For too long, many Pennsylvanians have faced discrimination simply for hairstyles that reflect their identity and culture — that ends today,” Governor Josh Shapiro said when he signed Pennsylvania’s version of the CROWN Act. The CROWN Act stands for creating a respectful and open world for natural hair, and it will officially go into effect on January 24.

Kyra Taylor, the executive director of Erie’s Black Wall Street, believes that when someone is allowed to be their true, authentic selves, they can show up more confidently. While she currently rocks her crown with locks, she recalls a time when she felt obligated to straighten her hair and told us that even her child has experienced the same pressure to conform, “My daughter, who has had her own problems with her hair and people discriminating against her hair and she’s only six. She wanted to get locks just like mommy and when she went to school, she was made fun of,” Taylor said, giving an example of how hair discrimination can happen even with children.

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“I think that the way that our hair grows out of our heads as afros, and kinky and curly textures, has been made political just because of the ability of what it can do,” she said, expressing appreciation for her hair. She hopes that this new legislation will reduce hair-based discrimination not only in professional settings but also in day-to-day life.

Tenay Taylor, a building manager and the CEO of Pretty Security LLC, told us that she was taught never to wear her natural hair in a professional setting. I was told that my hair was the wrong hair to have. So, if I wanted this profession, I would have to trade in my natural hair for a perm. And I was even told that by black professors,” Taylor said, recalling her college years when she aspired to be an anchorwoman. “I was taught in a professional world that locs aren’t professional, and they aren’t elegant. So, when I had something professional to go to, a job interview, a gala, I would wear wigs,” she told us. The first time that she felt comfortable wearing her natural hair in a formal setting was at a gala in 2024. She compared covering her hair to covering her heritage.

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The CROWN Act will provide protection against the discrimination of hairstyles such as braids, locs, and afros at work and school. Pennsylvania is the 28th state to adopt this kind of legislation

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