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

6 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

OPINION: Your Voice and Vote Impact the Quality of Your Health Care

One of the most dangerous developments we’re seeing now? Deep federal cuts are being proposed to Medicaid, the life-saving health insurance program that covers nearly 80 million lower-income individuals nationwide. That is approximately 15 million Californians and about 1 million of the state’s nearly 3 million Black Californians who are at risk of losing their healthcare.

Published

5 days ago

May 19, 2025

Oakland Post

Rhonda M. Smith.

By Rhonda M. Smith, Special to California Black Media Partners

Shortly after last year’s election, I hopped into a Lyft and struck up a conversation with the driver. As we talked, the topic inevitably turned to politics. He confidently told me that he didn’t vote — not because he supported Donald Trump, but because he didn’t like Kamala Harris’ résumé. When I asked what exactly he didn’t like, he couldn’t specifically articulate his dislike or point to anything specific. In his words, he “just didn’t like her résumé.”

That moment really hit hard for me. As a Black woman, I’ve lived through enough election cycles to recognize how often uncertainty, misinformation, or political apathy keep people from voting, especially Black voters whose voices are historically left out of the conversation and whose health, economic security, and opportunities are directly impacted by the individual elected to office, and the legislative branches and political parties that push forth their agenda.

That conversation with the Lyft driver reflects a troubling surge in fear-driven politics across our country. We’ve seen White House executive orders gut federal programs meant to help our most vulnerable populations and policies that systematically exclude or harm Black and underserved communities.

One of the most dangerous developments we’re seeing now? Deep federal cuts are being proposed to Medicaid, the life-saving health insurance program that covers nearly 80 million lower-income individuals nationwide. That is approximately 15 million Californians and about 1 million of the state’s nearly 3 million Black Californians who are at risk of losing their healthcare.

Medicaid, called Medi-Cal in California, doesn’t just cover care. It protects individuals and families from medical debt, keeps rural hospitals open, creates jobs, and helps our communities thrive. Simply put; Medicaid is a lifeline for 1 in 5 Black Americans. For many, it’s the only thing standing between them and a medical emergency they can’t afford, especially with the skyrocketing costs of health care. The proposed cuts mean up to 7.2 million Black Americans could lose their healthcare coverage, making it harder for them to receive timely, life-saving care. Cuts to Medicaid would also result in fewer prenatal visits, delayed cancer screenings, unfilled prescriptions, and closures of community clinics. When healthcare is inaccessible or unaffordable, it doesn’t just harm individuals, it weakens entire communities and widens inequities.

The reality is Black Americans already face disproportionately higher rates of poorer health outcomes. Our life expectancy is nearly five years shorter in comparison to White Americans. Black pregnant people are 3.6 times more likely to die during pregnancy or postpartum than their white counterparts.

These policies don’t happen in a vacuum. They are determined by who holds power and who shows up to vote. Showing up amplifies our voices. Taking action and exercising our right to vote is how we express our power.

I urge you to start today. Call your representatives, on both sides of the aisle, and demand they protect Medicaid (Medi-Cal), the Affordable Care Act (Covered CA), and access to food assistance programs, maternal health resources, mental health services, and protect our basic freedoms and human rights. Stay informed, talk to your neighbors and register to vote.

About the Author

Rhonda M. Smith is the Executive Director of the California Black Health Network, a statewide nonprofit dedicated to advancing health equity for all Black Californians.

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Black History

Henry Blair, the Second African American to Obtain a Patent

Being a successful farmer required consistent production. Blair figured out a way to increase his harvest. He did this with two inventions. His first invention was a corn planter. The planter had the same structure as a wheelbarrow, with a box to hold the seed and rakes dragging behind to cover them. This machine allowed farmers to plant their crops more economically.

Published

5 days ago

May 19, 2025

Oakland Post

A sketch of one of Henry Blair’s inventions, the seed planter. Image courtesy United States Patent and Trademark Office.

By Tamara Shiloh

The debate over whether enslaved African Americans could receive U.S. Government-issued patents was still unfolding when the second African American to hold a patent, Henry Blair, received his first patent in 1834.

The first African American to receive a patent was Thomas Jennings in 1821 for his discovery of a process called dry scouring, also known as dry cleaning.

Blair was born in Glen Ross, Maryland, in 1807. He was an African American farmer who received two patents. Each patent was designed to help increase agricultural productivity.

There is very little information about his life prior to the inventions. It is known that he was a farmer who invented machines to help with planting and harvesting crops. There is no written evidence that he was a slave.

However, it is apparent that he was a businessman.

Blair could not write. As a result of his illiteracy, he signed the patent with an “X”. He received his first patent for the corn planter on Oct. 14, 1834.

Two years later, taking advantage of the boost in the cotton industry, he received his second patent. This time for a cotton planter. This machine worked by splitting the ground with two shovel-like blades that were pulled along by a horse. A wheel-driven cylinder behind the blades placed seeds into the freshly plowed ground. Not only was this another economical and efficient machine. It also helped with controlling weeds and put the seeds in the ground quickly Henry Blair received his second patent on Aug. 31, 1836

During this time, the United States government passed a law that allowed patents to be granted to both free and enslaved men. However, in 1857, this law was contested by a slaveowner. He argued that slaveowners had a right to claim credit for a slave’s inventions. His argument was that since an owner’s slaves were his property, anything that a slave owned was the property of the owner also.

In 1858 the law changed, and patents were no longer given to slaves. However, the law changed again in 1871 after the Civil War. The patent law was revised to permit all American men, regardless of race, the right to patent their inventions.

Blair died in 1860.

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Bo Tefu

Gov. Newsom Highlights Record-Breaking Tourism Revenue, Warns of Economic Threats from Federal Policies

“California dominates as a premier destination for travelers throughout the nation and around the globe,” said Newsom. “With diverse landscapes, top-rate attractions, and welcoming communities, California welcomes millions of visitors every year. We also recognize that our state’s progress is threatened by the economic impacts of this federal administration, and are committed to working to protect jobs and ensure all Californians benefit from a thriving tourism industry.”

Published

5 days ago

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Oakland Post

iStock.

By Bo Tefu, California Black Media

Last week, Gov. Gavin Newsom, along with the nonprofit organization Visit California, announced that tourism spending in California reached a record $157.3 billion in 2024, reinforcing the state’s status as the top travel destination in the United States.

The Governor made the announcement May 5, referencing Visit California’s 2024 Economic Impact Report, which highlights a 3% increase in tourism revenue over the previous year.

According to the report, California’s tourism sector supported 1.2 million jobs, generated $12.6 billion in state and local tax revenues, and created 24,000 new jobs in 2024.

Despite the gains in tourism revenue, Visit California’s revised 2025 forecast points to a 1% decline in total visitation and a 9.2% decrease in international travel. The downturn is attributed to federal economic policy and what officials are calling an impending “Trump Slump,” caused by waning global interest in traveling to the United States.

To offset projected losses, the Governor is encouraging Californians to continue traveling within the state and has launched a new campaign aimed at Canadian travelers.