Fayetteville's Black Spaces: Bonding, community and mentorship at the barbershop

On a recent Wednesday afternoon, Travis Fowler was in his Bragg Boulevard barbershop as he's been most weekdays for the past quarter century. In Fowler's chair sat Robert Owens getting his customary shave. Owens' daughter, who was waiting off to the side with a fresh haircut, said they've been going to the small shop along the busy Fayetteville thoroughfare for about five years.

"They just bond at the barbershop," Candace Owens said. "It’s kind of a staple in our community ... where men come and just release and get to know each other like only Black men can."

The shop has been in the same corner building since it was first opened in 1970 by former owner David Brown.

Midway Barber Shop was one of the first Black-owned barbershops in the city, Fowler said. Brown was instrumental in showing a young Fowler that he could have a career and be an asset in the community. In 2003, Fowler took ownership of the shop from his mentor. Brown still worked alongside Fowler until 2014.

Being an asset in Fayetteville is still important to Fowler. The barbershop was once the headquarters for Caring 7, a grassroots group made up of friends and Black business owners. For 18 years, Fowler and the six other members would hand out Thanksgiving meals to those in need, among other charitable endeavors. Even though Caring 7 has since disbanded as its members aged or moved, Fowler continues to offer support wherever he can. For years, he's given free haircuts at area nursing homes.

For a while, Fowler would go to Fayetteville Technical Community College and share his documentary, "Edge," with students in the barber program. The film shows his path from apprentice to barber to master barber and the impact of barbershops in the Black community. The movie was shown at film festivals in Wilmington, Chicago and New York.

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Fowler started cutting hair when he was 12 years old, stating his grandmother pushed him to pursue it as a career.

"I was doing it in my grandmother’s backyard," Fowler said. "Now, I can actually do it as a career and take care of my family doing it."

Fowler is proud of all the young Black business owners who have shown the next generation a better way of life.

"What happens is it creates a culture within itself to teach young people that, 'I can do it, too,'" Fowler said.

Fowler said being a Black business owner gives the younger generation something to aspire to.

"Any time a young Black man can see another Black man running his own business, that's important," Fowler said.

On April 15, the shop celebrates its 54th year.

'You see what's needed and you do what you can'

Another man vital to the barbershop scene in Fayetteville is Jonathan "Jon-Jon" McPherson. The third-generation barber has been co-owner of Platform Dzynz with his cousin Sean Simmons for 20 years. Located at 6257 Raeford Road, the shop is family-oriented and welcoming to all, according to McPherson.

"We love everybody. We cut everybody here," McPherson said. "Everybody is somebody, you know. That’s how we are."

McPherson said he has been cutting hair for more than 36 years in Fayetteville and uses his business to help lead kids away from the streets. He learned that when he got his start at Skibo Road Barber Shop under his cousin Oswain Blue. There they would hire young kids in the community to keep them out of trouble.

"Some of them might be troublesome kids and just need someone to pay attention, you know, to put some time into them. They got great potential ... that was just one of the things we did," McPherson said. "That’s the culture of the barbershop. You see what’s needed and you do what you can do to make improvements."

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McPherson said his barbershop is involved in the community in many different ways, whether by hosting Shop Talk for local political candidates to share their views on issues or hiring young men to sweep the floors as a way to keep them off the streets.

Photos of Fayetteville's sports legends like football player Tank Tyler and basketball coach Jeff Capel line the walls of the shop.

"I put their pictures on the wall so the kids can see that it’s obtainable," he said. "I try to put Black information up to let them know the significance we played in the history of this America that we helped build."

McPherson said he's proud to know that his business will continue on, even when he can no longer. Two of his children, Jonathan McPherson Jr. and Adrian McPherson, both cut hair at the barbershop.

"Sometimes, I have to walk in the bathroom and shed my tears because it’s a beautiful thing," McPherson explained. "When your kids see the greatness in you that you don’t even see, and want to do what you do, man, that’s greater. It’s like watching two of your kids being inducted into the hall of fame. That’s the feeling you get and it’s a beautiful thing."

Jonathan McPherson Jr. said working with family was important to him growing as a barber and as a person. Growing up, Jonathan was one of the young kids who swept the barbershop floor, and now he has his own chair where he can show off the skills he's learned from his years in the shop.

"A lot of people don't even see their parents every day," McPherson Jr. said. "To be able to come in here and grind every day is important."

As customer Eric Diggs waited for a chair to open last week, he shared he has been coming to the shop for 13 years.

"It’s always been a good atmosphere. It’s always been a family-type of atmosphere. We're looking out for one another," Diggs said.

He said that Black youth learn from the barbershop lessons that are not taught in a classroom.

The shop is "a safe environment for the youth to come to and be able to sit and learn, not just about the business, but also learn about life. Learn about the struggles that, for instance, John John has went through. He’s much older than a lot of youth and he can give them experiences not only in Black-owned business but his life as well."

'The most consistent business the black community has ever had'

Kevin Brooks, director of the nonprofit The Group Theory Inc. which offers counseling to teens, said he began his youth outreach during his 25 years as a barber in Fayetteville. Brooks has owned four barbershops in the area but hung up the clippers in 2021.

He said owning a barbershop is both the most humbling and the most welcoming career you can experience.

“After a while, I realized we housed every version of human beings that walked the earth,” Brooks said. “We could actually watch human transformation in the matter of 30 minutes to an hour.”

Being a barber is more than cutting hair, he said. It's about bringing value to the community.

“Barbers have to think outside those four walls," Brooks said. "You have to support those who come in to support you.”

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While the barbershop is open to everyone — "Every nationality, every race of persons has always been welcomed," Brooks said — the barbershop's status in the Black community is unique.

“My mama laid a foundation," he said. "The barbershop nurtured what was left of what my mama taught me."

Public safety reporter Joseph Pierre can be reached at jpierre@gannett.com.

This article originally appeared on The Fayetteville Observer: Barbershops a place of importance in Fayetteville's Black community