African hair braiding has been a culturally significant practice in Black communities for decades. Dozens of braiding professionals rode buses to Albany last week to advocate for reforms to the natural hair styling license requirements.
New York State was the first state to adopt a natural hair styling license in 1993. To obtain a license, stylists need a check-up from a doctor, complete 300 hours of training, and pass a written and practical exam. It can cost between $3,500 and $7,000.
The license is also required to braid legally in the state. These requirements have proven to be particularly challenging for Black immigrant braiders, according to the African Communities Together (ACT) 2019 report.
“I have been doing this job since I arrived in America. Braiding is not something new to me, I learned how to braid since I was 12 years old in my home country,” said Ramatoulaye Ngom, a professional braider based in Harlem, in a statement.
“My mother taught me how to braid by putting a dry corn in a bottle and using the leaves to learn how to braid,” continued Ngom. “Most households in Africa with girls use this system, and many ways, to teach girls how to learn how to braid. This job allows me to practice what I learned from my mother, and also to take care of my family.”
Senator Cordell Cleare sponsored the 2025 Natural Hair Styling Bills, which aim to help braiders overcome obstacles to licensure like language barriers, excessive testing, and training requirements. “I’m very appreciative of the influx of creative hair braiders, artists if you will, that came in and really took it to another level. Something that is a part of our history, a part of our tradition, and a part of our heritage,” said Cleare.
Cleare has been wearing her natural hair for decades. As a Black woman and an elected official, she said she’s faced hair discrimination in her career and certainly finds it “annoying, frustrating, and even disrespectful,” but is not discouraged from embracing her natural hair. So when African hair braiders in her district reached out about getting more access to licenses, she was determined to find the best path forward and ensure that the practice of hair braiding was not swamped in bureaucracy.
ACT and over 60 advocates travelled to Albany on Tuesday, May 13, to lobby support for the bill. The legislation requires individuals seeking a license to pass a practical skills assessment in their natural language, establishing an education criterion of 40 hours as opposed to 300; and requires all forms and materials to be provided to applicants in their natural language. It also allows for anyone age 17 and older, who meets the criteria to apply for a hair braiding license.
“It was amazing to see so many dedicated hair braiders come to Albany to advocate for their profession,” said Assemblymember Pamela J. Hunter, who sponsored the assembly version of the bill, in a statement. “Most of these braiders only earn when they work, which underscores how important this licensure change is to improve their occupation. Current standards are unproductively burdensome to those who have dedicated so much to this craft.”
Massandje Doukoure, another professional braider, said that many clients assume that braiders do not have licenses. This leads to mistreatment and disrespect, said Doukoure.
“For too long, African women hair braiders have been forced to navigate a system that doesn’t honor their craft. They’ve been required to complete hundreds of hours of classes and pay thousands of dollars to learn a skill they already know,” said ACT New York Chapter Director Maimouna Dieye. “The current Natural Hair Styling licensing requirements impose unnecessary and burdensome barriers that prevent talented and hardworking braiders from legally practicing their craft and earning a dignified livelihood. The braiders in our community are not asking for special treatment. They are demanding equity and fair treatment.”
Hair advocacy groups, like the Natural Hairstyle & Braid Coalition (NHBC), are in support of the legislation. However, they suggest certain amendments to the bill to make sure the curriculum still includes coursework about scalp disorders, proper shampoo techniques, proper conditioning and detangling methods, sanitation, and promoting healthy hair care.
“You know how to braid, but you have to know the science behind it,” said NHBC Co-founder Diane Da Costa. “We don’t want to intentionally harm ourselves, and cause harm to themselves and the community if they’re not educated about hair.”
Da Costa said that the organization is also in favor of two separate licenses: one for natural hair care, sponsored by Assemblymember Gary Pretlow, and one for braiding, sponsored by Cleare.
The Pretlow bill outlines the services included in natural hair care and braiding, emphasizes techniques without chemicals or heat, addresses techniques that cause tension or traction alopecia, creates an apprenticeship, allows individuals with at least five years of experience to apply for a license after completing coursework and providing proof of experience, and creates an advanced expertise natural hair care and braiding license.
“We’re open to hear from anybody,” said Cleare. “The point here is just not to make it an arduous process for people to braid hair, and also to make it easier in their own language. We don’t want anybody to be prohibited by that. That’s the main idea of the bill. It’s not meant to hurt any other professional, or any other group, or take away from the qualifications to do other parts of hairstyling.”