Beauty And Barbershops

Barbershops is a tribute to a romantic time when waiting in line was an excuse for a chat and when looking tip-top was a personal mantra. Once a hub of local news and activity, sacred to men and closed to women, the barbershop is slowly disappearing. If their walls could talk, they would tell of boys' first visits with their fathers, of potions applied to men's beards and self-esteem, of great arguments held, of friendships made, broken, and made again. Barbershops captures the original, beautiful, kitsch, and sometimes surreal beauty of these fading places. Featuring brilliant portraits, unusual decor, and heartbreaking stories, it will transport you to one of the most authentic spaces in our urban environment. Book jacket.

"A stirring work . . . images meet text to convey a most handsome portrait of Black barbering in America as a revered cultural practice. Honest, intelligent, poignant—You Next is brilliant from cover to cover." —Maurice Wallace, Rutgers University An intimate photographic exploration of the ways Black barber shops operate as sites for the cultivation of Black male identity and wellness Growing up, getting a haircut was a weekly event Antonio M. Johnson looked forward to more than anything. There in that tilted chair surrounded by members of his community and totems of a shared experience, Johnson felt safe—felt like anything was possible. Barber shops are more than places simply to get a cut. They are where Black men can speak and receive feedback about who we are, who we want to be, and what we believe to be true about the world around us. The interpretation of the barber shop as community center falls short of capturing what they really are for so many Black men: sanctuaries in a hostile land. You Next is an intimate photographic exploration of Black barber shops in major US cities—Gary, Indiana; Washington DC; New York City; Oakland; Atlanta; Los Angeles; Detroit; New Orleans; Montgomery; Memphis, and Johnson's hometown of Philadelphia. These photos, interviews, and essays tell the full story of the Black barber shop in America.

What is the best way to understand black political ideology? Just listen to the everyday talk that emerges in public spaces, suggests Melissa Harris-Lacewell. And listen this author has--to black college students talking about the Million Man March and welfare, to Southern, black Baptists discussing homosexuality in the church, to black men in a barbershop early on a Saturday morning, to the voices of hip-hop music and Black Entertainment Television. Using statistical, experimental, and ethnographic methods Barbershops, Bibles, and B.E.T offers a new perspective on the way public opinion and ideologies are formed at the grassroots level. The book makes an important contribution to our understanding of black politics by shifting the focus from the influence of national elites in opinion formation to the influence of local elites and people in daily interaction with each other. Arguing that African Americans use community dialogue to jointly develop understandings of their collective political interests, Harris-Lacewell identifies four political ideologies that constitute the framework of contemporary black political thought: Black Nationalism, Black Feminism, Black Conservatism and Liberal Integrationism. These ideologies, the book posits, help African Americans to understand persistent social and economic inequality, to identify the significance of race in that inequality, and to devise strategies for overcoming it.

Using simple text and pictures, this book describes what happens at a barbershop, and what a barber does.

"Barbershops are synonymous with great memories, and nostalgic by the smells and feeling of a fresh cut or shave. Barbershops of America is the product of a 7-year journey by Rob Hammer, who traveled to all 50 states of the USA, documenting the disappearing old-school barbershop and the men who were staples of their community. Photographs and stories chronicle the barbershops of old, but also capture the stark contrast that is the "next generation" of traditional barbers. These new-school barbers may look like the polar opposite of what a traditional barber would look like, yet despite the obvious difference in the way these professionals carry themselves, their purpose is consistent: to carry on the tradition that they love."--Back cover