Barbershop Politics

This morning I went to get my hair cut at a new spot I found in S Philly. Previously I had been going to a Black barber in Center City, who was cool, but I often found his shop to be a little sterile and absent of the banter and philosophical discussions that happen in most Black barber shops. About a month ago I needed to get my hair but before going out of town and my usual barber wasn't in, so I went to this new spot closer to my apartment and ended up with the best cut I've had since living in Philly, so I have made the switch. Although, I feel a little shady since I had been going to my CC barber for almost 3 years. How do you tell your barber that you're seeing someone else now? LOL.

So as I was sitting in the barber shop, one of the guys asked what people thought of the presidential race as the TV was on CNN. There was a lot of back and forth of opinion that really made sense and I was encouraged to see that folks are astutely following this race and are in tune to the issues. They were all Black and I would say mostly over the age of 30.

Shortly after the discussion was under way, Barack Obama came on giving a live talk from the Clinton Global Initiative conference in Flordia. I don't know if it was being caught up in the moment of being in this Black barbershop with men talking inteliigently about the political race and their belief in Obama as a president, but as I listened to Obama speak, I just saw him as the president. Almost like this talk was being given a year from now. I was able to appreciate the broader view of his message, about the US taking the lead in preventing Malaria deaths in underdeveloped countries, the plan that he is working on along with others to solve the current financial crisis in the US, that doesn't make us tax payers foot most of the bill and addressing Global Warming, etc. He was so collected and delivered so well. It really makes one wonder how the hell George W. Bush has been able to lead this country for nearly 8 years, when he can't tackle the issues in the same way this US Senator can? I suppose it's because he swindeled 2 elections!

I wonder what the discussion on this race is in all the Black barbershops across the country? If the barbershop I attend is any barometer, then I'm glad there are potentially a substantial number of Black folks, who may not have been politically active in past years that are following the politics and not voting for Obama just because he's Black. In spite of my worries that race will matter in this race, I'll hold on to my fantasy that the speech I saw Obama deliver today was foreshadowing to him as the next US president.