Arizona State University’s Center for the Study of Race and Democracy held a community discussion Thursday to talk about the play ‘Barber Shop Chronicles’ and the role barbershops hold in black communities both from global and local standpoints.
The panel discussion was led by Mathew Sandoval, a faculty fellow at ASU’s Barrett Honors College, and panelists included Chandra Crudup, Olga Davis, Anthony Gathers, Kate McGrath and the playwright Inua Ellams.
The panelists discussed how barbershops are a safe place where community members can be their true selves and learn various topics such as health or politics.
“Men will listen to their barbers, they will consult their barbers, they will talk to their barbers in ways that they don’t always talk to the women in their lives,” said Davis, a professor at ASU’s Hugh Downs School of Human Communication.
‘Barber Shop Chronicles’ was written by Ellams, and focuses on the relationship, experience and trust between African American barbers and their clients. The play sheds light on the role masculinity plays in black barbershops, which create a safe place for men to come and express themselves freely.
Ellams came across a project from a nongovernment organization that ran a mental health training program for barbers in South London. The training was to teach them how to give advice and counsel in the barbershops. While at the training, Ellams found conversations in the barbershop intimate and thought there was something worth doing with them.
Ellams is a Nigerian artist based in the United Kingdom. His works feature playss, poems and performances. Ellams was born in Nigeria and immigrated to London as a child before relocating to Dublin, Ireland, several years later. He remained there until he moved back to London at the age of 18, where he began writing poetry.
Ellams has won several awards for his creative works.
“I’ve seen hundreds of theater and dance and music pieces and this is the best I’ve ever seen because of how human, how funny, how tragic, how beautiful the story is,” said Michael Reed, senior director of programs and organizational initiatives at ASU Gammage.
“I’ve been pushing health and getting yourself a house for your family, going to work,” said Gathers, a barber and owner of Ageez Hair Center said. “Some guys won’t go to work, you seem them come in and out. We can be like ‘Hey man, you need to get on the right track.’ We have that kind of power in the barber shop.”
Marion Kelly, 60, watched the play and said he’s been getting his hair cut at a barbershop since he was 5-years-old. He said barbers taught him lessons of manhood, like what it means to be an African-American man.
After the discussion between the panelists, Sandoval opened the discussion to audience members so they could ask questions regarding their own experience, the role barbers play within black communities and how artists lead the way to change.
“If you walk in my shop, I don’t care who you are, what color you are, you’re going to get treated with respect,” Gathers said. “If we come together and make people feel good… it brings people together, it’s all about how you usher them into your place.”
The Barbershop Chronicles is being shown at ASU’s Gammage Hall in Tempe on Saturday, Oct. 13, 2018, at 7 p.m.
For questions, contact the reporter at jpbeltra@asu.edu.
