DETROIT – Fridays at Metro Detroit Barber College are typically busy. They’re busy with barbers, clients, and other community members catching up on hot topics between haircuts.
However, the chat in that space is a bit different this week. The upcoming election is top of mind.
“The barbershop is a safe place for Black men,” said Harrison Shelby, a Community Activist in Detroit. “We’re already having the conversations from politics to sports. And so, what happens in this barbershop, we’re trying to use it as an opportunity to organize in this moment.”
Shelby is one of the organizers of an event called “The Barbershop Vote: Black Men & The Power of the Ballot.”
It is a grassroots effort to engage men in discussions about important issues and the political process as they prepare to vote.
“All eyes are on Detroit,” Shelby said. “All eyes are on Black men right now. And we need to have these discussions about what’s really at stake. The issues and things that we care about. Things that we want to see for ourselves. Our families and our communities.”
Organizers said Friday’s event was about meeting people, the voters, where they are, and allowing them to communicate what’s top of mind.
Barber Ulie Walker and his client James Beasley believe the stakes are high.
“How can we bring everything together as far as finances and education for our people,” Walker said.
This event included voter registration, a panel discussion with various community stakeholders, and a mobile health unit that offered free health screenings.
Organizer Dr. Alicia Shelby, M.D. said offering wrap-around services and resources was important for this community event, knowing access to health care is a community concern this election, both locally and nationally.
“I visited my husband’s barbershop, and I heard some information that wasn’t quite right, wasn’t quite wrong,” Dr. Shelby explained. “I thought, let’s bring us all together to dialogue. To a collective understanding about the election.”
Organizers said they wanted neighbors to feel included and heard.
Christopher Ford with Force Detroit was among the attendees. His organization focuses on community violence intervention. Ford said he’s been getting an earful from voters this election season.
“The conversation has been very resonant,” Ford said. “We have a lot of folks that are interested in the election itself. As far as being involved in this election, we do have a few folks that haven’t really committed to being a part of the legislative process and getting out to vote.”
Organizers and supporters said the goal, now, is to keep the conversations going.
“I believe this is an opportunity to continue to build community amongst Brothers,” Shelby said.