Braiding Without a License

As of July, braiding hair without a cosmetology license is no longer a crime in the state of Iowa. Two black women, Aicheria Bell and Achan Agit, filed a civil lawsuit against the state’s cosmetology board last fall with the help of the Institute for Justice, claiming that occupational licenses threatened their ability to make a living in Iowa, and disadvantaged black stylists in particular because of the braiding’s racial and cultural roots.