Ever since she was young, just 11 years old, Keidy Barrientos has been involved in the family business, learning the art of hair styling at her mother's shop, Mis Ninas Unisex Beauty Salon in Middletown.

“It’s kind of like an art project for me," Barrientos said. "It taps into my creative side, so I definitely enjoy it.”

She’s also seen, first-hand, how people can be discriminated against, just from how they style their hair.

“You can tell by the remarks. If your hair is called severe, it’s like ‘oh, your hair is different.’ Or, ‘oh, are you gonna comb your hair?’ Things like that, you definitely pick up on it, you can pick up on those little social cues," Berrientos said.

At a former job, she says people reacted differently to her hair and that of a white co-worker who had a similar style.

“I've noticed that when I get box braids, it’s like, 'It’s a little unprofessional.' Whereas, for example, if my white peer got box braids or any sort of braided style, it’s like, ‘oh, that’s exotic, it’s eccentric. That’s so cool, she’s so edgy.’ And I’m doing this because I need to protect my hair. It’s something I have to do,” Barrientos said.

Senator Kirsten Gillibrand is hoping to end that kind of discrimination with legislation she’s co-sponsored. The CROWN Act would ban race-based discrimination against natural and protective hairstyles associated with people of African descent.

According to a study by Dove, a co-founder of the CROWN coalition, 80% of Black women surveyed said they felt they needed to change their natural hair to fit in at the office. Barrientos says she hears this sentiment often.

“One customer in particular, I said ‘oh, get box braids. Get corn rows or some sort of protective style.’ She’s like, ‘no, I don’t want to do all that. The place that I work, I need to make sure that I look presentable,’ " Barrientos said. "Being a person of color, I understand exactly what she means by that, but it sucks that we have to think that way. Like, what is presentable?”

Barrientos thinks this law will help, but that more needs to be done, because hair-based discrimination is often not explicit, and that more education is needed to end the racist misconception that Black women’s natural hair is unprofessional.

“They don’t know about the discrimination that we face because of our hair, but if someone is willing to educate you, don’t be ignorant about it, don’t be willfully ignorant, and be open to listening to them," Barrientos said.