Hello everyone my name is Nehanda Mutunhu. The story of my locs has no beginning or end. My locs are a symbol of my Zimbabwean roots, my ancestors who wore the same crown as I do today, and my mom who hand crafted and poured love into them. My mom is my biggest role model, her locs were one of the many things about her that I admired growing up. By the age of five I was begging her to give me locs of my own, and here I am today with 15 years of growth that have held my memories, culture, spirituality, and identity. 

Just as I am sharing my story, my mom has always told me hers- both the beauty of locs and the horrors of discrimination. The most prominent story was her experience with the “Rasta Law” in the British Virgin Islands that prohibited anyone with locs from entering. Now, students in Florida face similar discrimination- encouraged to change their natural appearance and punished for defiance. We should not have to advocate for the same protection of hair expression as our parents, nor should education experience depend on hairstyle. That is why we need change through the CROWN Act- to expel hair discrimination from Florida classrooms so that every student can express themselves and learn without the paradoxical discomfort of hyper visibility and ostracization.