World Afro Day Campaign urges Members of Parliament to update the Equality Act to protect afro hair.
The famous singer Mel B and the Labour MP Paulette Hamilton are among the leading Black Britons seeking the UK parliamentarians to take the bold step of becoming the first Western country to introduce a law to stop afro hair discrimination.
The World Afro Day (WAD) campaign has sent open letters to the MPs, urging them to vote for the recognition and prevention of Afro-hair discrimination. The campaign called on the parliamentarians to update the Equality Act 2010 and make afro hair a protected characteristic.
The letter was signed by 100 supporters and campaigners, including notable personalities such as writer and campaigner Patrick Hutchinson, singer Beverley Knight, singer and presenter Fleur East, school leader Evelyn Forde MBE, and Prof Patrick Vernon OBE.
It cautions that the “omission of hair as a protected characteristic from the law has facilitated everyday discrimination and the normalisation of afro hair as inferior in every sphere of life”.
The letter is part of World Afro Day’s 100 Voices, 100 Words campaign, for which each campaigner wrote 100 words explaining why the change of law is important.
The founder of the World Afro Day campaign, Michelle De Leon, is set to host a drop-in clinic at the parliament with Hamilton, Hutchinson, and the radio and TV presenter Sarah-Jane Crawford. The campaigner and their children will be there to “focus on the change for the next generation.”
The supporters and campaigners have long argued that British children are unfairly reprimanded in schools for wearing natural hairstyles and protective methods for the upkeep of their afro hair and protective styles for the maintenance of their afro hair adult in UK offices also face harassment, discrimination, and assault.
De Leon stated, “Laws are actually there to tell people what is right and what is wrong and to protect minority groups from oppression, discrimination and injustice. We simply do not have the right laws in the UK to stop generations of Afro hair discrimination from continuing.”
Hamilton stated: “As Birmingham’s first black MP, and as a mother to four daughters, I know the impact this campaign could have on my local community and on people with afro hair across the UK.”
Mel B stated: “The first video shoot I did as a Spice Girl for Wannabe, the stylists took one look at my hair and told me it had to be straightened. My big hair didn’t fit the pop star mould. But I stood my ground – backed by my girls – and I sang and danced as me, with my big hair and brown skin, and I was proud of who I was.
“So yes, I’m proud to support World Afro Day in its call for the Equality Act to protect against afro hair discrimination in the UK.”
