#FreetheHair: Professor Wendy Greene on Grooming Codes
December 8, 2021
Hosted by Carliss Chatman
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Guest Information
Episode Description
Join my guests Professor Wendy Greene, Professor Marissa Jackson Sow, and Rasheedah Thomas of RC Communications as we discuss the movement to #freethehair and the impact of discrimination against Black hair in the classroom and the workplace. Professor Wendy Greene is a trailblazer in the movement to end hair discrimination. Professor Greene fights for the freedom for all to embrace the natural expression of physical appearance in social, political and corporate arenas in order to ensure all are free from bias based on the body they were born in and the hair they were born with on a global scale. Her groundbreaking work has been the foundation for legislation on hair discrimination across the country and internationally, including the CROWN ACT. Here are some highlights of Professor Greene's work: *Legal expert for California's Creating Respectful and Open Workplaces for Natural Hair Act (C.R.O.W.N. Act) signed into law on July 3, 2019 *Legal Expert, Drafted and submitted an expert declaration on behalf of African American male students seeking a preliminary injunction against the enforcement of a high school grooming policy prohibiting them from wearing locs in Arnold v. Barbers Hill Independent School District, Civil Action No. 4:20-CV-1802 (May 2020) *Co-drafter and Legal Advisor, South Carolina House Bill 4692 introduced in January 2020 which clarifies the definition of race, national origin, and color for the purposes of S.C. statutes prohibiting racial discrimination in workplaces, schools, and public accommodations *Legal Expert and Expert Witness, California's Creating Respectful and Open Workplaces for Natural Hair Act (C.R.O.W.N. Act) signed into law on July 3, 2019 *Legal publications shaped the New York City Commission on Human Rights groundbreaking enforcement guidance issued in February 2019 prohibiting natural hair discrimination in public and private schools, workplaces and public accommodations (which also serves as the primary justification for the NY State C.R.O.W.N. Act signed into law July 2019) *The Equal Employment Opportunity Commission’s employed her legal arguments in a seminal natural hair discrimination case arising under Title VII of the 1964 Civil Rights Act: EEOC v. Catastrophe Management Solutions, Incorporated (2017) *Her published legal definition of race to be employed in anti-discrimination laws was adopted by the Ninth Circuit of Appeals, the C.R.O.W.N Acts of California and New York, and pending state laws in Kentucky, Michigan, and New Jersey as well quoted by the 11th Circuit of Appeals as a legal authority on the social construction of race On this episode we will discuss Professor Greene's contributions, and what she has planned next.
Getting Common
Wednesday at 8 AM Pacific Time on VoiceAmerica Empowerment Channel
Getting Common with Professor Carliss Chatman provides a refreshing common sense approach to business, law, women's rights, racial justice, and entrepreneurship. Featuring experts in law, business and entrepreneurship, politics and government, and education, Getting Common educates while exposing you to a fresh and new perspective. Listen live every Wednesday at 8 AM Pacific Time on the VoiceAmerica Empowerment Channel.
Carliss Chatman
Carliss Chatman is an Associate Professor specializing in corporate and commercial law. Her eleven years of legal practice before entering the academy lends a common sense approach to her teaching and scholarship. She specializes in bringing practical experience to all of her classes, making complex legal concepts within reach for students of all backgrounds. Through service on the Advisory Board of Compliance.ai, she has worked on the cutting edge of legal regulatory technology, helping to train the machine learning platform to anticipate the research needs of those in the compliance and regulatory legal space. Her experience in leadership of non-profit boards and over two decades of social activism has allowed Professor Chatman to develop expertise on matters involving race, women's rights, and educational access. Her scholarship, teaching and service have been celebrated and awarded by her faculty and peers. She is the 2021 Recipient of Derrick A. Bell, Jr. Award, presented by the Association of American Law Schools Section on Minority Groups, the 2020 Recipient Jessine A. Monaghan Fellowship, an award for experiential education, given in recognition of contributions to the transactional component of the Law School’s experiential program and the 2020 Recipient Lewis Prize for Excellence in Legal Scholarship.
