Barbers from across the state are coming together to prepare students for their return to the classroom.
“Man, I’ve always had a passion, definitely for cutting and styling hair,” said barber Henry “Duce” Talley.
He opened his hair salon, Twice The Cuts, and later added the Twice the Cuts School of Cosmetology.
“You know a haircut can do a lot for your confidence and self-esteem. You know when you look good, you feel good,” Talley said.
Every year he received a call from his aunt, a teacher.
“She called me a few days later just before school started and knew a few kids who might need a haircut for school,” Talley said.
Through these phone calls, Duce, as you know him, began to understand that the need was greater than he had imagined, and that he was determined to attack just as big, and that the need required it.
“The first year we only offered games, like Nintendo or PlayStation games, and we started in the salon,” says Talley.
Twenty-one years later, their number has grown from 80 to around 600 children.
“The official name is ‘the twenty-first annual Faded and Educated Back-to-School Free Haircut Day,'” Talley said.
About eighty barbers and forty hair stylists from across the city will take over the gymnasium and parking lot of Star Spencer High School.
“We offer free haircuts and hairstyles to the boys and girls, we run rides, we provide food for everyone in attendance and we invite speakers to talk to the children about the value of education,” Talley said.
“Tables were set up to distribute relief items such as backpacks and school supplies to the community,” said Ayana Talley, Duce’s wife.
All this and more happens Sunday from nine to two at Star Spencer High School
“Wherever they go, someone is encouraging them and telling them, ‘Hey, you look great, you’re going to have a great school year,’” Ayana said.
It’s all free and accessible to everyone.
“You should come and see it, have fun,” said Talley’s daughter Lauren.
