CHICAGO – Employers can no longer discriminate based on hair, thanks to a measure led by State Senator Mattie Hunter (D-Chicago).
The Create a Respectful and Open Workplace for Natural Hair (CROWN) Act was signed into law Wednesday by Governor JB Pritzker, which includes hair texture and protective hairstyles such as braids, locks and twists to the Illinois Human Rights Act’s definition of “race”.
“So much of our identity has been wrapped into our hair, and the way we wear it has been judged for centuries,” Hunter said. “The CROWN Act shouldn’t have been necessary in the land of the ‘free’, but its implementation will protect people from petty discrimination.”
GRAYSLAKE – State Senator Melinda Bush (D-Grayslake) released the following statement after the nation’s top court overturned Roe v. Wade, stripping millions of women across the nation from their right to choose.
“I am appalled, disgusted and disheartened. To be frank, I am speechless. While the decision by the U.S. Supreme Court comes at no surprise, I’m faced with a shock of emotion I never wanted to feel – and that’s because, despite it being 2022, there’s a war against women.
“Because of this decision, people will suffer and women will die. I am in complete dismay that this is where we are as a country. While I can go to sleep each night knowing women in Illinois are protected from the heinous ramifications of the ruling, it devastates me that women across the country don’t have the same freedom. To those women: Illinois is your safe haven. We welcome you with open arms.”
CHICAGO – State Senator Sara Feigenholtz (D-Chicago) released the following statement in response to the U.S. Supreme Court’s ruling overturning Roe v. Wade, eliminating millions of women across the nation the right to choose:
“For decades, the United States has had the privilege of accessing reproductive health care and abortion care afforded by Roe v. Wade. Today, with one swift stroke of the Damocles sword, that privilege has ended for millions of women across the country. The GOP-backed Supreme Court sent reproductive health care and the right to abortion spiraling back 50 years.
“An extremist minority of anti-choice officials have pushed anti-abortion rhetoric with the end goal of overturning Roe v. Wade. This has been their strategy for 50 years; this has always been their endgame.
Read more: Senator Feigenholtz: Illinois is a safe haven for women
June 19, or Juneteenth, commemorates the ending of American slavery. This year began the first year National Freedom Day was celebrated as an official state holiday, with state offices closed in observance.
This past weekend, members of the Illinois Senate Black Caucus celebrated the holiday around the districts they represent.
Majority Caucus Chair Mattie Hunter (D-Chicago) was honored with the Social Equity and Justice Lifetime Achievement Award at Cook County Commissioner Dennis Deer’s Juneteenth Racial Equity event on Friday. There, she spoke of the importance of Juneteenth, the establishment of National Freedom Day, and her work on legislation to recognize the day in Illinois.
Read more: Senate Black Caucus members commemorate Juneteenth in events across the state
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