The CROWN ACt
I’m eternally grateful to have had the honor of representing The CROWN Coalition to help pass this landmark piece of anti-discrimination legislation. The Creating a Respectful and Open World for Natural hair (CROWN) Act expands racial discrimination protections so that Black women and men no longer have to fear losing employment, because they choose to rock their natural hair texture or wear locs, braids, or twists. It also prevents schools from disrupting a child’s education because of the way they wear their hair.
In our tireless effort to make California the first state to sign The CROWN Act into law, we were able to undue decades of legalized discrimination; however, despite these great strides, race-based hair discrimination remains unsettled under federal law. Please put some uplifting energy into continued efforts to get this legislation signed into law in other states and at the federal level.
“What happens in California can easily spread across the country," said Leah Barros, a lobbyist hired by the CROWN Coalition to advocate for the bill's passage in California. "It was passed in California with zero 'no' votes and bipartisan support. That was really important to set the foundation for this law to spread to other state legislatures." The full article can be viewed here.
To learn more about hair discrimination & The CROWN Act, read this Washington Post Article
You can show support by signing The CROWN Act petition:
THE SILENCED NO MORE ACT
The Silenced No More Act allows workers to speak out about racism, harassment, and other workplace abuse by preventing employers from enforcing nondisclosure agreements and non-disparagement clauses against reports of discrimination and harassment.
A good example of how this plays out in the real world can be seen in what my client, Ifeoma Ozoma, experienced as a former public policy executive at Pinterest. During her time there she experienced sex based and racial discrimination. She reported these unlawful acts and, as a result, she was pushed out of the company and forced to sign a nondisclosure agreement. Based on current law at at the time, she was able to talk about the sex based discrimination, but was prohibited from talking about the racial discrimination. You can imagine the internal struggle this caused her by having to walk the tightrope between identities: sex and race. In the end, she chose to face the hierarchy of identities head on by breaking her NDA.
With getting this bill signed into law we were able to affect meaningful change in the workplace so that workers are now able to speak out about their experiences and hold those in power accountable to their actions.
Our team worked closely with the Department of Fair Employment and Housing and was able to successfully negotiate amendments with a powerful business organization that came out in early opposition. As a result of this close collaboration, powerful coalition building, and good old fashioned hard work, we were able to pass this historic bill that has received national and international press. The language of the Silenced No More Act has been used to guide corporations and tech companies across the nation to become more equitable.
To learn more about The Silenced No More Act, read this article in The Guardian
To learn more about the work Ifeoma Ozoma is doing to help protect tech workers, please check out her website: the Tech Whistleblower Handbook.
No Place For Hate
Over the past two years, Stop AAPI Hate received reports of over 11,000 hate incidents Nationwide with 4,000 of those happening in California. Of these incidents, almost two-thirds were verbal harassment and about three-quarters occurred in publicly accessible spaces — on the street, public transit, and in businesses. In response to this, my client Chinese for Affirmative Action (as co-founders of Stop AAPI Hate) sponsored “No Place for Hate,” a policy package that addresses hate and harm in Asian American Pacific Islander Communities. As a part of this package, we successfully advocated for the passage and signing of two foundational bills into law: one requires the Mineta Transportation Institute to develop a survey tool for transit operators to administer and develop data-driven initiatives to help prevent street harassment in public transit systems. The other promotes the safety and well-being of customers at businesses through a first-of-its-kind pilot program recognizing businesses that take tangible steps to create environments free from discrimination and harassment.
With the dramatic increase in hate crimes it was important for us to persevere through the legislative roadblocks, countless hours working with stakeholders, and time spent neutralizing potential opposition. These new laws set a strong foundation for more meaningful and robust safety solutions for women and people of color across the state.
To learn more about No Place For Hate, read this article in The San Francisco Chronicle
To report a hate incident or learn more about Stop AAPI Hate, please check out their website: