It’s Not Just Hair: New Orleans CROWN Act Is A First For The Deep South But, Advocates Hope, Just The Beginning

 ========= Old Image Removed =========Array
(
    [_wp_attached_file] => Array
        (
            [0] => 2021/01/Nia_Weeks-e1611944202238.jpg
        )

    [_wp_attachment_metadata] => Array
        (
            [0] => a:5:{s:5:"width";i:2000;s:6:"height";i:1125;s:4:"file";s:36:"2021/01/Nia_Weeks-e1611944202238.jpg";s:5:"sizes";a:18:{s:6:"medium";a:4:{s:4:"file";s:36:"Nia_Weeks-e1611944202238-336x189.jpg";s:5:"width";i:336;s:6:"height";i:189;s:9:"mime-type";s:10:"image/jpeg";}s:5:"large";a:4:{s:4:"file";s:36:"Nia_Weeks-e1611944202238-771x434.jpg";s:5:"width";i:771;s:6:"height";i:434;s:9:"mime-type";s:10:"image/jpeg";}s:9:"thumbnail";a:4:{s:4:"file";s:36:"Nia_Weeks-e1611944202238-140x140.jpg";s:5:"width";i:140;s:6:"height";i:140;s:9:"mime-type";s:10:"image/jpeg";}s:12:"medium_large";a:4:{s:4:"file";s:36:"Nia_Weeks-e1611944202238-768x432.jpg";s:5:"width";i:768;s:6:"height";i:432;s:9:"mime-type";s:10:"image/jpeg";}s:9:"1536x1536";a:4:{s:4:"file";s:37:"Nia_Weeks-e1611944202238-1536x864.jpg";s:5:"width";i:1536;s:6:"height";i:864;s:9:"mime-type";s:10:"image/jpeg";}s:9:"wbhm-icon";a:4:{s:4:"file";s:34:"Nia_Weeks-e1611944202238-80x80.jpg";s:5:"width";i:80;s:6:"height";i:80;s:9:"mime-type";s:10:"image/jpeg";}s:13:"wbhm-featured";a:4:{s:4:"file";s:36:"Nia_Weeks-e1611944202238-800x450.jpg";s:5:"width";i:800;s:6:"height";i:450;s:9:"mime-type";s:10:"image/jpeg";}s:20:"wbhm-featured-square";a:4:{s:4:"file";s:36:"Nia_Weeks-e1611944202238-600x600.jpg";s:5:"width";i:600;s:6:"height";i:600;s:9:"mime-type";s:10:"image/jpeg";}s:18:"wbhm-featured-home";a:4:{s:4:"file";s:36:"Nia_Weeks-e1611944202238-553x311.jpg";s:5:"width";i:553;s:6:"height";i:311;s:9:"mime-type";s:10:"image/jpeg";}s:22:"wbhm-featured-carousel";a:4:{s:4:"file";s:36:"Nia_Weeks-e1611944202238-470x265.jpg";s:5:"width";i:470;s:6:"height";i:265;s:9:"mime-type";s:10:"image/jpeg";}s:28:"gb-block-post-grid-landscape";a:4:{s:4:"file";s:36:"Nia_Weeks-e1611944202238-600x400.jpg";s:5:"width";i:600;s:6:"height";i:400;s:9:"mime-type";s:10:"image/jpeg";}s:25:"gb-block-post-grid-square";a:4:{s:4:"file";s:36:"Nia_Weeks-e1611944202238-600x600.jpg";s:5:"width";i:600;s:6:"height";i:600;s:9:"mime-type";s:10:"image/jpeg";}s:14:"post-thumbnail";a:4:{s:4:"file";s:36:"Nia_Weeks-e1611944202238-125x125.jpg";s:5:"width";i:125;s:6:"height";i:125;s:9:"mime-type";s:10:"image/jpeg";}s:27:"web-stories-poster-portrait";a:4:{s:4:"file";s:36:"Nia_Weeks-e1611944202238-640x853.jpg";s:5:"width";i:640;s:6:"height";i:853;s:9:"mime-type";s:10:"image/jpeg";}s:28:"web-stories-poster-landscape";a:4:{s:4:"file";s:36:"Nia_Weeks-e1611944202238-853x640.jpg";s:5:"width";i:853;s:6:"height";i:640;s:9:"mime-type";s:10:"image/jpeg";}s:25:"web-stories-poster-square";a:4:{s:4:"file";s:36:"Nia_Weeks-e1611944202238-640x640.jpg";s:5:"width";i:640;s:6:"height";i:640;s:9:"mime-type";s:10:"image/jpeg";}s:26:"web-stories-publisher-logo";a:4:{s:4:"file";s:34:"Nia_Weeks-e1611944202238-96x96.jpg";s:5:"width";i:96;s:6:"height";i:96;s:9:"mime-type";s:10:"image/jpeg";}s:21:"web-stories-thumbnail";a:4:{s:4:"file";s:35:"Nia_Weeks-e1611944202238-150x84.jpg";s:5:"width";i:150;s:6:"height";i:84;s:9:"mime-type";s:10:"image/jpeg";}}s:10:"image_meta";a:12:{s:8:"aperture";s:1:"0";s:6:"credit";s:0:"";s:6:"camera";s:0:"";s:7:"caption";s:0:"";s:17:"created_timestamp";s:1:"0";s:9:"copyright";s:0:"";s:12:"focal_length";s:1:"0";s:3:"iso";s:1:"0";s:13:"shutter_speed";s:1:"0";s:5:"title";s:0:"";s:11:"orientation";s:1:"0";s:8:"keywords";a:0:{}}}
        )

    [_media_credit] => Array
        (
            [0] => Phoebe Jones
        )

    [_navis_media_credit_org] => Array
        (
            [0] => WWNO
        )

    [_navis_media_can_distribute] => Array
        (
            [0] => 
        )

    [_wp_attachment_backup_sizes] => Array
        (
            [0] => a:19:{s:9:"full-orig";a:3:{s:5:"width";i:2000;s:6:"height";i:1333;s:4:"file";s:13:"Nia_Weeks.jpg";}s:14:"thumbnail-orig";a:4:{s:4:"file";s:21:"Nia_Weeks-140x140.jpg";s:5:"width";i:140;s:6:"height";i:140;s:9:"mime-type";s:10:"image/jpeg";}s:11:"medium-orig";a:4:{s:4:"file";s:21:"Nia_Weeks-336x224.jpg";s:5:"width";i:336;s:6:"height";i:224;s:9:"mime-type";s:10:"image/jpeg";}s:17:"medium_large-orig";a:4:{s:4:"file";s:21:"Nia_Weeks-768x512.jpg";s:5:"width";i:768;s:6:"height";i:512;s:9:"mime-type";s:10:"image/jpeg";}s:10:"large-orig";a:4:{s:4:"file";s:21:"Nia_Weeks-771x514.jpg";s:5:"width";i:771;s:6:"height";i:514;s:9:"mime-type";s:10:"image/jpeg";}s:14:"1536x1536-orig";a:4:{s:4:"file";s:23:"Nia_Weeks-1536x1024.jpg";s:5:"width";i:1536;s:6:"height";i:1024;s:9:"mime-type";s:10:"image/jpeg";}s:14:"wbhm-icon-orig";a:4:{s:4:"file";s:19:"Nia_Weeks-80x80.jpg";s:5:"width";i:80;s:6:"height";i:80;s:9:"mime-type";s:10:"image/jpeg";}s:18:"wbhm-featured-orig";a:4:{s:4:"file";s:21:"Nia_Weeks-800x450.jpg";s:5:"width";i:800;s:6:"height";i:450;s:9:"mime-type";s:10:"image/jpeg";}s:25:"wbhm-featured-square-orig";a:4:{s:4:"file";s:21:"Nia_Weeks-600x600.jpg";s:5:"width";i:600;s:6:"height";i:600;s:9:"mime-type";s:10:"image/jpeg";}s:23:"wbhm-featured-home-orig";a:4:{s:4:"file";s:21:"Nia_Weeks-467x311.jpg";s:5:"width";i:467;s:6:"height";i:311;s:9:"mime-type";s:10:"image/jpeg";}s:27:"wbhm-featured-carousel-orig";a:4:{s:4:"file";s:21:"Nia_Weeks-398x265.jpg";s:5:"width";i:398;s:6:"height";i:265;s:9:"mime-type";s:10:"image/jpeg";}s:33:"gb-block-post-grid-landscape-orig";a:4:{s:4:"file";s:21:"Nia_Weeks-600x400.jpg";s:5:"width";i:600;s:6:"height";i:400;s:9:"mime-type";s:10:"image/jpeg";}s:30:"gb-block-post-grid-square-orig";a:4:{s:4:"file";s:21:"Nia_Weeks-600x600.jpg";s:5:"width";i:600;s:6:"height";i:600;s:9:"mime-type";s:10:"image/jpeg";}s:19:"post-thumbnail-orig";a:4:{s:4:"file";s:21:"Nia_Weeks-125x125.jpg";s:5:"width";i:125;s:6:"height";i:125;s:9:"mime-type";s:10:"image/jpeg";}s:32:"web-stories-poster-portrait-orig";a:4:{s:4:"file";s:21:"Nia_Weeks-640x853.jpg";s:5:"width";i:640;s:6:"height";i:853;s:9:"mime-type";s:10:"image/jpeg";}s:33:"web-stories-poster-landscape-orig";a:4:{s:4:"file";s:21:"Nia_Weeks-853x640.jpg";s:5:"width";i:853;s:6:"height";i:640;s:9:"mime-type";s:10:"image/jpeg";}s:30:"web-stories-poster-square-orig";a:4:{s:4:"file";s:21:"Nia_Weeks-640x640.jpg";s:5:"width";i:640;s:6:"height";i:640;s:9:"mime-type";s:10:"image/jpeg";}s:31:"web-stories-publisher-logo-orig";a:4:{s:4:"file";s:19:"Nia_Weeks-96x96.jpg";s:5:"width";i:96;s:6:"height";i:96;s:9:"mime-type";s:10:"image/jpeg";}s:26:"web-stories-thumbnail-orig";a:4:{s:4:"file";s:21:"Nia_Weeks-150x100.jpg";s:5:"width";i:150;s:6:"height";i:100;s:9:"mime-type";s:10:"image/jpeg";}}
        )

)
1653424128 
1611922814

New Orleans attorney Nia Weeks remembers the concerned comments she received from older Black women when she decided to grow locs three years ago.

“You can’t go into a court with locs. No one’s gonna hire you,” they told her.

At its last meeting in 2020, New Orleans City Council made a move to address those worries when it passed the C.R.O.W.N. Act Ordinance, which prohibits race-based hair discrimination, including the denial of employment and housing because of hair texture or protective hairstyles like braids, dreadlocks and bantu knots.

C.R.O.W.N. is an acronym for Creating a Respectful and Open World for Natural Hair. The C.R.O.W.N. Study, by cosmetic company Dove, revealed Black women are 80 percent more likely to change their hair to fit social norms and workplace expectations. Those changes often include straightening their hair with extreme heat or harsh chemical relaxers.

While Birmingham passed a resolution to recognize July 3 as National C.R.O.W.N. Day last summer, New Orleans was the first municipality in the Deep South to adopt a C.R.O.W.N. Act.

“It was the best Christmas present that I could have even thought of giving to Black women. It was a love letter and a thank you in action,” Weeks said. “Black women are not a monolith, but our hair and the experiences, the prejudice that we experience, is a unified issue, regardless of age, demographics, geography [and] socioeconomic status.”

At about 38 and 32 percent respectively, the Black populations in Mississippi and Louisiana make up a larger proportion of the population than in any other state. Still, race-based hair discrimination persists in these states, creating barriers to employment and education and to freedoms that others take for granted.

Read the full story from our partners at WWNO here.

This story was produced by the Gulf States Newsroom, a collaboration between Mississippi Public BroadcastingWBHM in Birmingham, Alabama, WWNO in New Orleans and NPR.

 

Americans are warned as latest DMV phishing scam targets phones

Your state DMV probably won't text you about unpaid fees — but scammers will.

By the numbers: A look at international students at Harvard and across the U.S.

The latest criticism from the Trump administration of Harvard University highlighted the number of international students entering the United States each year for higher education.

A hike on Cerro San Cristobal with stunning views of the Chilean Andes

Cerro San Cristobal in the heart of Chile's capital offers stunning views of wildflowers, pine forests and the soaring Andes.

Justice Department cuts to public safety grants leave police and nonprofits scrambling

Hundreds of public safety grants cut, worth $500 million, funded initiatives like drug treatment and gun violence prevention programs.

Opinion: Cheers to a life well lived

Character actor George Wendt was known to a generation as Norm, the beleaguered, lovable everyman on the sitcom Cheers. He died this week at the age of 76.

Trump’s debunked ‘burial site’ video reopens ‘wounds,’ says victim’s son

Trump's misleading video of a 'burial site' for white South African farmers reopened 'new wounds,' victim's son tells NPR.

More Front Page Coverage