I monitor how much negativity I take in each day.
So it took me a few days to even process this:

Colorado GOP Representative Lauren Boebert voted against—and mocked—the CROWN Act.

Let that sit.

In the United States of America, lawmakers are still debating whether Black women should be protected for wearing the hair that grows naturally from our heads.

And somehow, people still say,
“it’s just hair.”

No. It is not. And the mockers know it.

Black women face constant scrutiny—racial, sexist, cultural—about our hair in ways that are dismissed, minimized, or turned into entertainment.

And here is what many “concerned commentators” never seem to understand:

This is not just about opinions.
This is about consequences.

• Many workplaces still do not have clear protections against discrimination based on so-called “ethnic hairstyles.”
• That means a Black woman can be:
  • denied a job
  • written up
  • sent home
  • or quietly pushed out

…for wearing her natural hair, braids, locs, or twists.

So when people offer “advice,” criticism, or mockery about Black women’s hair, they are speaking into a reality they often do not understand.

They are not the ones navigating:

• professional risk
• financial pressure
• cultural policing
• and daily judgment

All at the same time.

And let’s go further.

We are expected to “fix” our hair to meet standards that were never designed with us in mind…

while also navigating an industry where hair products—especially those marketed to Black women—remain under-regulated.

So the choices are not simple.

They can carry:

• health risks
• financial costs
• social consequences
• and professional penalties

That is the “rock and a hard place” so many Black women are forced into.

I made a decision a long time ago:

I do not take criticism, tips, or opinions about Black women’s hair seriously
from anyone who does not actively support the CROWN Act.

Because criticism is loud.

Mockery is easy.

But real support?

That has been a whisper.

And that whisper has not been enough.

I was one of the readers for submissions to Chicken Soup for the African-American Woman’s Soul.

The stories that came through—
story after story—
made one thing undeniable:

This is not new.
This is not rare.
This is not “overblown.”

Black women have been carrying this for generations.

And still, we are being asked to explain why it matters.

Here’s the truth:

If Black women have to fight this hard
just to exist as we were created,

that should concern everyone.

Not just us.

So if you support the CROWN Act—

turn up the volume.

Not quietly.
Not occasionally.

Consistently.

Because silence has never protected us.
And it never will