Books, Writing & Life

I have a teen son and before we moved, I had his barber in NC give him a nice cut because I knew it might take a minute before we found one we liked. So, being the inquisitive woman that I am, I approached the few black men I saw in public to ask about barbers in Sioux Falls because it takes certain skills and know how to do black/African American hair. I always got the same two answers.

1. “I cut my own hair.” (How does a man cut his own hair?)
2. I know this guy who does it at his house. I know how to get there but I don’t know the name of the street. (Okay, so I’m not following a total stranger to an alleged in-home barbershop.)

However, I did find one.

I was standing in line at a restaurant and asked the brother behind the register who did his hair? He sported a decent fade so I figured I had nothing to lose.

He said he found a lady in Great Clips who knew how to do a fade, but couldn’t remember her name. He followed up by saying “It’s hard on a brother out here.” (#truth)

So, imagine calling Great Clips asking if there was anyone there who could cut “black hair.” No, not hair that is black, well, yes, his hair is black, but I’m referring to black as in African American, ma’am. Sure enough, there was a woman there. However, my son’s hair is kinda curly. 🤦🏽‍♀️ She did the best she could which I am not complaining at all, but it wasn’t a “bro cut.”

We ended up finding two more black shops but being a mom, there was too much adult material and conversation in both for me. I’ll leave that alone.

After two years of the dreaded visits to either of the previous two, my son kept telling me about the black and bi-racial kids at school who sported really nice cuts. His hair texture is kind of silky like the bi-racial kids, so I figured I’d give this guy a try.

The barber’s name is Rico and we love his cutting skills and the atmosphere of the shop is cool with this mom. I love his professionalism and the BEST part is he’s by appointment only! (Say what?) He uses a booking app and most of the time, the appointments are pretty spot on. No more sitting around for 2 hours listening to inappropriate conversations or distasteful movies/videos on the TV.

So, here’s my official plug for Rico the Barber. Look up GEEKBOYCUTTZ on the Booksy app and tell him you heard about him on Daphine’s blog.

I’m Daphine and I’m Brown in SD.