Don't Mind My Hair!

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“On Air” Podcast Show Eleven: “Don’t Mind My Hair” © 2018 Ayesha Casely-Hayford

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About Afro Archives

Afro Archives explores heritage and identity within UK society.

It investigates images of black women through promotion of self-expression and confidence to be who we naturally are. This project seeks to promote and celebrate afro hair by having inclusive discussions about hair and hair-related experiences with people of all ages, backgrounds, cultures and creeds.

Big Thanks to Wandsworth Radio, in Battersea, for hosting us.

Wandsworth Radio is a local Community Radio Station. It covers Battersea, Putney, Balham, Southfields, Earlsfield, Wandsworth Town, Roehampton and Tooting. The Station exists to celebrate the borough’s greatness. “Over 300,000 people call Wandsworth home and they deserve a community radio service providing local news and other content showcasing the people who live here”.

Creator Ayesha Casely-Hayford is an actress, award-winning voice artist and employment lawyer of Ghanian descent, born in London and raised in Kent. With her roots in law, specialising in discrimination, and as former chair of the board of trustees for The Act For Change Project, a charity campaigning for greater diversity in the arts, she is uniquely positioned to see the social, performative and legal issues facing black women in the UK today.

Photo credit: Helen Murray Photography

© 2018 Ayesha Casely-Hayford

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Show Eleven Transcript 10 August 2018

Read More: https://ayeshacasely-hayford.com/wandsworth-radio/ Listen: Playlist: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLKIJpUA_vJKMgdknCuyW54duc9H33IhIz Transcript: NB: Afro Archives on Air is currently broadcast live. Although the transcript content is the same, the transcript may differ from the delivery on air.

[Faaji intro] Hello and welcome to Afro Archives Show Eleven. Firstly a thank you to the ladies who preceded me here on Wandsworth Radio’s Female Friday, Nicolette Wilson-Clarke with Mind Your Business and Chloe De Dave with She Speaks.

© 2018 Ayesha Casely-Hayford

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Last week on Afro Archives, it was my sister locs special. We gathered voices of women here in London and also in East Legon, Ghana. The journey of locsing hair is unique, but also a shared one, for women with afro-textured hair. When I was interviewing some of my guests, I invited them to comment directly on the Chastity Jones case, which is a case happening in the US. This case case has baffled me. We don’t have any big cases in the UK that have made it to the courts, which deal with black women and their hair.

But we do have a strong natural hair movement and we know that there are concerns around grooming codes, the visibility of natural hairstyles and the acceptance of natural hairstyles in mainstream media as well as all around us. For anyone who doesn’t know about the Chastity Jones case, I’m going to begin with playing an extract from one of my early Afro Archives interviews, with one of the advising lawyers who actually on the Chastity Jones case Professor Wendy Greene. But first, let’s begin properly and set the scene for greatness. Today’s playlist is chosen by my guests from last week, whose voices I am carrying through to today. Opening us, Queen Lauryn Hill, chosen by Audrey Odonkor. Zion.

[Song: “Zion” Lauryn Hill]

Welcome back, that was Lauryn Hill with Zion, and now here is Professor Wendy Greene, giving us an introduction © 2018 Ayesha Casely-Hayford

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and outline background to the Chastity Jones Case. An important claim of race discrimination currently being petitioned in the Supreme Court of the United States by the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission. Wendy Greene is a Professor of Law at Cumberland School of Law in Birmingham Alabama:

[EXTRACT OF INTERVIEW WITH WENDY GREENE] WG: The EEOC vs Chastity Management Solutions case and that’s a case whereby the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, which is the Federal Agency that enforces our anti-discrimination laws here in the United States, and so one of the antidiscrimination statutes one of probably the most pivotal anti-discrimination statutes that we have on the books here in the United States, is Title VII of the 1964 Civil Rights Act. And So Title VII prohibits discrimination, workplace discrimination, on the basis of race, colour, sex, national origin, and religion, and so in this case the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission decided to represent Ms Chastity Jones, an African American woman, who was adorning blonde dreadlocks when she was in the process of being interviewed for a position as a customer service representative with the employer and she went through a series of interviews. She came to the interview with a suit on, a blue business suit, and her loc’d © 2018 Ayesha Casely-Hayford

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blonde hair in a curly formation that we would call curly locs, and she went through a series of interviews. She was extended the job offer and at one point during the interview process she was asked if her hair was locs. To which she replied yes. And so at that point the Human Resources Manager told her that she would have to rescind the job offer if she continued to wear dreadlocks because dreadlocks, at least in her opinion, tended to get messy. Even though Ms Jones’s dreadlocks at the time would not be deemed messy. So in essence what the Human Resources Manager was asking Ms Jones to do was to cut off her locs, or cut off her hair, as a condition of employment.

Even though her hair did not bear any correlation to her ability to perform the job at hand, nor at that time did the HR Manager consider her hair to be messy it was just a notion that there was this propensity to be messy.

What Ms Jones did is that she filed a complaint with the EEOC and considered this a form of race discrimination violative of Title VII of the 1964 Civil Rights Act. So the EEOC then went on to represent Ms Jones in this case and challenge this decision this adverse employment action on the grounds that it constituted intentional race discrimination. And so this case is the most recent case decided by a Federal Court deciding whether or not prohibitions against African descendant women’s hairstyles like locs, twists or braids, or afros constitute unlawful race discrimination.”

ACH: That was Professor Wendy Greene giving a background introduction to the Chastity Jones Case.

I’m Ayesha Casely-Hayford and this is Afro Archives on Wandsworth Radio.

© 2018 Ayesha Casely-Hayford

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The title of today’s show is “Don’t Mind My Hair” and we’re taking a look at the Chastity Jones case through commentary from women of African descent living in different parts of the the world, wearing their hair in locs.

Ms Chastity Jones was asked to cut of her locs for a job, and when she refused, her job offer was rescinded. Ms Jones then unsuccessful brought a race discrimination claim before the law courts.

In April this year, however, her case was petitioned and this is all very current and very real.

After this break, I’ve invited my guests with locsced hair, to give their comments. But first, a song choice from one of my guests Bakita Kasadha, who we’ll be hearing from straight after the break: This is Nia Ekanem, with Travellers:

[Song: “Travellers” Nia Ekanem]

[INTERVIEW WITH BAKITA] ACH: So the Chastity Jones case dealt with an afro American woman who wore sister locs and was asked to cut them. As a woman with sister locs yourself and being on this journey, how would you feel about that request, and what would that mean to you specifically as a black woman?

BK: Well to me, it would be an attack on my identity. I know that this is one of many different natural hairstyles that I might have, but actually reclaiming and accepting and wearing my hair in natural hairstyles is a political act, in a society that says that our © 2018 Ayesha Casely-Hayford

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hair is not enough, or that it’s messy, or can be prone to messiness, as was the case in that situation. So for me it would, it’s the lack of understanding of how politicised our hair is, and that lack of understanding is why it’s so offensive that they could ask her to cut her hair because they thought it could be prone to messiness. So yeah, for me it’s a complete attack on our identity.

ACH: So would you also have refused to cut your locs if you were asked?

BK: Yes, I would have. I would have. And to be me it would have been like, ok, you have given me a very clear insight into the culture of your organisation and there is no place for me here. That’s how I would read it. There is no place for me here. Because in my fullness, you don’t accept me, so how will there ever be a place for me in this organisation.

[song: “I Am Light” India Arie]

Welcome back, this is Afro Archives Show 11 “Don’t Mind My Hair!” I’m Ayesha CaselyHayford here on Wandsworth Radio.

The song we just played was “I Am Light” by India Arie, a song choice from Audrey Odonkor, my next guest giving commentary, as a woman who has very recently decided

© 2018 Ayesha Casely-Hayford

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to locs her hair, on the Chastity Jones case. I asked Audrey, how she would feel if she was asked to cut off her hair for a job:

[INTERVIEW WITH AUDREY]

AO: Oh no. I would feel, discriminated against.

ACH: Why?

AO: Because in as much as sister locs is a choice, choosing to loc your hair or not is something that you decide. When you do loc your hair it grows naturally and then just takes the form that you have cast out for it so after a while it can be likened to you just having your own hair, just following a certain mould that has been established for it to follow. Because of how natural sister locs is, and because of how closely linked it is to

Š 2018 Ayesha Casely-Hayford

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just keeping your own natural hair, I would feel as though, the, what they were asking of me was to change myself entirely, to fit within the confines of what they have described for me. I think that my locsed hair is not something that I can take off or put on as and when I please or as and when someone else pleases but it is to a large extent, a part of my identity that I carry around with me everywhere I go.

So I would feel as though they wanted me to change a part of me that was not as easily changeable as they might make it out to be.

[song: “Beautiful” feat, Bobby Brown. Damian Marley]

© 2018 Ayesha Casely-Hayford

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[INTERVIEW WITH REBEKAH] ACH: If you were asked to cut of your locs for a job you wanted?

RB: If I was asked to cut of my locs for a job I wanted, It wouldn’t happen. And I’m really glad to hear that this is at least a case heard in court. There would never be a reason for me to cut my locs unless I chose to. For an employer to be concerned about my hair or people with locs having messy hair, erm, well what is mess hair? What is unkempt? What is untidy? There are people with very straight European hair, or European curly hair who could be deemed to have messy hair, so I don’t see how locs can exclusively just fall into that category. I think here there’s a bigger population of people who practice Rastafarianism, and that has to obviously be a consideration, but for those of us who choose to have locs, for there to be that assumption that locs are unkempt and messy, well, that’s just an assumption that’s unfounded and actually there’s a culture of people overly maintaining their locs because of the perceptions.

Yeah, no I wouldn’t, that would not happen and I would definitely pursue a case [against an employer], if that © 2018 Ayesha Casely-Hayford

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was a requirement.

ACH: Why would you consider it to be race discrimination?

RB: Well, I think, obviously it is going to capture people of Afro Caribbean descent more often than not. And I do feel that there are cultural ties, even if they’re not religious ties, to having locs. I do think, there is something quite spiritual and cultural about appreciating and growing your hair as is and not cutting it and not prescribing to unnatural hairstyles like relaxing for example or wearing a wig or wearing a weave if you don’t choose to. Yeah it’s just the people that it would impact, which is why I think it’s a racist quality. It’s less likely to impact someone that’s, that’s white really.

That was Rebekah Bageya my guest, commenting on the Chastity Jones case and before that, Rebecca’s song choice, “Beautiful” Damian Marley, featuring Bobby Brown.

I’m Ayesha Casely-Hayford bringing you Afro Archives on Wandsworth Radio. We’ve been hearing from women at various stages on their hair locsing journey. Audrey who is coming up to her one year anniversary, Bakita who stared in 2015 and Rebekah who began her loc hair journey in 2011. Audrey, Bakita and Rebekah have given us their commentary on how they would feel, and what it would mean to them, if they were asked to cut off their locs, that being their hair, as a requirement of a job offer. The essential sentiment from them all is that they would feel racially discriminated against.

They consider their locs to be part of their identity. In short, if asked to cut off their locs, it wouldn’t happen.

© 2018 Ayesha Casely-Hayford

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I want to end with us returning to Bakita and hearing from her about how her locs make her feel. I’m then really happy to say we have enough time to end with a gorgeous song choice from Bakita, “Better” by Amy Leon. But first, Bakita on what locsing her hair means to her: …………….

BK: I feel like, there’s, that I have more of an affinity with my hair, like there’s more of a connection. Whereas before it was more about manipulating my hairstyle so whether I was blow-drying it out, then I made the faux pas of texturing it, that’s like a brief history into my hair journey over twenty years or so, twenty plus years. But it was kind of like a never really accepting or appreciating my hair and with my locs, I really appreciate how thick my hair is, in a way that I never did before, I definitely never did before.

Especially because the hairdressers that would do my braids or you know do different things with my hair, would always talk about how thick it was but never really in a celebratory way. So now I do feel far more empowered because for one my sister locs technician talks about how thick my hair is in a very celebratory way. It’s like, oh your hair’s really thick, it’s making your locs fuller and there was never really, all the other people who have done my hair, for the most part, I can’t say all, for the most part, there hasn’t been that © 2018 Ayesha Casely-Hayford

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celebration. So it has been empowering having sisterlocs.

ACH: That’s amazing, that’s so great to hear about that so good. is there anything else you want to say?

BK: I would say if anyone is considering sisterlocs, like I would definitely recommend it, I definitely would and if you’re umming and ahhhing, make peace with that, that’s absolutely fine. Like take time with making your decision about sister locs. I think, I don’t remember specifically specifically, but it was at least six months that I thought about it, before having it locsed. And it worked really well for me because actually when I went into the decision it was something that I was fully behind, fully committed to and a journey I was ready to start. The only thing for me is that I wish I’d done it earlier, but for me that’s a really good place before because I know I’ve definitely made the right decision, but if anyone is thinking about getting it done, do the research, make sure you find a good technician who will look after your hair and understand your hair, and take your time with it, and enjoy the journey, if you do decide to start it.

[song: “Better” Amy Leon]

© 2018 Ayesha Casely-Hayford

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And so we draw to a close for Afro Archives show 11, “Don’t Mind My Hair”. Thank you for joining me. Thank you to my guests Audrey, Bakita and Rebekah for sharing. We’re on holidays till September and I look forward to returning and discovering more hair truths here on Afro Archives, with you. Arrested Development to see us out. “Everyday People”.

Turn it up.

Bed Music: Intro “Faaji” from Lo-Wu https://soundcloud.com/lowusounds

© 2018 Ayesha Casely-Hayford