Cuttin' Up: Wit and Wisdom From Black Barber Shops
by Craig Marberry
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Book Summary Information
Author: Craig MarberryEdition: Hardcover
Audio: English (Unknown); English (Original Language); English (Published)
Published: 2005-05-10
ISBN: 0385511647
Number of pages: 192
Publisher: Doubleday
Book Reviews of Cuttin' Up: Wit and Wisdom From Black Barber Shops
Book Review: "The easy hum of men among men"
Summary: 4 Stars
Thanks to the popularity of a recent movie, Barbershop, the public's attention has focused on the central gathering place for black men, the local barbershop. In an oral history that covers every aspect of community life, Marberry gathers stories from across the country, from "Detroit to Orlando, Brooklyn to Houston". This small gem, complete with black and white photographs, captures the wit and wisdom of barbers and their patrons, including a very select few women barbers who wield their scissors on this sacred turf.
Albert Ghee, Jr., a customer, talks about Shorty, a midget with a shoe shine stand, who worked in the back of his uncle's barbershop in Farmville, Virginia. If you gave Shorty an extra dollar, he'd thump out tunes with his rag as he polished your shoes, "The Star Spangled Banner" or "Amazing Grace." But Albert never enjoyed Shorty's unique rhythms until he was thirteen-years old; boys had to be teenagers before they were allowed to partake of the barbershop ambiance.
Wheeler Parker, a barbershop owner, has a cautionary tale to share, a hard lesson forced upon young men in his day, white men terrorizing in the middle of the night. Parker wants more for the younger generation after all the suffering, all the lost opportunities of his youth. He wants them to remember his cousin's name, Emmett Till. "He had a short life. Fourteen years. But if we remember, then it wasn't a wasted life."
Betty Reece was the only other woman besides Clara Poke and forty men in barber school. Betty was so painfully shy that one of her instructors said she was "so slow, she would miss the boat and the bus". Betty never did overcome her shyness and sat all day waiting for customers, lacking the effusiveness to gather regular clients. Sometimes she never had a single customer: "Felt like I was watching hair grow." She quit the business but still has her license and may go back to barbering one day.
Omar Rasul is a barber who enjoys the camaraderie of the shop, always up for a few laughs, which he considers good therapy. He favors "cut down" sessions, where "you target a person's flaw and roll with it. It's all about making people bust out laughing." On the other hand, the Reverend John C. McClurkin, a customer, likens the barbershop to the dinner table, a forum for family members to share stories and fellowship. The shop enjoys a similar dynamic, "except nobody's trying to hide their vegetables".
There are a few barbershop rules: "comments must both entertain and enlighten, proverbs need punch lines and comedy needs a dose of the profound". This thoughtful and humorous collection offers a peek into the rarified world of the black barbershop, still as popular today as when it first began. There's a sound you can hear above the clip and buzz of scissors and clippers: "It's the easy hum of men among men." Luan Gaines/2005.
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