Walmart is ending its practice of locking up black hair care products in cases.

Patricia Fulford of Riverhead fought against this in her own Walmart in Riverhead a year ago.

"There was so many people at the time who was against what I was doing. I got a lot of backlash from a lot of people," said Fulford.

Other major corporations which are re-evaluating their business practices after the death of George Floyd and the protests across the nation. In a statement, the company says as a retailer that serves millions of customers every day from diverse backgrounds they will not tolerate discrimination of any kind.

During a company meeting last week, Walmart CEO Doug McMillon had this message: "Let me say clearly to our black and African American associates and communities, we hear you, we see you. I want you to know you're valued. You're loved members of our family."

H. Scottie Coads, the state Civic Engagement Chair for the NAACP, says it's a good small step for Walmart but says it shouldn't have happened in the first place.

"Now we should move forward to make sure that our people are no longer looked at as thieves," said Coads.

After Fulford talked to News 12 last February, she took to social media and talked to town leaders and soon after the locks were removed in the Riverhead store. She says it was months before she felt comfortable going back into the retailer.

"I just wanted to be treated equal to anyone else spending their money. I didn't feel that I should have to wait as a black woman to get hair products," Fulford said.

This practice was at the center of a federal discrimination lawsuit that was dropped last year.