LOS ANGELES - The LA Civil Rights Department today hosted "Growing Justice: Stories in Black Hair", a live televised event on hair discrimination and toxic hair products. The discussion, hosted on LA CityView 35, included City Councilwoman Heather Hutt, Dr. Astrid Williams of Black Women for Wellness and Tiah-Tomlin Harris, an advocate who overcame triple-negative breast cancer.
The conversation centered around hair-based discrimination and toxic chemicals present in beauty products marketed toward Black consumers. Research suggests Black women with natural hairstyles, such as curly afros, braids or twists, are often perceived as less professional than Black women with straightened hair, particularly in industries where norms dictate a more conservative appearance.
However, a growing body of medical research shows a connection between hair products and deadly cancer. Permanent hair dye and chemical hair straightener use was linked to a higher risk of breast cancer in a new study from researchers at the National Institutes of Health. The risk is more than six times higher for black women. Black women have a 40% mortality rate from breast cancer - the highest of any ethnic group in the United States.
"For Black women, and many Black men, hair-based discrimination is a lifelong batter - and trying to deal with it can be deadly," Maddox said at the top of the program.
“As a consumer, I trusted the companies making the products. But unfortunately without the regulations in place, we’re being harmed," Tomlin-Harris said on the program. Tomlin-Harris had been diagnosed with breast cancer despite no history of cancer in her family. A background in chemistry helped her see how the beauty products she was using were a possible contributing factor to her illness.
Watch the program here or below: