:00:33,640 Speaker 1: We've actually done a whole episode unpacking the feminist ramifications 7 00:00:33,680 --> 00:00:36,400 Speaker 1: of hair. Many folks might just think it's the stuff 8 00:00:36,440 --> 00:00:38,920 Speaker 1: that grows on your head that doesn't really have much 9 00:00:38,960 --> 00:00:41,400 Speaker 1: to do about anything, but actually hair is a pretty 10 00:00:41,440 --> 00:00:45,479 Speaker 1: sensitive and thorny topic, particularly for women of color. And 11 00:00:45,560 --> 00:00:47,839 Speaker 1: I was really impressed and amazed by how many of 12 00:00:47,840 --> 00:00:51,879 Speaker 1: our listeners Bridget wrote in telling us about their hair journeys, 13 00:00:52,400 --> 00:00:55,040 Speaker 1: and a lot of you even made the big chop 14 00:00:55,280 --> 00:00:58,800 Speaker 1: after listening to our podcast about hair. So we've been 15 00:00:59,360 --> 00:01:02,800 Speaker 1: diving in to lots of other tangents and conversations around hair, 16 00:01:03,160 --> 00:01:06,440 Speaker 1: and hopefully we can continue this conversation even further on 17 00:01:06,480 --> 00:01:09,319 Speaker 1: social media and through email with all of y'all. But 18 00:01:09,400 --> 00:01:13,080 Speaker 1: today's story it sort of combines policing women's speech and 19 00:01:13,120 --> 00:01:15,760 Speaker 1: the episode we did around hair, because it hammers on 20 00:01:15,800 --> 00:01:19,440 Speaker 1: this idea that women of colors hair is much more 21 00:01:19,480 --> 00:01:24,039 Speaker 1: heavily policed than what is considered traditionally white hair. Isn't 22 00:01:24,040 --> 00:01:27,520 Speaker 1: that right? That's completely right. In doing research for this episode, 23 00:01:27,600 --> 00:01:29,679 Speaker 1: I was really shocked by some of the stories that 24 00:01:29,760 --> 00:01:33,840 Speaker 1: I came across. I've always heard colloquially of stories of women, 25 00:01:34,000 --> 00:01:35,640 Speaker 1: you know, getting in trouble at work or a certain 26 00:01:35,680 --> 00:01:38,240 Speaker 1: kind of hairstyle, but really, when you look at how 27 00:01:38,360 --> 00:01:40,319 Speaker 1: young this starts for a lot of women of color, 28 00:01:40,480 --> 00:01:42,840 Speaker 1: it's pretty troubling. There have been so many stories of 29 00:01:42,959 --> 00:01:45,480 Speaker 1: young women getting kicked out of sports teams or getting 30 00:01:45,480 --> 00:01:48,880 Speaker 1: suspended just because of how they've chosen to wear their hair. Yeah. 31 00:01:49,080 --> 00:01:51,280 Speaker 1: I mean, this is an issue that is not just 32 00:01:51,360 --> 00:01:53,960 Speaker 1: about how you like to wear your hair. It's about 33 00:01:53,960 --> 00:01:57,120 Speaker 1: what other people consider appropriate, and that is what bothers 34 00:01:57,120 --> 00:01:59,520 Speaker 1: me the most. In the Malden Charter School in the 35 00:01:59,560 --> 00:02:03,200 Speaker 1: Boston area, they actually served up detention slips to two 36 00:02:03,240 --> 00:02:07,200 Speaker 1: students for wearing box braids. According to The Boston Globe, 37 00:02:07,440 --> 00:02:10,880 Speaker 1: the fifteen year old twins Dianna and Maya Scott were 38 00:02:11,000 --> 00:02:13,799 Speaker 1: pulled from their sports teams and told they were not 39 00:02:14,040 --> 00:02:18,880 Speaker 1: allowed to go to prom. What. Yeah, and again, it 40 00:02:18,960 --> 00:02:20,880 Speaker 1: kind of goes back to the episode we did around 41 00:02:21,000 --> 00:02:25,920 Speaker 1: dress codes, where something so seemingly arbitrary and not important 42 00:02:26,120 --> 00:02:28,520 Speaker 1: is impacting your ability to just have a normal day 43 00:02:28,560 --> 00:02:31,079 Speaker 1: to day as a student or gain an education. Exactly. 44 00:02:31,200 --> 00:02:34,960 Speaker 1: It's and it's not white girl braids, it's box braids 45 00:02:35,120 --> 00:02:38,639 Speaker 1: on black girls heads exactly. Another story I found really 46 00:02:38,680 --> 00:02:41,400 Speaker 1: interesting was out of Praetoria High School for Girls, where 47 00:02:41,400 --> 00:02:44,160 Speaker 1: girls were told to quote unquote fix their hair if 48 00:02:44,160 --> 00:02:46,680 Speaker 1: they were wearing it in a natural state. Things like dreadlocks, 49 00:02:46,720 --> 00:02:50,200 Speaker 1: loose braids, and corn rows had diameter restrictions. And again, 50 00:02:50,240 --> 00:02:53,040 Speaker 1: if you have thick hair like I do, course hair, 51 00:02:53,360 --> 00:02:56,560 Speaker 1: someone can't arbitrarrily tell you, oh, your dreadlock or your 52 00:02:56,560 --> 00:02:59,480 Speaker 1: twist or your braid needs to be x in diameter. 53 00:02:59,720 --> 00:03:01,799 Speaker 1: Your hair kind of makes that choice on its own. 54 00:03:01,800 --> 00:03:03,320 Speaker 1: You don't really have a lot of control over it 55 00:03:03,400 --> 00:03:05,600 Speaker 1: if you're if you're wearing your hair natural. And these 56 00:03:05,600 --> 00:03:08,720 Speaker 1: girls actually didn't take this sitting down. They held protests 57 00:03:08,840 --> 00:03:11,240 Speaker 1: in order to be able to fight to have their 58 00:03:11,320 --> 00:03:13,760 Speaker 1: natural hair. And this is the part that bothers me 59 00:03:13,800 --> 00:03:16,200 Speaker 1: the most, that the way your hair is a young 60 00:03:16,320 --> 00:03:20,520 Speaker 1: black woman naturally comes out of your skull is deemed 61 00:03:20,520 --> 00:03:23,480 Speaker 1: inappropriate here and at the same time, you know, on 62 00:03:23,520 --> 00:03:26,520 Speaker 1: the other side of the country, there are girls who 63 00:03:26,600 --> 00:03:30,000 Speaker 1: are adapting their hair and trying to tame their hair 64 00:03:30,200 --> 00:03:33,600 Speaker 1: in an attempt to be more appropriate, to fix their 65 00:03:33,600 --> 00:03:36,760 Speaker 1: hair with box braids, and they're told also, that's not appropriate. 66 00:03:36,800 --> 00:03:43,120 Speaker 1: It's infuriating to think that, you know, this arbitrary condemnation 67 00:03:43,440 --> 00:03:45,880 Speaker 1: on the way that your hair is naturally presenting itself. 68 00:03:46,360 --> 00:03:48,240 Speaker 1: Isn't even there's not even a case here for oh, 69 00:03:48,280 --> 00:03:51,760 Speaker 1: you're distracting the boys. It's not about sexualizing. It's about saying, 70 00:03:51,800 --> 00:03:57,120 Speaker 1: here's what's appropriate for your presentation physically that will be 71 00:03:57,200 --> 00:04:01,320 Speaker 1: deemed somehow tolerable by the masses. I just it seems arbitrary, 72 00:04:01,400 --> 00:04:06,200 Speaker 1: and it seems disproportionately condemning young black women, oh, no doubt. 73 00:04:06,280 --> 00:04:08,680 Speaker 1: And I also think you know, when you're if you're 74 00:04:08,760 --> 00:04:11,480 Speaker 1: a young black woman and you get braids, braids is 75 00:04:11,520 --> 00:04:13,080 Speaker 1: a style that I used to wear my hair in 76 00:04:13,080 --> 00:04:15,480 Speaker 1: for summer camp. Right, Like, if you make the choice 77 00:04:15,480 --> 00:04:18,120 Speaker 1: to get braids, that's clearly a style that you're you know, 78 00:04:18,520 --> 00:04:20,640 Speaker 1: it's a style that can get you through a summer 79 00:04:20,760 --> 00:04:22,599 Speaker 1: or a few months without a lot of upkeep. And 80 00:04:22,640 --> 00:04:24,960 Speaker 1: so it's not like when you wear braids. It's not 81 00:04:25,200 --> 00:04:27,560 Speaker 1: necessarily a fashion statement. A lot of times it's the 82 00:04:27,560 --> 00:04:30,120 Speaker 1: style where your mom is just like, we'll get you braids. 83 00:04:30,279 --> 00:04:31,559 Speaker 1: Let's not have to deal with it for a while. 84 00:04:31,640 --> 00:04:35,119 Speaker 1: And telling telling people that they can't use the style 85 00:04:35,200 --> 00:04:37,960 Speaker 1: that has been in our in our cultural identity for 86 00:04:38,000 --> 00:04:40,599 Speaker 1: so long, I think is is maddening. And this is 87 00:04:40,640 --> 00:04:43,839 Speaker 1: not an anomaly. Unfortunately, loss in Brown High School told 88 00:04:43,839 --> 00:04:46,120 Speaker 1: black girls with natural hair that they needed to tie 89 00:04:46,560 --> 00:04:49,960 Speaker 1: their afroze up to make them more beautiful, according to 90 00:04:50,000 --> 00:04:52,960 Speaker 1: a South African news outlet, So this is by no 91 00:04:53,080 --> 00:04:57,880 Speaker 1: means uniquely American problem. This is happening across the globe 92 00:04:58,080 --> 00:05:02,039 Speaker 1: in a way that has to cause us some pause. 93 00:05:02,839 --> 00:05:04,800 Speaker 1: And it is kind of interesting how this topic in 94 00:05:04,800 --> 00:05:10,279 Speaker 1: today's story really intersects between policing women's speech, schul dress codes, 95 00:05:10,680 --> 00:05:15,640 Speaker 1: and the feminist politics of hair, all centered around one 96 00:05:15,960 --> 00:05:21,080 Speaker 1: woman's sort of symbolic fight with the law on just 97 00:05:21,160 --> 00:05:23,320 Speaker 1: how real this issue can get. So when we use 98 00:05:23,360 --> 00:05:26,800 Speaker 1: words like police, you might be thinking, oh, policing hair, 99 00:05:26,920 --> 00:05:29,200 Speaker 1: that seems a little bit extreme. Bridget I don't think 100 00:05:29,200 --> 00:05:33,720 Speaker 1: anyone's getting arrested over hair, over braids. You would be 101 00:05:33,800 --> 00:05:36,960 Speaker 1: wrong if you thought that because Isis Brantley of Dallas, 102 00:05:36,960 --> 00:05:41,080 Speaker 1: Texas was actually arrested after a twenty year legal battle 103 00:05:41,160 --> 00:05:43,200 Speaker 1: where she fought for the right to braid hair and 104 00:05:43,240 --> 00:05:46,160 Speaker 1: teach others to braid hair in Texas. We're gonna dig 105 00:05:46,200 --> 00:05:57,520 Speaker 1: into her incredible, incredible story after this quick break and 106 00:05:57,640 --> 00:06:00,440 Speaker 1: we're back, and I want to talk about Isis Brantley 107 00:06:00,440 --> 00:06:02,479 Speaker 1: because her story, I think is one that people don't 108 00:06:02,520 --> 00:06:05,920 Speaker 1: really know about and it's wild. So basically, Isis is 109 00:06:05,960 --> 00:06:09,400 Speaker 1: a hairdresser in Dallas, Texas. She's been doing braids and 110 00:06:09,440 --> 00:06:12,160 Speaker 1: braiding hair since nineteen seventy nine, so she has this 111 00:06:12,240 --> 00:06:15,600 Speaker 1: long legacy of braiding hair showing others how to braid hair, 112 00:06:15,880 --> 00:06:18,320 Speaker 1: and really, it seems like for Isis it's a big 113 00:06:18,360 --> 00:06:21,280 Speaker 1: part of how she expresses her cultural heritage. She calls 114 00:06:21,320 --> 00:06:23,520 Speaker 1: it healing through hair. It's a big part of who 115 00:06:23,560 --> 00:06:28,040 Speaker 1: she is. But unfortunately, in Dallas, Texas, because of really 116 00:06:28,120 --> 00:06:32,280 Speaker 1: really kind of over the top regulation, Isis was not 117 00:06:32,400 --> 00:06:35,599 Speaker 1: able to legally braid hair in Texas. So she was 118 00:06:35,839 --> 00:06:40,000 Speaker 1: doing so in kind of this undercover, off the books 119 00:06:40,120 --> 00:06:41,960 Speaker 1: kind of I don't know if you want to call it. 120 00:06:42,000 --> 00:06:45,960 Speaker 1: I don't want to say black market. But no, it's 121 00:06:46,000 --> 00:06:49,560 Speaker 1: like it's basically like being a Facebook entrepreneur, which is 122 00:06:49,560 --> 00:06:52,239 Speaker 1: what I see more often. Like, you know, it's funny 123 00:06:52,279 --> 00:06:56,200 Speaker 1: to talk about Texas as an overregulated, liberal state full 124 00:06:56,240 --> 00:06:58,479 Speaker 1: of too much government. You know, that makes me crack 125 00:06:58,560 --> 00:07:00,920 Speaker 1: up from an entrepreneur's persect. And also the fact that 126 00:07:00,960 --> 00:07:05,960 Speaker 1: I am like railing against government? Who am I? What is? 127 00:07:06,000 --> 00:07:08,760 Speaker 1: This topic has put us on weird sides of issues. 128 00:07:08,800 --> 00:07:12,840 Speaker 1: But yeah, no, So what's interesting is she wasn't licensed 129 00:07:12,880 --> 00:07:17,600 Speaker 1: as a cosmetologist. And basically because the law thinks of 130 00:07:17,720 --> 00:07:23,400 Speaker 1: cosmetology and hair styling as something that inherently involves dangerous 131 00:07:23,480 --> 00:07:28,000 Speaker 1: chemicals and pollutants and toxic ingredients, because a lot of 132 00:07:28,040 --> 00:07:32,440 Speaker 1: hair treatments involving white women's hair were just dying hair 133 00:07:32,520 --> 00:07:36,040 Speaker 1: and cutting hair definitely fall into that category. There's no 134 00:07:36,320 --> 00:07:40,960 Speaker 1: space in the licensing code, in the business code in 135 00:07:41,040 --> 00:07:45,400 Speaker 1: Texas for a business owner like Isis, because for Isis, 136 00:07:45,440 --> 00:07:48,600 Speaker 1: she doesn't use chemicals or dies or any coloring agents. 137 00:07:48,960 --> 00:07:52,760 Speaker 1: It's all natural, and there was no way for her 138 00:07:52,800 --> 00:07:57,160 Speaker 1: to get a cosmetology license to fully and legally operate 139 00:07:57,200 --> 00:08:02,760 Speaker 1: her business without some really intensive accrediting. Basically, what it 140 00:08:02,800 --> 00:08:04,880 Speaker 1: comes down to is that if she wanted to be 141 00:08:04,960 --> 00:08:08,600 Speaker 1: able to legally braid hair, she had to take a course, 142 00:08:08,680 --> 00:08:12,040 Speaker 1: our cosmetology class where she would have to master skills 143 00:08:12,080 --> 00:08:15,560 Speaker 1: like trimming and shaving mustaches and shampooing and using chemical 144 00:08:15,600 --> 00:08:18,560 Speaker 1: straighteners and chemical bleaches, things that she doesn't do in 145 00:08:18,600 --> 00:08:21,440 Speaker 1: her shop, things that are really more geared toward white 146 00:08:21,440 --> 00:08:23,600 Speaker 1: men and people who are not there to get their 147 00:08:23,600 --> 00:08:25,560 Speaker 1: hair braided. And so it didn't make any sense that 148 00:08:25,600 --> 00:08:27,800 Speaker 1: if she wanted to be able to legally practice this 149 00:08:27,840 --> 00:08:30,200 Speaker 1: crap that she's been practicing for twenty years, she'd have 150 00:08:30,280 --> 00:08:33,320 Speaker 1: to spend lots and lots of time and money demonstrating 151 00:08:33,320 --> 00:08:35,360 Speaker 1: her efficiency with these skills that had nothing to do 152 00:08:35,400 --> 00:08:37,080 Speaker 1: with her trade, right, and she would have to of 153 00:08:37,160 --> 00:08:40,360 Speaker 1: course pay for that schooling, and she would have to 154 00:08:40,720 --> 00:08:42,719 Speaker 1: I mean, that's like at forty hours a week. That's 155 00:08:42,720 --> 00:08:45,000 Speaker 1: like thirty seven and a half weeks of training. And 156 00:08:45,280 --> 00:08:49,040 Speaker 1: very rarely are women going to cosmetology programs full time 157 00:08:49,080 --> 00:08:51,160 Speaker 1: because you've got to work on the side most of 158 00:08:51,160 --> 00:08:53,960 Speaker 1: the time. So this is more like a two year 159 00:08:54,200 --> 00:08:56,760 Speaker 1: initiative or a two year investment that she would have 160 00:08:56,840 --> 00:08:59,079 Speaker 1: to make. Now we're gonna talk a little bit more 161 00:08:59,120 --> 00:09:02,800 Speaker 1: about all the regulatory deets in a second. But here's 162 00:09:02,800 --> 00:09:05,199 Speaker 1: where this comes to a head. So she's been braiding 163 00:09:05,240 --> 00:09:10,160 Speaker 1: since nineteen seventy nine, and two decades later, after a 164 00:09:10,320 --> 00:09:18,199 Speaker 1: long drawn out fight in seven uniformed and undercover officers 165 00:09:18,840 --> 00:09:22,200 Speaker 1: handcuffed Isis in front of her customers and dragged her 166 00:09:22,240 --> 00:09:28,200 Speaker 1: out of her salon in Dallas. Dragging and handcuffing this 167 00:09:28,240 --> 00:09:31,440 Speaker 1: woman like a violent criminal because she had been found 168 00:09:31,440 --> 00:09:35,440 Speaker 1: guilty of the offense of braiding hair without a cosmetology license. 169 00:09:35,480 --> 00:09:38,400 Speaker 1: Are you kidding me? I mean, I can't even imagine 170 00:09:38,600 --> 00:09:41,000 Speaker 1: being put in handcuffs and dragged out of your own 171 00:09:41,000 --> 00:09:43,600 Speaker 1: salon because you're trying to braid hair, something you've been 172 00:09:43,600 --> 00:09:46,280 Speaker 1: doing your whole life and probably your mom did to you, 173 00:09:46,320 --> 00:09:48,440 Speaker 1: and you know her mom did to hurt. It makes 174 00:09:48,480 --> 00:09:51,640 Speaker 1: no sense. It's government run amuck. I mean, I never 175 00:09:51,679 --> 00:09:53,760 Speaker 1: thought I would used the phrase of government regulation run 176 00:09:53,840 --> 00:09:56,920 Speaker 1: them up, government regulation run up, y'all right. And at 177 00:09:56,960 --> 00:09:58,800 Speaker 1: the same time, you know that like the hedge fund 178 00:09:58,880 --> 00:10:01,960 Speaker 1: bankers who tanged her economy, who are like committing fraud 179 00:10:01,960 --> 00:10:04,600 Speaker 1: in the billions of dollars, wouldn't get dragged down handcuffs. 180 00:10:04,920 --> 00:10:09,400 Speaker 1: But really, let's crack down and like physically remove the 181 00:10:09,800 --> 00:10:14,120 Speaker 1: small business owner craftswoman who's been using no pollutants to 182 00:10:14,200 --> 00:10:16,719 Speaker 1: naturally braid hair for a living. Yeah, that's a good 183 00:10:16,800 --> 00:10:18,760 Speaker 1: use of our tax paya dollars. Yeah, it makes it 184 00:10:18,760 --> 00:10:21,000 Speaker 1: makes no sense and it's infuriating. Um. But I think 185 00:10:21,000 --> 00:10:23,160 Speaker 1: it's really interesting is that when Isis was asked by 186 00:10:23,200 --> 00:10:25,560 Speaker 1: Cosmo magazine, you know, did you ever just think about 187 00:10:25,559 --> 00:10:28,199 Speaker 1: getting your cosmetology license and just, you know, braiding hair 188 00:10:28,320 --> 00:10:31,520 Speaker 1: that way? Here's what she said, Absolutely not, because I'm 189 00:10:31,559 --> 00:10:34,680 Speaker 1: not a cosmetologist. I don't use chemicals or any type 190 00:10:34,679 --> 00:10:37,520 Speaker 1: of unhealthy or costic chemicals or anything that would hurt 191 00:10:37,559 --> 00:10:40,679 Speaker 1: the client. No sharp instruments or anything like that. They 192 00:10:40,720 --> 00:10:43,520 Speaker 1: did shut my business down. Me and my five kids 193 00:10:43,559 --> 00:10:46,360 Speaker 1: became homeless, and one of the community leaders gave me 194 00:10:46,400 --> 00:10:48,520 Speaker 1: his house and from there I just tried to put 195 00:10:48,559 --> 00:10:51,280 Speaker 1: my pieces together and not fall apart. I just started 196 00:10:51,280 --> 00:10:55,160 Speaker 1: braiding in that particular house. And so again from this quote, 197 00:10:55,200 --> 00:10:57,800 Speaker 1: you really see a few things. One, she doesn't feel 198 00:10:57,840 --> 00:11:00,079 Speaker 1: like it's fair to regulate her as a cosmetolog just 199 00:11:00,280 --> 00:11:02,480 Speaker 1: when she's not doing these things. She specifically says, I 200 00:11:02,520 --> 00:11:06,160 Speaker 1: don't use chemicals. I'm ideologically opposed to using chemicals and 201 00:11:06,200 --> 00:11:09,040 Speaker 1: things like that. So why force her to, you know, 202 00:11:09,160 --> 00:11:11,679 Speaker 1: get get a certification saying that she can use them. 203 00:11:11,800 --> 00:11:15,160 Speaker 1: Where are the Libertarians on this? Shouldn't they be rallying behind? 204 00:11:15,440 --> 00:11:20,000 Speaker 1: I actually did really later in the story. It's actually 205 00:11:20,040 --> 00:11:22,800 Speaker 1: the Libertarians who would have come to her crusade. Um. 206 00:11:23,000 --> 00:11:26,760 Speaker 1: So again, kind of strange Bedfellow in this hairbrating. Well, 207 00:11:26,800 --> 00:11:28,920 Speaker 1: when you think about it, she's she says that she 208 00:11:29,080 --> 00:11:33,240 Speaker 1: pretty much only uses her hands for her craft, and 209 00:11:33,280 --> 00:11:36,640 Speaker 1: this is a craft that she's also professionally training other 210 00:11:36,720 --> 00:11:39,200 Speaker 1: people in, and she's basically pointing out the fact that 211 00:11:39,240 --> 00:11:42,840 Speaker 1: the government code does not account for a business like hers. Yeah, 212 00:11:42,920 --> 00:11:44,920 Speaker 1: and even going further, I think something that you said 213 00:11:44,960 --> 00:11:48,520 Speaker 1: earlier about braiding and hairstyling being this sort of underground 214 00:11:48,520 --> 00:11:51,719 Speaker 1: economy that really operates on Instagram and Facebook. I mean 215 00:11:51,960 --> 00:11:54,600 Speaker 1: full disclosure when I wear braids. I found my hair 216 00:11:54,600 --> 00:11:57,160 Speaker 1: braider on Instagram and she's amazing, and uh, I don't 217 00:11:57,200 --> 00:11:59,960 Speaker 1: know the ins and outs of her whatever, but she's great. 218 00:12:00,440 --> 00:12:04,560 Speaker 1: This regulation does not allow for these braiders to have 219 00:12:04,960 --> 00:12:07,640 Speaker 1: on the book's economies. They they're forced to do things 220 00:12:07,720 --> 00:12:09,680 Speaker 1: like set up on Instagram and braid out of their 221 00:12:09,720 --> 00:12:11,840 Speaker 1: kitchen and have it be not really on the books, 222 00:12:11,840 --> 00:12:14,960 Speaker 1: not totally legit. I mean, yeah, and it's a problem 223 00:12:14,960 --> 00:12:17,559 Speaker 1: that needs to be solved. And maybe if we had 224 00:12:17,559 --> 00:12:20,320 Speaker 1: more black women making laws in our country, we would 225 00:12:20,600 --> 00:12:23,360 Speaker 1: have accounted for these kinds of businesses already. I think 226 00:12:23,360 --> 00:12:25,000 Speaker 1: this is such a great example how a lack of 227 00:12:25,040 --> 00:12:28,520 Speaker 1: diversity and leadership can actually have ramifications that just completely 228 00:12:28,559 --> 00:12:31,680 Speaker 1: does not account for the realities of so many people's 229 00:12:31,720 --> 00:12:35,120 Speaker 1: lives and businesses. And that's one of the reasons I'm 230 00:12:35,160 --> 00:12:38,199 Speaker 1: so happy that natural hair and braiding advocates have been 231 00:12:38,200 --> 00:12:40,880 Speaker 1: steadily making noise about this issue for quite some time. 232 00:12:41,400 --> 00:12:45,000 Speaker 1: Braiding advocates have been, you know, lobbying lawmakers and politicians 233 00:12:45,120 --> 00:12:47,640 Speaker 1: and really ask them to do something about this regulation. 234 00:12:47,760 --> 00:12:51,440 Speaker 1: And back in the Congressional Black Caucus actually held a 235 00:12:51,480 --> 00:12:54,240 Speaker 1: forum all about discussing regulation in the braiding and natural 236 00:12:54,280 --> 00:12:57,760 Speaker 1: black hair community. And after a decade of fighting for reform, 237 00:12:58,120 --> 00:13:01,440 Speaker 1: in two thousand and seven, Texas acquiesced and created a 238 00:13:01,480 --> 00:13:05,360 Speaker 1: separate thirty five hour hair braiding certificate, which is much 239 00:13:05,400 --> 00:13:09,320 Speaker 1: more reasonable than fifteen hundred you know, hours of training 240 00:13:09,360 --> 00:13:12,880 Speaker 1: and certification for how to use sharp objects that are 241 00:13:12,960 --> 00:13:15,960 Speaker 1: never going to be relevant to a hair braiding business exactly. 242 00:13:16,000 --> 00:13:18,360 Speaker 1: And I think furthermore, as someone who wears braids a lot, 243 00:13:18,720 --> 00:13:21,120 Speaker 1: I'm not saying that hair braiding should not be regulated 244 00:13:21,160 --> 00:13:23,319 Speaker 1: at all. Right, I'm not saying that there aren't risks 245 00:13:23,440 --> 00:13:25,439 Speaker 1: involved when you're braiding somebody's hair. You could braid it 246 00:13:25,480 --> 00:13:27,280 Speaker 1: too tight, or things could be you know, you can 247 00:13:27,320 --> 00:13:30,280 Speaker 1: have problems with stitation, just like just like you could 248 00:13:30,320 --> 00:13:34,840 Speaker 1: have with any other you know, hairstyling, whatever. But I 249 00:13:34,880 --> 00:13:38,560 Speaker 1: think thirty five hours of course is dedicated solely to 250 00:13:38,640 --> 00:13:41,920 Speaker 1: the thing that you are doing, as opposed to fis 251 00:13:41,960 --> 00:13:44,160 Speaker 1: of course, is dedicated to stuff that you'll never do, 252 00:13:44,280 --> 00:13:47,199 Speaker 1: or perhaps you are ideologically opposed to doing, and that's 253 00:13:47,200 --> 00:13:48,880 Speaker 1: why you got into hair braiding in the first place. 254 00:13:48,960 --> 00:13:51,560 Speaker 1: The course just makes a lot more sense, right, And 255 00:13:51,600 --> 00:13:54,720 Speaker 1: it feels like they finally have filled that gap in 256 00:13:54,760 --> 00:13:58,360 Speaker 1: that blind spot in the legal code. I love to 257 00:13:58,440 --> 00:14:01,280 Speaker 1: learn that the state grand fathered, although I would say 258 00:14:01,280 --> 00:14:05,559 Speaker 1: grandmother isis in and that even one as far as 259 00:14:05,559 --> 00:14:08,800 Speaker 1: to honor her as the first natural hair care expert 260 00:14:08,800 --> 00:14:12,480 Speaker 1: in the state. So now she could finally practice hair 261 00:14:12,559 --> 00:14:16,400 Speaker 1: braiding for a living without operating in the shadows. So 262 00:14:16,640 --> 00:14:19,360 Speaker 1: certainly a huge victory for a hair braiding of the 263 00:14:19,440 --> 00:14:23,600 Speaker 1: natural hair community. But unfortunately it doesn't in there. And 264 00:14:23,600 --> 00:14:25,920 Speaker 1: we'll talk about why that is after this quick break 265 00:14:34,280 --> 00:14:36,960 Speaker 1: and we're back and we were just talking about isis 266 00:14:37,000 --> 00:14:40,440 Speaker 1: Brantley's quest to braid hair in Texas. So after Isis 267 00:14:40,480 --> 00:14:43,200 Speaker 1: Brantley was successful in terms of getting Texas to change 268 00:14:43,200 --> 00:14:46,040 Speaker 1: their regulation and let hair braiders braid hair with just 269 00:14:46,080 --> 00:14:49,080 Speaker 1: a thirty five hour course, her fight didn't end there. 270 00:14:49,800 --> 00:14:51,680 Speaker 1: One of the things that Brantley did in her shop 271 00:14:51,720 --> 00:14:54,840 Speaker 1: in addition to braiding hair was teaching others to braid hair, 272 00:14:55,320 --> 00:14:58,880 Speaker 1: and unfortunately, in Texas, this was still not allowed. Once 273 00:14:58,920 --> 00:15:03,240 Speaker 1: again under the existing state laws. Shops that teach braiding 274 00:15:03,440 --> 00:15:06,440 Speaker 1: need to meet the requirements again that have little to 275 00:15:06,520 --> 00:15:09,920 Speaker 1: do with braiding itself, like setting up a two thousand 276 00:15:10,080 --> 00:15:15,800 Speaker 1: square foot barber college equipped with ten sinks, short haired mannequins, 277 00:15:15,920 --> 00:15:19,160 Speaker 1: and reclining barber chairs. So if you've ever, like me, 278 00:15:19,360 --> 00:15:22,960 Speaker 1: been a very cheap hair cut seeker, or get your 279 00:15:23,000 --> 00:15:25,440 Speaker 1: hair cut and colored so often that the only way 280 00:15:25,480 --> 00:15:27,840 Speaker 1: it's affordable is to go to a beauty school to 281 00:15:27,880 --> 00:15:31,240 Speaker 1: get those services done with you, that is to my secret, 282 00:15:31,280 --> 00:15:33,280 Speaker 1: and to like tak myself how to bleach my own 283 00:15:33,320 --> 00:15:36,840 Speaker 1: hair without it falling off all the time sometimes. But 284 00:15:38,240 --> 00:15:40,120 Speaker 1: if you're like me, you've been to a school like this, 285 00:15:40,240 --> 00:15:42,720 Speaker 1: you've seen what they look like. The idea that Isis 286 00:15:42,800 --> 00:15:47,680 Speaker 1: would be barred from having any functional space to legally 287 00:15:47,840 --> 00:15:51,240 Speaker 1: teach her craft of hair braiding once again, falls into 288 00:15:51,240 --> 00:15:54,200 Speaker 1: this gray area, falls into this sort of no man's 289 00:15:54,280 --> 00:15:56,520 Speaker 1: land or no woman's land when it comes to the 290 00:15:56,600 --> 00:16:00,680 Speaker 1: legal requirements being far greater than what would apply had 291 00:16:00,720 --> 00:16:03,720 Speaker 1: these laws been centered around black hair as opposed to 292 00:16:03,720 --> 00:16:07,440 Speaker 1: white hair being the basis of all of these exactly. So, 293 00:16:07,480 --> 00:16:10,320 Speaker 1: if Isis legally wanted to be able to teach others 294 00:16:10,400 --> 00:16:12,760 Speaker 1: just to braid hair in Texas, she would have to 295 00:16:12,760 --> 00:16:15,840 Speaker 1: spend two thousand, two hundred fifty hours in barber school 296 00:16:16,040 --> 00:16:18,960 Speaker 1: learning things like shaving beards and mustaches and chemically straightened 297 00:16:18,960 --> 00:16:22,640 Speaker 1: hair past four exams, spend thousands of dollars on tuition, 298 00:16:22,920 --> 00:16:25,600 Speaker 1: and a fully equipped barber college that she doesn't need 299 00:16:25,960 --> 00:16:27,960 Speaker 1: all to just teach others to do a thirty or 300 00:16:27,960 --> 00:16:31,240 Speaker 1: five hour hair braiding curriculum that pretty much just uses 301 00:16:31,280 --> 00:16:33,840 Speaker 1: your fingers and braiding hair. Right, So, even though they 302 00:16:33,840 --> 00:16:36,720 Speaker 1: had changed the regulation for what's required to be a 303 00:16:36,760 --> 00:16:40,080 Speaker 1: professional hair braider to thirty five hours, they didn't go 304 00:16:40,160 --> 00:16:43,040 Speaker 1: ahead and while they're at it, update the law on 305 00:16:43,240 --> 00:16:47,280 Speaker 1: teaching certification and being able to teach others that thirty 306 00:16:47,280 --> 00:16:52,360 Speaker 1: five hour curriculum. Oh politics, it's maddening. It's maddening. And again, 307 00:16:52,400 --> 00:16:55,680 Speaker 1: can you imagine investing in things like barber shares that 308 00:16:55,720 --> 00:16:58,280 Speaker 1: you just will never use, spending thousands of dollars just 309 00:16:58,360 --> 00:17:00,720 Speaker 1: to do this, just to teach this one specific thing. 310 00:17:01,000 --> 00:17:02,800 Speaker 1: You mean, you don't need a barber chair to get 311 00:17:02,840 --> 00:17:05,160 Speaker 1: your hair braid in and a washball. All you need 312 00:17:05,200 --> 00:17:07,800 Speaker 1: to get your hair braided is a stool and like 313 00:17:08,119 --> 00:17:11,639 Speaker 1: your mom, and like a kitchen, maybe your aunt some 314 00:17:11,720 --> 00:17:16,520 Speaker 1: good stories. You don't need to wrap your face with 315 00:17:16,560 --> 00:17:20,399 Speaker 1: a hot towel for some reason. That scene from The 316 00:17:20,440 --> 00:17:22,720 Speaker 1: Little Mermaid is coming up. Do you remember that when 317 00:17:22,720 --> 00:17:26,600 Speaker 1: he like makes a hot towel like pile on some 318 00:17:27,080 --> 00:17:30,119 Speaker 1: the prince's face or somebody, and then the seagull like 319 00:17:30,320 --> 00:17:32,200 Speaker 1: nests in it. You mean, you don't need to sit 320 00:17:32,320 --> 00:17:37,200 Speaker 1: like that hair hairbraid. If no seagulls are required, what 321 00:17:37,240 --> 00:17:39,360 Speaker 1: the hell was with that scene? I don't know, a 322 00:17:39,400 --> 00:17:41,639 Speaker 1: weird scene. It is a worry. I'm gonna have to 323 00:17:41,640 --> 00:17:45,960 Speaker 1: go rewatch my favorite saying there was always an area. 324 00:17:46,119 --> 00:17:48,720 Speaker 1: Me too. Oh my god. We have to do we 325 00:17:48,720 --> 00:17:50,399 Speaker 1: have to do an episode on the Disney Princess. We 326 00:17:50,440 --> 00:17:55,120 Speaker 1: do like situation to be determined or to be continued rather, 327 00:17:55,560 --> 00:17:58,440 Speaker 1: So let's talk about these libertarians for a second. I 328 00:17:59,080 --> 00:18:03,440 Speaker 1: predicted this earlier because really, what isis is doing is 329 00:18:03,560 --> 00:18:08,360 Speaker 1: railing against out of date over regulation and big government 330 00:18:08,400 --> 00:18:11,280 Speaker 1: in a state like Texas. I'm thinking there's gonna be 331 00:18:11,359 --> 00:18:14,560 Speaker 1: so many red blooded American patriots who agree with her 332 00:18:14,600 --> 00:18:17,879 Speaker 1: and think you're right, government is too big and too early. 333 00:18:18,240 --> 00:18:21,560 Speaker 1: And as it turned out, Brantley teamed up with a 334 00:18:21,600 --> 00:18:25,240 Speaker 1: nonprofit legal firm, Institute for Justice, which is the nation's 335 00:18:25,280 --> 00:18:30,440 Speaker 1: only libertarian civil liberties public interest law firm. I don't 336 00:18:30,440 --> 00:18:33,080 Speaker 1: know how all of those things combine into one law firm, 337 00:18:33,119 --> 00:18:36,280 Speaker 1: but apparently they do, according to their website. And they've 338 00:18:36,359 --> 00:18:38,800 Speaker 1: filed a federal lawsuit against the state of Texas to 339 00:18:38,880 --> 00:18:42,480 Speaker 1: fight the requirements, which I think is the appropriate way 340 00:18:42,480 --> 00:18:44,280 Speaker 1: to do this, But isn't it funny to think about 341 00:18:44,320 --> 00:18:47,040 Speaker 1: this woman has just been trying to braid and teach 342 00:18:47,280 --> 00:18:51,320 Speaker 1: hair braiding like since nineteen seventy nine. Now she's taken 343 00:18:51,320 --> 00:18:53,720 Speaker 1: it to core. I find you would never think that 344 00:18:53,760 --> 00:18:55,200 Speaker 1: this is going to be the kind of thing that 345 00:18:55,240 --> 00:18:59,560 Speaker 1: would set off this libertarian civil liberties regulation firestorm. I 346 00:18:59,600 --> 00:19:01,720 Speaker 1: love it. And I know I talk a lot about 347 00:19:01,920 --> 00:19:05,400 Speaker 1: how I am not cool with deregulation in our country, 348 00:19:05,480 --> 00:19:07,080 Speaker 1: but this is one of those times where I think 349 00:19:07,080 --> 00:19:10,560 Speaker 1: the libertarians are onto something because clearly this is something 350 00:19:10,560 --> 00:19:13,760 Speaker 1: that's being overregulated and the regulations are not keeping up 351 00:19:13,760 --> 00:19:16,680 Speaker 1: with what actually is the reality of how hairbrading is 352 00:19:16,720 --> 00:19:20,840 Speaker 1: being practiced in the United States. Right, So bridgetad libertarian 353 00:19:20,920 --> 00:19:24,960 Speaker 1: you heard of your first guys don't want to get 354 00:19:24,960 --> 00:19:30,080 Speaker 1: out Just kidding. So to bring it back to the 355 00:19:30,480 --> 00:19:34,000 Speaker 1: lawsuit that they filed together, what I find so interesting 356 00:19:34,400 --> 00:19:37,000 Speaker 1: is the case that they were making when filing a 357 00:19:37,040 --> 00:19:41,560 Speaker 1: lawsuit against Texas is that braiding, the issue of regulating 358 00:19:41,600 --> 00:19:46,280 Speaker 1: braiding wasn't just an issue related to cultural expression and 359 00:19:46,520 --> 00:19:49,480 Speaker 1: I would argue a lack of intersectionality in our legal code, 360 00:19:49,800 --> 00:19:55,240 Speaker 1: but it was also about economic empowerment. Because the cosmetology 361 00:19:55,280 --> 00:19:59,160 Speaker 1: and barber licensing laws in all fifty states really we're 362 00:19:59,280 --> 00:20:03,879 Speaker 1: really based off of white hair techniques. They had a 363 00:20:03,960 --> 00:20:08,280 Speaker 1: virtual monopoly over all forms of hairstyling and licensing, which 364 00:20:08,359 --> 00:20:15,000 Speaker 1: basically disproportionately forced hair braiders and other practitioners that focused 365 00:20:15,040 --> 00:20:20,479 Speaker 1: on black women's cosmetics and hair to operate underground, and 366 00:20:20,560 --> 00:20:24,960 Speaker 1: many would be business owners and entrepreneurs were discouraged from 367 00:20:24,960 --> 00:20:30,240 Speaker 1: pursuing their business enterprise altogether. So as a result, they argued, quote, 368 00:20:30,720 --> 00:20:33,840 Speaker 1: natural hair care providers are consigned to the status of 369 00:20:33,840 --> 00:20:37,520 Speaker 1: an outsider, still fighting for their right to economic liberty. 370 00:20:38,000 --> 00:20:39,760 Speaker 1: What I love so much about that quote is that 371 00:20:39,800 --> 00:20:42,199 Speaker 1: it really hammers home how this is not just a 372 00:20:42,240 --> 00:20:45,680 Speaker 1: cultural or racial issue. It's an economic empowerment issue. If 373 00:20:45,720 --> 00:20:48,320 Speaker 1: these women who have been practicing this skill that their 374 00:20:48,359 --> 00:20:51,240 Speaker 1: mom or grandma taught them forever could actually make a 375 00:20:51,320 --> 00:20:54,560 Speaker 1: legitimate on the books living, that would really empower them economically. 376 00:20:54,600 --> 00:20:57,639 Speaker 1: But because of this regulation, basically it's forcing these women 377 00:20:57,720 --> 00:21:00,320 Speaker 1: to stay in the shadows and not declare their money 378 00:21:00,320 --> 00:21:01,639 Speaker 1: to the I R S and sort of keep it 379 00:21:01,640 --> 00:21:03,680 Speaker 1: all off the books, and it really prevents them from 380 00:21:03,680 --> 00:21:07,159 Speaker 1: fully contributing to their local economic communities. And this is 381 00:21:07,200 --> 00:21:09,919 Speaker 1: an important thing to consider when you look at the 382 00:21:09,960 --> 00:21:13,399 Speaker 1: bigger picture, which is that black women business owners have 383 00:21:13,520 --> 00:21:18,760 Speaker 1: been outpacing all other startups six times the national average. 384 00:21:19,359 --> 00:21:22,280 Speaker 1: So the number of businesses open by minority women have 385 00:21:22,400 --> 00:21:26,359 Speaker 1: increased from one to six to one in three in 386 00:21:26,400 --> 00:21:29,120 Speaker 1: two thousand fifteen, according to the State of Women Owned 387 00:21:29,119 --> 00:21:34,440 Speaker 1: Businesses report by American Express Open. So we're losing economic 388 00:21:35,119 --> 00:21:40,720 Speaker 1: opportunity from the small business community when we disproportionately regulate 389 00:21:40,880 --> 00:21:44,840 Speaker 1: and basically squeeze out all these would be entrepreneurs based 390 00:21:44,880 --> 00:21:49,199 Speaker 1: on implicit racism in our legal code. So it's just 391 00:21:49,560 --> 00:21:52,040 Speaker 1: a good reminder that we're also missing out on tax 392 00:21:52,119 --> 00:21:56,640 Speaker 1: dollars and on you know, creating more opportunity and jobs, 393 00:21:56,840 --> 00:22:00,080 Speaker 1: which is why I love that this black woman in 394 00:22:00,200 --> 00:22:03,240 Speaker 1: hair braider has teamed up with the Libertarians to make 395 00:22:03,280 --> 00:22:08,400 Speaker 1: a case that's about economic empowerment and cultural competency. It's 396 00:22:08,400 --> 00:22:11,440 Speaker 1: just such a fascinating spin on this issue, and there's 397 00:22:11,480 --> 00:22:15,399 Speaker 1: so many interesting intersections here. Again, it's race issues, gender issues, 398 00:22:15,440 --> 00:22:20,160 Speaker 1: economic issues, political issues, regulation issues, local ordinances. Hair it's 399 00:22:20,600 --> 00:22:22,560 Speaker 1: it's a lot. There's a lot going on here, and 400 00:22:22,640 --> 00:22:24,800 Speaker 1: one thing I wanted to highlight from what you just said, Emily, 401 00:22:24,960 --> 00:22:28,040 Speaker 1: is that because she teaches other women how to braid hair, 402 00:22:28,359 --> 00:22:31,720 Speaker 1: she's really giving that economic empowerment to others. So she's 403 00:22:31,720 --> 00:22:33,320 Speaker 1: not just saying I don't want to braid hair and 404 00:22:33,400 --> 00:22:35,399 Speaker 1: leave it at that. She's saying, no, I want to 405 00:22:35,440 --> 00:22:39,320 Speaker 1: empower other women who can learn this skill, learn this trade, 406 00:22:39,400 --> 00:22:42,000 Speaker 1: and build up their build up their businesses. I want 407 00:22:42,000 --> 00:22:43,840 Speaker 1: to give them the tools to do that and make 408 00:22:43,880 --> 00:22:46,680 Speaker 1: sure that we create a self sustaining economy of black women. 409 00:22:47,440 --> 00:22:51,399 Speaker 1: When the skill is software engineering and the audience is 410 00:22:51,520 --> 00:22:56,000 Speaker 1: white dudes, we call this a startup accelerator. Just something 411 00:22:56,000 --> 00:22:59,560 Speaker 1: to think about, Like, she has a startup accelerator for 412 00:22:59,640 --> 00:23:01,560 Speaker 1: the craft to hair braiding. I love the idea of 413 00:23:01,600 --> 00:23:05,320 Speaker 1: a black hair startup accelerator. So if that's not already 414 00:23:05,320 --> 00:23:08,120 Speaker 1: a thing, someone make that a thing. So to wrap 415 00:23:08,200 --> 00:23:10,919 Speaker 1: up what really happened with Isis's story, she teamed up 416 00:23:10,920 --> 00:23:13,960 Speaker 1: with the Libertarians and sued Texas for And I love 417 00:23:14,040 --> 00:23:18,160 Speaker 1: this quote a rational application of laws and regulations, which 418 00:23:18,200 --> 00:23:20,399 Speaker 1: I just think is so such a good That was 419 00:23:20,440 --> 00:23:23,360 Speaker 1: actually a lot the first line from her official lawsuit, 420 00:23:23,400 --> 00:23:26,879 Speaker 1: which I love and she won. She was successful. She 421 00:23:27,000 --> 00:23:31,840 Speaker 1: successfully changed Texas laws. In January, a federal judge struck 422 00:23:31,880 --> 00:23:34,600 Speaker 1: down the Texas laws on hair braiding. Basically, they said 423 00:23:34,600 --> 00:23:37,280 Speaker 1: that it was unconstitutional for the state of Texas to 424 00:23:37,359 --> 00:23:41,400 Speaker 1: regulate an ancestral art form, and it's unconstitutional for them 425 00:23:41,440 --> 00:23:44,240 Speaker 1: to require Isis to become a full fledged barbaran college 426 00:23:44,440 --> 00:23:46,479 Speaker 1: before they'll give her permission to run a natural hair 427 00:23:46,520 --> 00:23:50,879 Speaker 1: school in her own community. Snaps for that. That is 428 00:23:50,920 --> 00:23:54,320 Speaker 1: amazing And I do think in this case we can 429 00:23:54,359 --> 00:23:59,439 Speaker 1: look to Texas for inspiring stories of regulation gone right on. 430 00:24:00,920 --> 00:24:03,840 Speaker 1: Shout out to all our Texas listeners. What I think 431 00:24:04,000 --> 00:24:07,880 Speaker 1: is really interesting is the use of the word ancestral 432 00:24:08,320 --> 00:24:12,600 Speaker 1: art which adds that sort of aspect of cultural identity. 433 00:24:12,880 --> 00:24:16,600 Speaker 1: Here and Brantley herself talked about how the crackdown on 434 00:24:16,640 --> 00:24:21,040 Speaker 1: hair braiding was really an attack on black identity when 435 00:24:21,080 --> 00:24:25,080 Speaker 1: speaking to NPR, African hair was enslaved in this country. 436 00:24:25,160 --> 00:24:28,919 Speaker 1: It was removed from American social systems. We weren't allowed 437 00:24:28,960 --> 00:24:31,359 Speaker 1: to be seen in public with afros and twists and 438 00:24:31,440 --> 00:24:34,280 Speaker 1: locks and braids. You could not go anywhere. And if 439 00:24:34,320 --> 00:24:37,040 Speaker 1: you look at the industry today and look at them, 440 00:24:37,480 --> 00:24:40,560 Speaker 1: the workforce, people cannot go to work look in a 441 00:24:40,600 --> 00:24:44,040 Speaker 1: certain kind of way if it's too ethnic. Children are 442 00:24:44,119 --> 00:24:47,600 Speaker 1: being forced not to wear afropuffs to schools and coin 443 00:24:47,720 --> 00:24:52,440 Speaker 1: roads to schools, So it's an attack on African identity. 444 00:24:52,520 --> 00:24:56,440 Speaker 1: That's what I see. The cosmetology industry wasn't designed hundreds 445 00:24:56,520 --> 00:24:59,679 Speaker 1: of years ago. It wasn't created with African hair in 446 00:24:59,720 --> 00:25:03,800 Speaker 1: my you know, it was created for the people who 447 00:25:03,960 --> 00:25:06,600 Speaker 1: enjoy the industry. Now we don't have a place in 448 00:25:06,600 --> 00:25:10,360 Speaker 1: that industry. So it's all about culture. That's what I'm 449 00:25:10,359 --> 00:25:14,440 Speaker 1: saying this, our culture. African hair is the last thing 450 00:25:14,520 --> 00:25:20,160 Speaker 1: that's enslaved on African people. African people with African hair 451 00:25:20,720 --> 00:25:26,199 Speaker 1: who know more about African hair ship govern their own industry. 452 00:25:26,560 --> 00:25:29,680 Speaker 1: Hell yeah, I could not agree more. You know, hair 453 00:25:29,720 --> 00:25:31,600 Speaker 1: braiding has been in my family forever. If you look 454 00:25:31,640 --> 00:25:33,399 Speaker 1: at pictures of me when I was a kid, my 455 00:25:33,400 --> 00:25:35,719 Speaker 1: hair was pretty much always in brain. Can we have 456 00:25:35,760 --> 00:25:39,200 Speaker 1: those in the shadows please? Bridget, I want to see 457 00:25:39,200 --> 00:25:41,080 Speaker 1: a baby bridget. You can see some baby bridget. Well, 458 00:25:41,119 --> 00:25:43,200 Speaker 1: we'll show you some baby braided bridget where I look 459 00:25:43,280 --> 00:25:45,560 Speaker 1: like I look like an extra from the show Moesia. 460 00:25:47,960 --> 00:25:50,040 Speaker 1: But yeah, I mean I love that she talks about 461 00:25:50,040 --> 00:25:53,320 Speaker 1: the way that this is inherent to African American and 462 00:25:53,400 --> 00:25:56,879 Speaker 1: African cultural expression and that a crackdown on that is 463 00:25:56,880 --> 00:26:00,600 Speaker 1: not just a crackdown on on the economic aspect of that, 464 00:26:00,640 --> 00:26:02,720 Speaker 1: which it certainly is, but it's also cracked down on 465 00:26:02,760 --> 00:26:05,000 Speaker 1: the cultural aspect of it. And she goes on to 466 00:26:05,080 --> 00:26:09,520 Speaker 1: also make the case that her victory, beyond the cultural significance, 467 00:26:09,880 --> 00:26:12,400 Speaker 1: is a win for black economic liberty. It's a win 468 00:26:12,520 --> 00:26:16,160 Speaker 1: for entrepreneurship and a chance for Braids to come out 469 00:26:16,200 --> 00:26:20,400 Speaker 1: of the shadows and develop their full potential as business owners. 470 00:26:20,680 --> 00:26:24,280 Speaker 1: When speaking with Cosmopolitan, Brantley talked about the fact that 471 00:26:24,520 --> 00:26:29,600 Speaker 1: this victory brings those entrepreneurs out of the shadows. She says, 472 00:26:29,640 --> 00:26:32,639 Speaker 1: many women instead of hiding and having to practice their 473 00:26:32,680 --> 00:26:35,000 Speaker 1: craft and run their business and their kitchen or at 474 00:26:35,040 --> 00:26:39,360 Speaker 1: home or risk having their doors kicked in by police 475 00:26:39,840 --> 00:26:43,240 Speaker 1: who have come to those apartments to arrest them for 476 00:26:43,520 --> 00:26:46,879 Speaker 1: violating the law. Now those women have a vehicle through 477 00:26:46,880 --> 00:26:52,040 Speaker 1: which to legally pursue their enterprise. So this is a 478 00:26:52,119 --> 00:26:56,159 Speaker 1: huge victory for those entrepreneurs. This is definitely progress, but 479 00:26:56,200 --> 00:26:59,840 Speaker 1: also is this is a businesswoman who has been cra 480 00:27:00,280 --> 00:27:02,760 Speaker 1: down on for the better part of the last twenty 481 00:27:02,800 --> 00:27:06,960 Speaker 1: plus years. Having won this long drawn out legal battle 482 00:27:07,119 --> 00:27:10,040 Speaker 1: must feel great. But it also is like this woman 483 00:27:10,119 --> 00:27:13,600 Speaker 1: has five children who she's supported somehow by scraping her 484 00:27:13,640 --> 00:27:19,080 Speaker 1: way through running uh pseudo legal not so legal business 485 00:27:19,119 --> 00:27:23,280 Speaker 1: to fight to make this regulation better. Now she's there, 486 00:27:23,840 --> 00:27:25,719 Speaker 1: how does she stiring it all together? How does she 487 00:27:25,880 --> 00:27:28,560 Speaker 1: bounce back from that? And of course this is a 488 00:27:28,680 --> 00:27:31,520 Speaker 1: victory for her and other hairbraiders, but it's not like 489 00:27:31,560 --> 00:27:34,480 Speaker 1: she's starting out at an equal place after having been 490 00:27:34,680 --> 00:27:37,600 Speaker 1: cracked down on and pushed out of business for twenty years, 491 00:27:37,760 --> 00:27:39,960 Speaker 1: spending a lot of her money on lawyers and legal 492 00:27:40,040 --> 00:27:42,239 Speaker 1: peas and all of that. I mean, I bet it's 493 00:27:42,240 --> 00:27:45,560 Speaker 1: almost like a bittersweet victory for her. Yeah, because now 494 00:27:46,040 --> 00:27:50,359 Speaker 1: she has the opportunity to go be a successful business center. 495 00:27:50,440 --> 00:27:52,600 Speaker 1: That's it. I think what she really won here is 496 00:27:52,880 --> 00:27:56,240 Speaker 1: equal opportunity to pursue her enterprise. But that does not 497 00:27:56,400 --> 00:28:00,080 Speaker 1: mean that running a business or any business really is 498 00:28:00,119 --> 00:28:02,440 Speaker 1: an easy thing. And I can attest to that exactly. 499 00:28:02,600 --> 00:28:04,280 Speaker 1: And one other thing I just wanted to say while 500 00:28:04,320 --> 00:28:05,959 Speaker 1: we're talking about this is I don't want to make 501 00:28:05,960 --> 00:28:08,480 Speaker 1: it seem like if you are braiding hair or doing 502 00:28:08,520 --> 00:28:10,600 Speaker 1: hair in your kitchen and taking money under the table 503 00:28:10,760 --> 00:28:13,840 Speaker 1: that you're somehow not doing like that. I don't want 504 00:28:13,840 --> 00:28:16,600 Speaker 1: to sound judgmental around that, because that's certainly the situation 505 00:28:16,720 --> 00:28:18,720 Speaker 1: with the person who does my hair. But I think 506 00:28:18,720 --> 00:28:20,239 Speaker 1: that if you want to be able to come out 507 00:28:20,280 --> 00:28:23,199 Speaker 1: of the shadows and be a full member of the 508 00:28:23,520 --> 00:28:25,879 Speaker 1: your local economic community, you should be able to have 509 00:28:25,960 --> 00:28:28,399 Speaker 1: that right. And so it's definitely something to look into 510 00:28:28,480 --> 00:28:31,760 Speaker 1: with your Chamber of Commerce or your I guess in 511 00:28:31,840 --> 00:28:34,000 Speaker 1: d C is the d c R a like regulatory 512 00:28:34,040 --> 00:28:39,000 Speaker 1: affairs and go talk to the small business resources like 513 00:28:39,080 --> 00:28:42,520 Speaker 1: the Small Business Association and enquire about how your state 514 00:28:42,560 --> 00:28:45,640 Speaker 1: measures up to Texas. Or Texas has now made it 515 00:28:45,720 --> 00:28:48,200 Speaker 1: much more appealing I think for hairbraiders to open their 516 00:28:48,240 --> 00:28:50,520 Speaker 1: business there. Yeah, so if you're a hair braider, maybe 517 00:28:50,560 --> 00:28:54,600 Speaker 1: go to Texas. So what's been happening with I believe 518 00:28:54,640 --> 00:28:57,840 Speaker 1: she her website is naturally isis dot com. What's been 519 00:28:57,840 --> 00:28:59,800 Speaker 1: happening with ices Brandley? Well, as much as we just 520 00:29:00,160 --> 00:29:02,200 Speaker 1: this entire episode talking about how great she is and 521 00:29:02,280 --> 00:29:04,480 Speaker 1: how courageous she is, I would be remissed and not 522 00:29:04,600 --> 00:29:06,360 Speaker 1: mentioned that she did get in a little bit of 523 00:29:06,400 --> 00:29:10,040 Speaker 1: hot Water. Last year, she was putting together a natural 524 00:29:10,080 --> 00:29:14,120 Speaker 1: hair rally and she booked Rachel Dolezel to headline this 525 00:29:14,280 --> 00:29:17,560 Speaker 1: rally to a lot of outcry. And y'all already know 526 00:29:17,600 --> 00:29:20,280 Speaker 1: if you listen to our other episode around hair, you 527 00:29:20,280 --> 00:29:23,000 Speaker 1: already know I have very strong feelings about miss dolls 528 00:29:23,160 --> 00:29:28,640 Speaker 1: l but I have to say her hair always looked great. 529 00:29:28,360 --> 00:29:31,560 Speaker 1: Point after the whole thing happened with her getting losing 530 00:29:31,560 --> 00:29:34,120 Speaker 1: her job and losing her teaching job, she said that 531 00:29:34,120 --> 00:29:36,600 Speaker 1: she was sustaining herself by braiding hair out of her apartment, 532 00:29:36,720 --> 00:29:38,800 Speaker 1: which I gotta say, I mean, she knew what she 533 00:29:38,840 --> 00:29:42,600 Speaker 1: was doing, right, I mean, is problematic, but yes, it's 534 00:29:42,640 --> 00:29:46,480 Speaker 1: part of the contention. That is everything about Rachel Dolls 535 00:29:46,520 --> 00:29:49,360 Speaker 1: All which all of our listeners really had some mixed 536 00:29:49,480 --> 00:29:52,680 Speaker 1: feelings and feedback on. For us, I remember it was 537 00:29:52,720 --> 00:29:55,960 Speaker 1: an interesting debate. So I'm excited to hear what you'll 538 00:29:55,960 --> 00:29:58,360 Speaker 1: think about how she fits into this picture. And so 539 00:29:58,440 --> 00:30:01,640 Speaker 1: it's it's clear that I teaching other people to braid 540 00:30:01,840 --> 00:30:04,000 Speaker 1: has definitely been a big part of how she's moved 541 00:30:04,040 --> 00:30:05,840 Speaker 1: forward with her business. And you can check her out 542 00:30:06,080 --> 00:30:09,440 Speaker 1: and naturally dot com um where I'm looking at her website. 543 00:30:09,520 --> 00:30:12,160 Speaker 1: Right now, she's got classes. You can book yourself to 544 00:30:12,200 --> 00:30:16,440 Speaker 1: go get that natural hair certification. UM. It's a big 545 00:30:16,480 --> 00:30:19,880 Speaker 1: part of how she's empowering others economically, which I think 546 00:30:19,920 --> 00:30:24,080 Speaker 1: she's lifting as what is lift she's lifting as she climbs, 547 00:30:24,120 --> 00:30:25,719 Speaker 1: which is one of our one of our little mottos 548 00:30:25,760 --> 00:30:28,640 Speaker 1: here at stuff Told you So, sminty listeners, we want 549 00:30:28,640 --> 00:30:30,240 Speaker 1: to hear from you. What do you think of this 550 00:30:30,320 --> 00:30:32,960 Speaker 1: braiding saga? Is this news to you? Do you braid 551 00:30:33,040 --> 00:30:35,480 Speaker 1: hair out of your apartment? Who does your hair? Have 552 00:30:35,560 --> 00:30:37,960 Speaker 1: you ever thought about how these things are regulated? Whatever 553 00:30:38,000 --> 00:30:39,840 Speaker 1: it is you want to hear from you, You can 554 00:30:39,880 --> 00:30:43,000 Speaker 1: tag us and all your hair Instagram photos on Instagram 555 00:30:43,000 --> 00:30:44,960 Speaker 1: at stuff mom ever told you? You can teat at 556 00:30:45,040 --> 00:30:47,360 Speaker 1: us at mom Stuff podcast, or send us an email 557 00:30:47,440 --> 00:31:01,000 Speaker 1: at mom stuff at how stuff works dot com