Business

Hair braiding bill represents ‘new narrative’ at legislature

MINNESOTA SPOKESMAN-RECORDER — Minnesota’s record ethnic diversity at the State Capitol — including African American, Somali American, Asian American and Hispanic or Latino representation — has given legislators of color a boost when it comes to creating new perspectives on policy change.

Published

7 years ago

May 3, 2019

Oakland Post

By Stephenetta (isis) Harmon

Minnesota’s record ethnic diversity at the State Capitol — including African American, Somali American, Asian American and Hispanic or Latino representation — has given legislators of color a boost when it comes to creating new perspectives on policy change.

Local leaders like Rep. Rena Moran (DFL-Minneapolis) have hit the ground running, with 19 people of color in the House, in ensuring issues related to people of color are not only heard, but are addressed via legislation.

“When we are able to bring in our expertise and our experience to these conversations,” said Moran, “we begin to see policies that create different practices than what we have seen in the past.”

In February, she teamed with Sen. Jeff Hayden to introduce the African American Family Preservation and Child Welfare Disproportionality Act (HF142) to help keep Black youth from being displaced from their homes due to racial bias.

“The number of our [African American] kids who have been removed from their homes and from their parents and not being placed with relatives and put in homes with strangers is alarming,” Moran told the MSR. “They are away from their communities, their schools, sometimes even their siblings. This has a huge impact on not only our community, but it has an impact on how our children are developing.

“They are not feeling connected to their community or loved,” continued Moran, “so they go into these new homes and it shows up in the school. And now they are being diagnosed or placed in special ed, getting medication, or are being funneled into the youth detention centers. We’re not recognizing their trauma. We’re not recognizing and valuing the family preservation — the foundation for us as Black people.”

She authored another bill (HF554) that was approved in April to help parents directly seek to re-establish parental rights and reduce barriers for parents who lost rights for non-egregious harm. “Kids should not be lingering in foster care, and the State should never be in the business of trying to raise our kids.”

Black hair economics

Now she’s taking on Black hair and entrepreneurship via a bill (HF140) to repeal cosmetology registration requirements for braiders. Hair braiding, an art that goes back thousands of years, has been a hot-button topic across the country. While most cosmetology programs don’t teach the skill, many states require a cosmetology license to legally practice it.

Those licensure requirements include upwards of 2,000 hours of education and thousands of dollars in fees to acquire. Women have been fined tens of thousands of dollars and even jailed for braiding without it. This has led to 26 states, North Dakota most recently, ending licensing requirements for hair braiders, according to the Institute for Justice.

While Minnesota has one of the more lenient requirements — 30 hours of service — Moran hopes to repeal yet another barrier for Black women to become entrepreneurs. “It’s not like Louisiana that requires 500 hours, but we want to make sure that we are not creating mandates that are getting in the way of Black women being business owners,” said Moran.

“And, we know that in the state of Minnesota, we have less women who are business owners. We also know Black women are making somewhere near 65 cents to the dollar, as compared to a White woman making 80 cents to the dollar of their White male counterpart, who is making the whole dollar.”

Braiding, Moran said, should be “a job creator for Black women.” Instead, “Having a policy in place that states you have to have so many hours of specialty licensing for hair braiders is just a job killer.”

“There is an extreme amount of fees,” she said, to obtain licensure. “It really is a barrier to women opening up a business. The more licensing, the more training hours that a state demands, the fewer braiders that we have.”

When asked about sanitation and health risks associated with hair styling, Moran said education shouldn’t be a prohibitive factor for licensure, noting it should be common practice. “It’s just a healthy thing to do to wash a comb before you use it on another person’s head or take note of a scalp issue. But that’s more of an educational piece that needs to take place,” she added. “There are ways to work with the [MN] Department of Health to get those basic type of safety criteria in place.”

She added that the biggest opposition, which she said has been minimal, has been centered on hair loss. “I have heard some women are losing the hair at the ends of their hair — around their edges. We know that does happen based on just the braiding, the texture of your hair, and how tight the braids can be,” Moran said. “But, is that something that needs to be regulated? I would say no.”

Amplifying POCI voices

Courtesy of Wikipedia

Conversations around hair may not seem crucial to mainstream populations that aren’t faced with everyday policing of their hair. The racial disparities are prevalent — from workplace policies against hairstyles to school mandates that get both students and parents locked out of school doors.

Moran is enthused to not only talk about this and other issues related to people of color, but also to have support from within to push through such legislation.

“It’s really important for me and the People of Color Indigenous (POCI) Caucus here to bring the voices of our community into this body so that we are creating and educating our colleagues through a race-conscious lens around social, racial, economic and environmental justice issues,” said Moran.

“We don’t need [non-POCI] to talk to us about our community. We have enough [POCI] here that we can do that, too, and have you just support and help lead on it. So this is one of those bills. This is just one of many that we are trying to move through this body.”

She credits the community for helping get her AAFP act into committee hearings. “The community has just shown up in really good numbers, and they have lent their voices and their stories that have been so impactful. In the House of Representatives, they gave 134 legislators a new narrative to look at when they look at our families and what is happening and how disproportionately our kids are being really put down a more punitive track while White families are getting the support that they need to get their kids connected to their families.”

Moran said she looks forward to similar support via email and letters when the braid repeal comes forth. The bill, which has received bipartisan support, is currently waiting to go into conference committee. She explained that the bill was part of a larger bill that was vetoed last year, but she is confident it will pass this session.

“It’s so important that we are leading the narrative about what is important for our community. We want to be on the front end. We want to be about planning and navigating [our stories].”

This article originally appeared in the Minnesota Spokesman-Recorder.

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Activism

Big God Ministry Gives Away Toys in Marin City

Pastor Hall also gave a message of encouragement to the crowd, thanking Jesus for the “best year of their lives.” He asked each of the children what they wanted to be when they grow up.

Published

2 days ago

December 29, 2025

Oakland Post

From top left: Pastor David Hall asking the children what they want to be when they grow up. Worship team Jake Monaghan, Ruby Friedman, and Keri Carpenter. Children lining up to receive their presents. Photos by Godfrey Lee.

By Godfrey Lee

Big God Ministries, pastored by David Hall, gave toys to the children in Marin City on Monday, Dec. 15, on the lawn near the corner of Drake Avenue and Donahue Street.

Pastor Hall also gave a message of encouragement to the crowd, thanking Jesus for the “best year of their lives.” He asked each of the children what they wanted to be when they grew up.

Around 75 parents and children were there to receive the presents, which consisted mainly of Gideon Bibles, Cat in the Hat pillows, Barbie dolls, Tonka trucks, and Lego building sets.

A half dozen volunteers from the Big God Ministry, including Donnie Roary, helped to set up the tables for the toy giveaway. The worship music was sung by Ruby Friedman, Keri Carpenter, and Jake Monaghan, who also played the accordion.

Big God Ministries meets on Sundays at 10 a.m. at the Mill Valley Community Center, 180 Camino Alto, Mill Valley, CA Their phone number is (415) 797-2567.

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Activism

First 5 Alameda County Distributes Over $8 Million in First Wave of Critical Relief Funds for Historically Underpaid Caregivers

“Family, Friend, and Neighbor caregivers are lifelines for so many children and families in Alameda County,” said Kristin Spanos, CEO, First 5 Alameda County. “Yet, they often go unrecognized and undercompensated for their labor and ability to give individualized, culturally connected care. At First 5, we support the conditions that allow families to thrive, and getting this money into the hands of these caregivers and families at a time of heightened financial stress for parents is part of that commitment.”

Published

2 days ago

December 29, 2025

Oakland Post

Costco. Courtesy image.

Family, Friend, and Neighbor Caregivers Can Now Opt Into $4,000 Grants to Help Bolster Economic Stability and Strengthen Early Learning Experiences

By Post Staff

Today, First 5 Alameda County announced the distribution of $4,000 relief grants to more than 2,000 Family, Friend, and Neighbor (FFN) caregivers, totaling over $8 million in the first round of funding. Over the full course of the funding initiative, First 5 Alameda County anticipates supporting over 3,000 FFN caregivers, who collectively care for an estimated 5,200 children across Alameda County. These grants are only a portion of the estimated $190 million being invested into expanding our early childcare system through direct caregiver relief to upcoming facilities, shelter, and long-term sustainability investments for providers fromMeasure C in its first year. This investment builds on the early rollout of Measure C and reflects a comprehensive, system-wide strategy to strengthen Alameda County’s early childhood ecosystem so families can rely on sustainable, accessible care,

These important caregivers provide child care in Alameda County to their relatives, friends, and neighbors. While public benefits continue to decrease for families, and inflation and the cost of living continue to rise, these grants provide direct economic support for FFN caregivers, whose wages have historically been very low or nonexistent, and very few of whom receive benefits. As families continue to face growing financial pressures, especially during the winter and holiday season, these grants will help these caregivers with living expenses such as rent, utilities, supplies, and food.

The funding for these relief grants comes from Measure C, a local voter-approved sales tax in Alameda County that invests in young children, their families, communities, providers, and caregivers. Within the first year of First 5’s 5-Year Plan for Measure C, in addition to the relief grants to informal FFN caregivers, other significant investments will benefit licensed child care providers. These investments include over $40 million in Early Care and Education (ECE) Emergency Grants, which have already flowed to nearly 800 center-based and family child care providers. As part of First 5’s 5-Year Plan, preparations are also underway to distribute facilities grants early next year for child care providers who need to make urgent repairs or improvements, and to launch the Emergency Revolving Fund in Spring 2026 to support licensed child care providers in Alameda County who are at risk of closure.

The FFN Relief Grants recognize and support the essential work that an estimated 3,000 FFN caregivers provide to 5,200 children in Alameda County. There is still an opportunity to receive funds for FFN caregivers who have not yet received them.

In partnership with First 5 Alameda County, Child Care Payment Agencies play a critical role in identifying eligible caregivers and leading coordinated outreach efforts to ensure FFN caregivers are informed of and able to access these relief funds.FFN caregivers are eligible for the grant if they receive a child care payment from an Alameda County Child Care Payment Agency, 4Cs of Alameda County, BANANAS, Hively, and Davis Street, and are currently caring for a child 12 years old or younger in Alameda County. Additionally, FFN caregivers who provided care for a child 12 years or younger at any time since April 1, 2025, but are no longer doing so, are also eligible for the funds. Eligible caregivers are being contacted by their Child Care Payment Agency on a rolling basis, beginning with those who provided care between April and July 2025.

“This money is coming to me at a critical time of heightened economic strain,” said Jill Morton, a caregiver in Oakland, California. “Since I am a non-licensed childcare provider, I didn’t think I was eligible for this financial support. I was relieved that this money can help pay my rent, purchase learning materials for the children as well as enhance childcare, buy groceries and take care of grandchildren.”

Eligible FFN caregivers who provided care at any time between April 1, 2025 and July 31, 2025, who haven’t yet opted into the process, are encouraged to check their mail and email for an eligibility letter. Those who have cared for a child after this period should expect to receive communications from their child care payment agency in the coming months. FFN caregivers with questions may also contact the agency they work with to receive child care payments, or the First 5 Alameda help desk, Monday through Friday, from 9 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. PST, at 510-227-6964. The help desk will be closed 12/25/25 – 1/1/26. Additional grant payments will be made on a rolling basis as opt-ins are received by the four child care payment agencies in Alameda County.

Beginning in the second year of Measure C implementation, FFN caregivers who care for a child from birth to age five and receive an Alameda County subsidized voucher will get an additional $500 per month. This amounts to an annual increase of about $6,000 per child receiving a subsidy. Together with more Measure C funding expected to flow back into the community as part of First 5’s 5-Year Plan, investments will continue to become available in the coming year for addressing the needs of childcare providers in Alameda County.

About First 5 Alameda County

First 5 Alameda County builds the local childhood systems and supports needed to ensure our county’s youngest children are safe, healthy, and ready to succeed in school and life.

Our Mission

In partnership with the community, we support a county-wide continuous prevention and early intervention system that promotes optimal health and development, narrows disparities, and improves the lives of children from birth to age five and their families.

Our Vision

Every child in Alameda County will have optimal health, development, and well-being to reach their greatest potential.

Learn more at www.first5alameda.org.

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Black History

Alfred Cralle: Inventor of the Ice Cream Scoop

Cralle learned carpentry, mechanics, and blacksmithing at a young age. These skills would later become essential in his innovative work. As a young man, he moved to Washington, D.C., where he worked as a porter in hotels and at an ice cream shop. It was there that he first noticed a common problem: scooping ice cream was messy and inefficient. Servers struggled because the ice cream stuck to spoons and ladles, and getting the right shape and portion was difficult. Many needed two hands — one to scoop and one to scrape the ice cream off the spoon.

Published

2 days ago

December 29, 2025

Oakland Post

A rendering of Alfred L. Cralle’s ice cream scoop. Public domain.

By Tamara Shiloh

Alfred L. Cralle, an African American inventor and entrepreneur, forever changed the way the world enjoys ice cream. Born on Sept. 4, 1866, in Kenbridge, Virginia, Cralle grew up during Reconstruction — a time when opportunities for African Americans were still extremely limited. Despite the challenges of the era, he demonstrated curiosity, creativity, and a natural ability to understand how tools and machinery worked.

Cralle believed there had to be a better way.

Using his mechanical training, he began sketching and experimenting with ideas for a tool that could scoop ice cream easily using one hand. After refining his design, he developed what would become a simple yet brilliant invention: the Ice Cream Mold and Disher. On Feb. 2, 1897, Cralle received U.S. Patent No. 576,395 for the device.

His invention — what we now call the ice cream scoop — was groundbreaking. It featured a built-in scraper that automatically released the ice cream with a single squeeze of the handle. Durable, easy to use, and requiring only one hand, the scoop made serving faster and more consistent. His design was so effective that the basic mechanism is still used today in homes, restaurants, and ice cream shops around the world.

Although his invention became widely used, like many African American inventors of his time, he did not receive the compensation or widespread recognition he deserved. Racial barriers prevented him from fully benefiting from his own creation, even as businesses embraced the tool and the popularity of ice cream continued to grow.

After patenting the scoop, Cralle moved to Pittsburgh. There, he worked as a porter for the luxurious Sterling Hotel and later became a successful businessman. He remained active in his community and continued to create opportunities for himself despite the limitations faced by African Americans at the turn of the 20th century.

Tragically, Cralle died in 1920 at age 54, leaving behind a legacy that would only be fully appreciated long after his passing. Today, he is remembered as the brilliant mind behind one of the most widely used and universally loved kitchen tools.