Minneapolis celebrates 1st anniversary of CROWN Act banning hair discrimination

Hair stylists, barbers and members of the public were finally able to celebrate the 2023 passage of the CROWN Act into Minnesota law, after a snowstorm canceled last year's planned celebration.

The law provides protection against race-based hair discrimination in the workplace and in K-12 public and charter schools.

The Rock Your Crown event Wednesday in the Minneapolis Public Services Building celebrated hair, the Black community, and the first anniversary of the law.

“Hair provides a unique space for the Black community to come to connect, relax, socialize, and breathe,” said Anthony Taylor, community engagement manager with the Department of Neighborhood and Community Relations.

Taylor said Black beauty salons and barber shops are the heart and soul of the Black community. He said as a kid, he'd walk ten blocks to the barber shop.

“Mind you, I did not have an appointment. Right? But they knew I was coming every two weeks. And I sat there and I soaked up every conversation that was happening in the barber shop. Beauty salons the same way,” he said.

Rock Your Crown, organized by the City of Minneapolis and the Hennepin County Employees Collaboration, celebrated the CROWN Act. The law's name is an acronym for “Creating a Respectful and Open World for Natural Hair.”

Minnesota Senate President Bobby Joe Champion, DFL-Minneapolis, explained the need for the CROWN Act. 

“If you want to wear locks, you could wear locks, or braids, anything as it pertains to your natural hair. And you might think that, why would you have to have a law about that? Because do you not know at one time, they would tell you that you had to wear your hair straight or closer to the majority community,” he told the gathered audience.

“We wanted to make sure that individuals could go to work and be in their natural state, no matter, not just African American, just other cultures as well,” he said.

The law, which is included in the Minnesota Human Rights Act, is about more than hair, Champion said.

"It's really about dignity. So that you can feel respected, and so that your humanity will be respected,” he said.

Ruby Tolbert, a Hennepin County employee, learned about the event a day before and made sure to attend.

“For so many of us African-American women, our beauty is tied to our hair. We wear braids, we have relaxers or natural or extensions and all of it's beautiful,” she said. “And it's just about embracing every part of you.”

Rock Your Crown was the last city-sponsored Black History Month event of the year.