Colin Powell School
Black people's natural hair has long been stigmatized in professional settings. One past Colin Powell School Fellow decided that being authentic was not just something that needed to happen but something that had to happen.
Clinical Psychologist Dr. Gillian Scott-Ward, director of the film Back to Natural, was selected by the NYC Commission on Human Rights to lead trainings on racial bias for businesses found to have discrimination against employees on the basis of hair style.
The NYC Commission of Human Rights announced new protections and enforcement actions against discrimination based on natural hairstyles in employment, education and public accommodations. View the official press release. It is now deemed illegal to discriminate against someone because of their natural born hair.
Dr. Scott-Ward commented that her involvement as a Colin Powell School fellow pushed her to influence policy:
“My time as a fellow was amazingly powerful. It influenced the direction I took with my dissertation and even after graduating. I worked at Barnard College as a Clinical Psychologist for six years while simultaneously directing a documentary film, Back to Natural. I just remember learning about the use of "soft power" via in the media and other means and couldn't shake it! Well, I completed the film in 2017 and started traveling the world with it, offering workshops on healing racial trauma and at the end of 2018 ended up bringing it to the NYC Commission on Human Rights to advocate for laws protecting Black people from Racial Discrimination guised as "grooming standards." The commission's response was amazing. This week they announced these protections. Anyway, a part of me at the time of being a fellow was just overjoyed to get the financial support! But all these years later I know it completely changed my life. People from diverse fields MUST feel that they can influence policy and at least try to.”
The Colin Powell School Fellowship program offers a variety of fellowship opportunities for both undergraduate and graduate students at The City College of New York. The programs are open to all students regardless of the major or specified school.
About “Back to Natural”
Back to Natural is a 69-minute documentary film that reveals the shocking truth about hair, politics, and racial identity in Black communities and beyond. Directed by New York City based Clinical Psychologist Gillian Scott-Ward, the film was inspired by the work she was doing in her clinical practice and her own drive to go natural. Executively produced by Marquis Smalls and produced by Dominic Ward, Back to Natural is a powerful call for healing that takes a grassroots approach to exploring the globalized policing of natural Black hair.
Filmed in New York City, Philadelphia, Paris, And Cape Town, this documentary explores universal aspects of the Black experience and the "New" Natural Hair movement. Join us on this journey of discovery and enlightenment while celebrating our history and natural styles that are taking the world by storm.