PAVILLON DES CÈDRES
Saturday June 1 - 1:45 p.m.-2:45 p.m.
Hair Discrimination Panel
For an hour, our panel of experts will take stock of the importance of the law against hair discrimination in France and the United States, its potential impact on our daily lives and the role that everyone has played for better acceptance. natural hair.
Wendy Greene
Professor D. Wendy Greene is an award-winning anti-discrimination law scholar, advocate, and educator who has dedicated her professional life to combating color and gender inequality in the United States and abroad. Wendy Greene is a professor of law at the Kline School of Law at Drexel University in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, where she is also director of the Center for Law, Policy and Advocacy. Founder of the #FreeTheHair movement; her activism spans nearly two decades, fighting systemic discrimination on the basis of natural or afro hairstyles. She shaped the legal model for groundbreaking civil rights legislation in the United States (popularly known as the CROWN Acts). An internationally renowned legal advisor, she has participated in more than 20 pieces of legislation governing hair discrimination, including in France. Professor Greene is currently writing a forthcoming book, “#FreeTheHair: Locking Black Hair to Civil Rights Movements.”
Fatou N'Diaye
Fatou N'diaye, from the Blackbeautybag blog, has been a blogger and consultant in the world of cosmetics for almost 20 years. She campaigns for better representation and greater visibility of black beauty in the cosmetics and media market.
An activist, she celebrates the development and self-esteem of black women on a daily basis. Fatou has helped thousands of women in France embrace and love their natural hair when the media and brands completely made natural frizzy hair invisible.
Guylaine Conquet
Guylaine Conquet is a French figurative artist from Guadeloupe, residing in Georgia (United States). Her work reflects her intimate journey with her natural hair, from moments of embarrassment to acceptance and pride. Since 2019, Guylaine has been deeply engaged in exploring the history and cultural significance of Afro hair. She is involved in questioning societal norms that have long stigmatized Afro hair, preferring to highlight their beauty and singularity.
Artist and activist, Guylaine is at the origin of the law against hair discrimination in France. She contacted and then collaborated with MP Olivier Serva to mobilize policy makers, community leaders and the general public in a dialogue on the urgency of legislative action. The law against hair discrimination was adopted by the French Parliament on March 28, 2024, making France the first country in the world to legislate at the national level. Guylaine also gives conferences and talks in American high schools and universities to tell her story & uses her brushes to represent the challenges and victories linked to asserting her identity.