Graduation Day At Legacy Barber College
There is little doubt, and overwhelming evidence, that men returning to society post-incarceration are among the most socially denigrated and disenfranchised.
Juan Rivera was 20 years into a life sentence. He didn’t know what his future would hold, but he realized he could devise a plan to grant himself a degree of self-determination.
As Juan put it, “In lockup, the barber shop is just like on the outside, it’s a community spot. It was my favorite place to go. I realized that if I ever got out, barbering was this one job where your record doesn’t matter. If you take good care of them, they’re gonna come back. They don’t care if you have a felony. So, I decided to learn to cut hair.”
In 2014, against the odds, Juan got out. The state admitted, and with a record settlement to boot, that Juan had been wrongfully tried; not once, but three times for a crime that he didn’t commit. For the state’s injustice, twenty years of a free life was taken.
Once on the outside, he decided to make it his life’s work to mend what he’d seen and experienced on the inside, not only for himself, but for everyone in search of self-determination, actualization, and dignity.
In partnership with the corrections officer who had cut his hair on the inside, Juan founded the Legacy Barber College. Although the two have since ended their partnership, the barber shop remains vibrant, bringing dignity and light to a northside Chicago community by providing professional training to high school students, the post-incarcerated, and the general public.
Juan describes the mix of having young high school students and ex-convicts as a perfectly complimentary vibe.
“It’s like kind of like ‘scared straight,’ with humility, without the anger and the ego. The young guys help the old guys figure out how to use a smartphone, how to write an email. They make fun of them a little, but they’re quick to help. And the old ones, well they help the young ones realize how easy it is to lose an opportunity. They’re like ‘choose your battles wisely, cause losing your life sucks.’”
In November, Further & Further got to attend the first graduation, and it’s clear they’re providing a whole lot more than just barbering skills.
The walls are adorned with moodboards that each student creates at the beginning of the program.
“Getting out of jail, and being young for that matter, can be really disorienting. We pause just to help them remember what they’re working towards, why it’s gonna be worth it. Cause this program isn’t easy.”
The staff received training in restorative justice techniques and integrate these social and emotional practices into the entire program.
“Most of our students, young and old, come from worlds where men don’t really have permission to look out for men, to really take care of them, especially strangers. We have women in the program, but they don’t struggle with that. Barbering, and barbershops, are special; it’s a rare space for people to get taken care of. We make sure our graduates know how important that is. It’s always been bigger than hair.”
Graduation day made it clear that Legacy Barber College is empowering people, no matter how disenfranchised they are or were, to take care of themselves, each other, and their communities, bringing joy, self-confidence, and livelihood along the way.
-Brian Flannery