Examining Labor Among Black Collegiate Men in a Barbershop Talks Series

• In Event: Oppression and Agency: Marginalized Students Navigating Higher Education

Abstract

Barbershop Talks are a fairly new phenomenon in higher education. Typically, these student programs invoke aspects of Black barbershop culture and African American Vernacular English (AAVE) to re(create) places where Black collegiate men can engage in community, gendered dialogue, and consciousness around issues that affect them. Barbershop Talks also provide a place for Black collegiate men to feel a sense of belonging and mattering. This qualitative study explored the experiences of five Black collegiate men who were student-leaders and labored to maintain a Barbershop Talks series at a historically White institution. Using Black placemaking as a framework, the findings revealed how the men expanded their leadership skills and abilities and understanding of Blackness as a result of their labor.

Authors

• Jarrod E. Druery, University of Cincinnati

• Jason Ottley, SXSW