VOICE FOR EVERYONE | Share your voice with KSHB 41’s Leslie DelasBour
For many African Americans, hair is not just hair, it’s a crown that won't fall.
That's especially true after history was made Tuesday night in Lawrence.
Lawrence City Commissioners passed Ordinance 10003, which allows natural hair or protective styles to be welcomed in the community.
“That was not a performative vote, that was a vote of a community sharing what it means to be seen and what opportunities can be afforded with good, sound policy,” said Lawrence City Commissioner Amber Sellers. "It opens up businesses and individuals to say my wealth and my worth is not tied to my hair.”
Sellers said the ordinance has layers of meaning that make its passage important.
“We are doing something that elevates blackness, but elevates it in a sense of who we are in the identity to this community, to the country, to this state,” Sellers said.
Many African Americans have twisted or straightened their hair to conform to societal standards, Sellers and others who spoke with KSHB 41 said.
“I’ve experienced the unsolicited judgment about my hair, critiques about my hair over process. I’ve transitioned because of standards that I needed to conform to.” Sellers said.
Now unraveling what had been locked up, Donnavan Dillon with Loud Light says there is now a true appreciation of natural hair in all spaces for people like him
“ I can like embrace my culture and my identity and wear my hair the way I want, but will I get that promotion? Will they see me as serious or like a candidate for this race?” Dillon said.
Breanna Bell, co-founder of Prestige Hair Studio and founder of Curlology, said the passing of this ordinance now eliminates tough conversations she has to have with her clients about wearing their natural hair in the workplace.
“When someone comes in and says,'Hey, I’m in a space where I am the only minority, but I want to be successful in the field.' You have that choice to select it and to do it,” Bell said.
Sellers said the passage of the ordinance sends a clear message to the community.
“Often times little black girls and little black boys have to dim their light and often times their lights are dimmed for them, but I would tell them, 'Keep shining bright, keep shining bright.'”
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