Isis Brantley
Isis Brantley is an expert African hairbraider. Her decades of experience have allowed her to work with everyone from Grammy-award-winning artist Erykah Badu to clients whose hair has been damaged by the use of chemicals and practices taught at state-licensed cosmetology schools. For nearly 30 years, Isis has taught African hairbraiding to everyone from out-of-work women seeking a new skill as a first step on the economic ladder to state-licensed cosmetologists interested in learning the art of African hairbraiding.
Her personal fight first began in 1997 when several undercover officers entered Isis’s hairbraiding shop and arrested her for braiding hair without a cosmetology license. That experience made Isis a passionate advocate of the rights of braiders.
Related Case
Economic Liberty | Hair Braiding | Occupational Licensing
Should African hair braiders have to build an entire barber college and become barbering instructors just to teach hair braiding? Texas officials think so.
Texas tried to force natural hair braiding schools to convert into fully-equipped barber colleges—solely to teach hair braiding—even though braiders aren’t barbers.