Welcome to this episode of Alopecia Life.The past few weeks have been ones full of awareness around alopecia areata. It's brought to light more than we ever could have anticipated, especially around the complicated relationship amongst the black community and hair loss. This interview was scheduled months ago to be released today. Our guest deeply connects with the topic with understanding, representation, and also one of passion. Congresswoman Ayanna Pressley is an activist, a legislator, a survivor, and the first woman of color to be elected to Congress from the Commonwealth of Massachusetts. Throughout her career, she has fought to ensure that those closest to the pain are closest to the power - driving and informing policymaking. In Congress, she has been a champion for justice and healing. She has also turned her experience living with alopecia into action, becoming a leading voice fighting to raise awareness and support for the alopecia community across the nation.

Congresswoman Pressley currently serves on the House Committee on Oversight and Reform and the House Committee on Financial Services. Prior to being elected to Congress, she served on the Boston City Council for eight years, and was the first woman of color elected to the council in its 100-year history. 

Thank you for listening to Alopecia Life today. We appreciate the time you've taken, to not only listen to Ayanna Pressley's personal experience of living with alopecia, but also of what we can do to make a difference for the alopecia community at large. To get in touch, follow Representative Pressley on social media, and to learn more about the Medical Wigs Act and Crown Act, those links are all here in the show notes, along with her interview with the Root.

https://www.theroot.com/exclusive-rep-ayanna-pressley-reveals-beautiful-bald-1841039847

• Medical Wigs Act
  • https://www.vanityfair.com/news/2021/09/ayanna-pressley-fighting-for-medicare-to-cover-wigs
  • https://pressley.house.gov/media/press-releases/pressley-mcgovern-colleagues-honor-alopecia-areata-awareness-month-unveil-bill
  • CROWN Act
    • https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K3WoI6-AIpU
    • https://pressley.house.gov/media/press-releases/video-rep-pressley-speaks-alopecia-areata-awareness-month-and-house-passage
    • https://pressley.house.gov/media/press-releases/reps-pressley-watson-coleman-lee-omar-moore-seek-support-vp-harris-passage

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Alopecia Life provides free resources for school and home education, including a growing list of alopecia books, education videos on YouTube, links to support groups within the US, UK, Canada and more. You will also find access to Head-On, Stories of Alopecia, the Alopecia 101 free course, paid Alopecia Roadmap course for parents of children living with alopecia, and personalized coaching. Together, we can make a difference. To find out more, https://www.alopecialife.com/