Not long ago, Arizona State University professor Dr. Neal Lester, Ph.D., was sitting in his office, when one of his grad students came in. As they talked, Lester noticed that the student seemed distressed. "And that student actually broke down in tears because they were overwhelmed by all the things that they had to do," said Lester.Lester did his best to comfort the student.
This month, Poetry in America will host a public, in-person event to celebrate ASU Professor Elisa New's new base in Arizona. Registration is now open for the first-ever Poetry in America: Welcome to the West live experience, hosted by Arizona PBS in downtown Phoenix on Wednesday, April 13.
There are now 10 cities in the country that have approved a measure making it illegal to “enforce a dress code or grooming policies that discriminate against a person’s natural hairstyle.”
Tucson became the most recent municipality with that designation when it passed the CROWN ordinance. CROWN is an acronym for “Creating a Respectful and Open World for Natural Hair.”
As more Americans are trying to become anti-racist and learn more about the social injustices people of color face, there are still countless incidents related to comments about natural hair or bodies, for example.
To help put this into perspective, The Show spoke with Neal Lester. He is foundation professor of English and founding director of Project Humanities at Arizona State University.