Today is World Afro Day 2024.

This year the World Afro Day (WAD) campaign is calling on the UK government to introduce a law to protect against afro hair discrimination. They say: “Fix the law, not our hair.”

Earlier this week, the Labour MP Paulette Hamilton and the singer Mel B signed an open letter to MPs, calling on them to vote for the recognition and prevention of afro hair discrimination by updating the Equality Act 2010 to make afro hair a protected characteristic.

The letter has been signed by 100 campaigners and supporters, including the singer Beverley Knight, the writer and campaigner Patrick Hutchinson, the singer and presenter Fleur East, the school leader Evelyn Forde MBE and Prof Patrick Vernon OBE.

The letter warns that the “omission of hair as a protected characteristic from the law has facilitated everyday discrimination and the normalisation of afro hair as inferior in every sphere of life”.

Watch the video to hear from the activist Zina Alfa (@zinaalfa) on why the UK needs laws to protect people from hair discrimination, and click the link in bio for our full report on how this campaign is fighting to make afro hair a protected characteristi