Long Beach City College hosted Convos and Cuts, an annual event during Black Student Success Week that allows students to get free haircuts while talking to their peers.
For this event, barbers were gathered from different areas of California, and gave haircuts to people while also potentially building new clientele.
While waiting for their turns, students engaged in conversations with each other in the waiting section; indulging in free food and enjoying live music that was played by a DJ.
During the event, there were opportunities for attendees to ask and answer questions on a microphone.
For example, one question asked was “Who is your favorite teacher from any grade and why?”
Students started giving their answers, which then led to a barber giving theirs as well.
A touching moment when Lawrence Meyer, a barber at the event and former student of Erainia Freeman, talked about how much of a good teacher she was.
The two then hugged and posed for a couple of pictures, Erainia and Lawrence were smiling ear to ear. It was so infectious that the student who got his haircut by Lawrence started smiling as well.
The biggest takeaway from this event is the sense of community that’s built by the barbers, students and faculty members.
When asked about what makes this event so important, Markel Kidd, a barber who owns a shop in Rancho Cucamonga, went on to say this.
“It’s my second year being out here now. When you hear about Black excellence, it just pulls you in. Giving haircuts to so many black students really made my day. Seeing people so supportive of this is a really great thing to see all the time,” said Markel.
Kidd has been a barber for a while now and takes pride in what he does for a living. He really appreciates being able to give back to the community.
“This was the only thing I had passion for, and it makes it seem like it’s not a job. It’s nothing but positivity and you don’t see any negativity. Why wouldn’t people want to be out here for this?” said Kidd.
Kidd was even able to put on other barbers by letting them know about this event and giving them an opportunity to connect with the school as well.
It also seems as if the positivity has brought on people who don’t even attend the school. One person I got to speak to was Jarmarro Mercer, a marketing consultant.
When asked what brought him out here he said, “I came out here to take pictures and just support, we need support and community, especially for black events like this. The more support the event has then the more they can thrive.”
Mercer had gotten a cut from Markel and gave his rating.
“10 out of 10, I’m satisfied,” said Mercer.
This event brings the energy of what you’d normally get from a barbershop while making you feel like a new person with your fresh cut afterward.