ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. (WFLA) — A St. Petersburg barber is empowering young learners through reading by exchanging free haircuts for every book they finish.
When kids sit in Antonio Brown’s chair, they’re suiting up for a unique experience where they pull out a book and read aloud in exchange for a free haircut.
“Our goal is to change the narrative when it comes to Black men helping Black young boys being able to read and look at it more as a cool thing,” said Brown.
Brown owns Central Station Barbershop on Central Avenue in St. Petersburg. He opened the shop in 2015 and shortly after, he founded the Barbershop Book Club, now known as the Competitive Readers Coalition. In the organization, Brown works to expose children to books with minority characters and helps them build their home library.
“We know in south St. Pete, the reading proficiency levels are less than 27%,” Brown said. “They don’t even have one book in the household that teaches them or has characters that look like them with name, image or likeness.”
Brown has a passion for encouraging and inspiring young Black men due to his past. He now uses his story in hopes of changing the trajectory of minority men.
“I was just out here selling drugs, I was doing some of the real knucklehead stuff,” Brown said. “It was easy for me to go in the direction of the streets because I had friends and family in that area, but it was more difficult and more of a challenge to go in the right direction.”
After being arrested and having a suspended license for ten years, he knew he needed to change his life around.
“I decided to put the streets away and challenge myself and do something different and change the outlook of what my friends and family had on me,” he said.
Brown began working and going to barber school. He worked under six different barbers before opening his shop. Now he is changing the outlook on the lives of young men, like 14-year-old Nehemiah Harris.
“He’s like a father I never had,” Harris said. “He’s a good influence. He taught me how to be a better man.”
In fact, Brown services many kids who come from single-parent households. He becomes that father figure for many.
“When the kids are young, I’ll read to them because I know they don’t have a dad at home reading to them,” Brown said.
Brown has been cutting Harris’ hair for eight years. Harris has been a part of the Competitive Reader’s Coalition since and now has his own home library of 70 books.
“Most of our kids in the program are in the gifted program now,” Brown said.
Brown gives each child 24 books and 24 free haircuts per year. He sponsors nearly $500 worth of haircuts per child, sacrificing thousands of dollars for his business for the sake of impacting his community. In nine years, 15,000 kids have gone through the program, and he has given out over 15,000 books.
“I rather be used because if I’m not being used then I’m useless,” Brown said. “They’ll always have in the back of their minds that someone cared enough to pour into me and give me things that will help me be successful in life.”
Brown also teaches financial literacy by helping parents create bank accounts in their child’s name. The parents then deposit the money they would have spent on the haircuts to be utilized once their child graduates high school.
Brown is always looking to partner with community organizations to help with the work that he is doing in the community. He also always accepts new students into the Competitive Reader’s Coalition. Please visit his website if you are interested.
