Dove is furthering its commitment to ending race-based hair discrimination in the workplace and schools. Last year, the brand teamed up with the National Urban League, Color of Change, and Western Center on Law and Poverty — also known as the CROWN Coalition — to pass the CROWN Act, a law that prohibits discrimination based on hair texture and protective hairstyles, like braids, locs, twists, and knots. To follow the work it’s been doing over the past year to ensure an inclusive future for everyone, Dove just joined forces with Verve Records, UMe, and the Nina Simone Charitable Trust to release a visual for the legendary musician’s song “Feeling Good,” and it’s a beautiful celebration of natural hair.
Officially released on June 11, the video was directed by BET Award winner Sara Lacombe and follows a group of Black women and girls as they wear their natural textures loudly and proudly to the tune of “Feeling Good.”
“Dove is on a mission to change beauty and redefine narrow beauty standards,” Esi Eggleston Bracey, Unilever North America’s EVP and COO of beauty and personal care, said in a statement. “As a Black woman who has worn textured hairstyles for the past 25 years, and as mother of a 15-year old daughter who also wears a textured hairstyle, this legislation is deeply personal to me. Now is the time to pass The CROWN Act and eliminate this barrier for children and adults everywhere because we all deserve to feel good about the way we wear our hair.”
Dove’s formation of the CROWN Coalition follows a handful of recent stories taking over the internet of students and employees being discriminated against for their hairstyles. Back in 2020, former Texas high school student DeAndre Arnold was forced to change schools after a change in his school’s dress code required he cut his locs in order to graduate with his class. After his story went viral, Arnold received an outpouring of support from celebrities like Gabrielle Union, and he was even invited to attend the Academy Awards alongside director Matthew A. Cherry, whose short film Hair Love won an Oscar that same night.
Since then, a number of states have introduced antidiscrimination laws, though the fact that these stories continue to gain viral attention is a sign that there’s still more work to be done. Watch Dove’s full “Feeling Good” video above.
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