California Hair Braiding
Cornwell v. California Board of Barbering and Cosmetology
IJ Untangles California’s Law for African Hairstyling
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JoAnne Cornwell, an African hairbraider in San Diego, won her challenge to California's licensing law.
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Teaming with Dr. JoAnne Cornwell, a “locktician” from San Diego who created the “Sisterlocks” technique of natural hairstyling (and who chairs of the Africana Studies Department at San Diego State University), the Institute for Justice in 1999 struck down California’s expansive, expensive and arbitrary cosmetology laws that had prevented hundreds of African-Americans (mostly women) from practicing a cultural art form: African hairbraiding.
California had required that African hairstylists spend nine months (1,600 hours) and at least $5,000 at a government-approved cosmetology school before sitting for the state licensing examination, which allowed braiders to legally practice their craft. But none of these government-mandated classes actually taught students how to braid hair. In fact, they taught techniques that were especially damaging to African hair.