Plymouth Author Writes Children’s Book on Black Barbershops
Plymouth author Keenan Jones sat down in the barber’s chair at The Chiseler in Brooklyn Park looking to get his usual haircut.
It’s 9 a.m., and it’s as good a time as any to get a trim.
“The Saturday morning is just like, a buzzing time in a barber shop,” he said.
Co-owner John Vinson is manning the clippers. He’s known Jones, a former athlete, for about 20 years. Sports is one of their favorite topics of discussion.
“I’m hearing that it’s not looking good for the Vikings,” Jones said, ahead of the team’s playoff start.
“Well, you must be talking to Packer fans,” Vinson responded. “They still think they’re getting ready to go to the Super Bowl.”
It was inside the shop, sitting in the barber’s chair where Jones had an idea: to write an illustrated children’s book about Black barbershops.
It’s called “Saturday Morning at the ‘Shop.”
“It’s been one of those things that it’s been a long time coming,” Jones said.
Keenan Jones hold a copy of his new book “Saturday Morning at the ‘Shop.”
Filling a Gap
Jones wanted to fill a gap in larger discussions about boys, Black culture and hair.
“You’ve got all these books that are coming out about, you know, young Black girls and their hair, which is great, right? As a father of young Black girls I appreciate that,” Jones said. “But it’s like, we’re absent from this conversation.”
Few children’s books have been published with a focus on Black barbershops, he said.
The book also explores the shop as a place of teaching and learning.
It’s about “lifting people up, spread wisdom, and keeping people informed about what’s going on in the community,” Jones said. “The shop is a great space for that.”
There’s lessons everywhere in the barber shop.
“This is another one, right? Pictures on the wall,” Jones said, pointing to an illustration. “Black leaders, people that I learned about in elementary school, and high school and throughout life. Martin Luther King, Malcolm X, Frederick Douglass, Muhammad Ali.”
But most of all, it’s a loving celebration of an artful haircut and joyful connection in the Black community.
“It is the human connection,” Jones said. “There’s power in a village, and there’s power in a community, and I really want to hit that home in this book.”
“Saturday Morning at the ‘Shop,” came out this week, and is available at bookstores nationwide.
