A Creative Crown Project

A Creative Crown Project began as a moment of awkwardness in my work place in October of 2023. After being called into the directors office after my workday concluded I was told by management, “Well if you didn’t have enough time to do your hair this morning, that’s no excuse for you to come to work like that.” I realized in that moment that my hair expression was a topic of regular conversation for those around me, and a consensus had been reached that resulted in my humiliation. I did not realize that what my boss was doing was illegal in the state of New Jersey until I stopped crying and started researching.

That day I went home and spent the next months 13 learning all I could about the CROWN Act and other legislation that protects from discrimination. I focused my 2024 Masters Thesis and Capstone project this legislation and ways to share this law to the community. A fire was lit with the heat of my frustration and aspiration, and A Creative Crown Project was born in the trial by fire method. I no longer work there and I have completed my Masters Degree, but I am grateful for the journey that led me to my passion for advocacy for the protections under the law that this country provides.

During this current administration, with so many laws and political protections are under fire:

I refuse to stand passively while the classrooms wipe Black History from the textbooks of the next generation.

I refuse to let the fearmongers in the news and in the highest places of the government put Black History on the back shelf and do nothing.

I refuse to stay silent when the enrichment programs for young people are being cut and discontinued due to lack of government funding.

MOREOVER, I pledge that as long as there are those who wish to learn and to donate, I will teach and share.

Signed,

Maera Ochieng-Onyango