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HBO: June, as one of the featured barbers in the
film, how would you describe yourself?
June: I'd describe myself as a hard workin' man. A
hustler. I've been cutting hair for about
twenty years, and I just felt like the world
needed to see what barbering was really all
about. And I kinda started taping in the
barber shop myself at first. And then I
hooked up with a friend of mine, Reggie
Williams who was in the shop one day and he
saw the energy while I was taping, and we
talked and kinda just kept it moving.
HBO: Reggie, you're a client, yes?
Reggie Williams: Yeah. It's funny because I used to go to Malik,
June's brother, who's also prominently
featured in the film. Malik was my barber for
about four years. I was in the shop one day,
and the shop was always very animated. Like
June said, there was a camcorder there, and
there was a guy, Sugar Dice, who's also
featured in the film, who was really
expounding on the Middle East and foreign
affairs and things like that, and it was just
fascinating. And I asked June what was going
on and he said, Reg, you know, I think this
would be a great idea for a documentary. And
I agreed. So I said, I really wanna be involved
because I feel passionately about expressing
the different types of black men that are out
there, and giving a window into their world.
At that point, I took the concept to another
good friend of mine who I thought would be
great to work with, (HBO's) Amani Martin.
Amani Martin: Reggie actually called me for lunch said he
had something he wanted to talk to me about.
I'd never been to Levels (the barbershop
featured in the film). But this was something
that after looking at the first page of Reggie's
pitch, I said, Yup, this is something I
definitely would be interested in getting
involved in. We then approached Bill
McCullough, a very talented editor who has
his own production company. And Bill came
in, and then it became the gang of four.
HBO: How would you describe the environment of
the barbershop?
June: I'd describe it like the Coliseum. It's an
arena. And it's a safe haven for people just to
be. You know? Everybody wants to be
somebody, and the barbershop is pretty much
a forum where you can be that person you
wanna be, even if it's not who you really are,
or if you wanna just be somebody that you're
pretending to be. You can be it in the barber
shop. It's freedom. For me, it's sport.
HBO: You describe yourselves as barber
psychologists. Can you elaborate?
June: Well I feel that I'm in touch with people. You
know, I've been cutting hair for twenty years,
and it's not just about taking hair off a
person's head, it's about the connection
between two people. That's why people talk to
their barbers, because you're totally inside
their spirit. You're touching them. You know,
sometimes I actually forget when I'm cutting
hair that my hands are usually always on a
person's shoulder. What that does for me is it
relaxes me into a person's energy. So we
become one to a certain degree. And when
you got that oneness it's... it's kinda like sex
almost. I know that sounds kinda crazy, but
it's a connection. Within sex there's a
connection between people. Within barbering
there's a connection between two people. So
you get that open feeling. It's intimacy.
Amani Martin: You know, in the black community, especially
in certain types of neighborhoods and
Harlem's a great example, black men need to
keep up a certain image, because it's tough.
You don't want somebody to take advantage of
you. So a lot of times, what that does is that
causes people to put up a certain kind of wall.
And so, there are not a lot of outlets. So you
might just be a brother living up in Harlem
who isn't able to kinda talk, you might have a
wall up with your wife or with your girlfriend.
You might have a wall with your boys where
you can't kinda tell 'em what's going on. You
may have a wall at your place of work. But
for whatever reason, when people enter the
shop, especially when they have a barber that
they can connect with --and June is great for
this--they open up in a way that they might
not be able to do otherwise. And that's why I
think June is the barber psychologist.
Reggie Williams: It's literally and metaphorically a place where
you can go in and let your hair down. It's
about more than just being transformed in a
physical way, you feel better about yourself
mentally and emotionally, but it's also a place
where if you're feeling down, you can go in
and just the transformation you get from the
feeling of community, the feeling of
brotherhood can make a huge difference in
your general demeanor.
I think black men are socialized differently
than other men in America, and when you
take a place like Harlem where we shot the
film, Harlem has a reputation for being 'fly',
for people being fabulous, and for people
being strong, you know? So when black men
come to the barber shop, they wanna preach,
they wanna feel free to let themselves out--to
gain, and to give.
HBO: Tell me about "the hustle". What does that
expression mean?
June: You got barbers who just kinda sit in the
barber shop all day and wait for people to
come to them. Then you got a guy that
realizes that it's an art, but it's also a
profession, and you have to hustle. So, if I'm
slow on a particular day, I just get outside
and bring somebody in. I'm gonna build up
this energy. It's the hustle. It's kinda like
scoring a basket in basketball. You score a
basket, you score another one and all of a
sudden the basket just gets bigger. Same
thing with barbering. It's a sport. That's the
hustle.
HBO: What do you hope the audience will take away
from the film?
Reggie Williams:I hope what the audience takes away is that
we all have a lot more in common than we
believe. I think the general population has
been bombarded with certain images of black
men as athletes, as entertainers. But we are
all that and more. We're all share many
universal qualities, and I think that this
bridges the gap of humanity.
Amani Martin: I also think there are certain stereotypes, and
the most common stereotype for black men is
not that they are intelligent. And I think what
you see in the barber shop are guys who are
maybe on the street, guys who might be
working class but who have intelligent
political opinions. So I hope it brings a greater
appreciation for that kind of black
intelligence.
June: For me I really want to show that cutting hair
is a universal thing. It brings the universe
together, so to speak, where people can
connect. I also want people to see the
diversity of black men, seeing that we're all so
different, and not putting us into one
category. And I want people to see barbering
as a sport, showing that it's no different than
a guy who took a skateboard and made
millions with it. It's entertainment.
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