Cesar Chavez Elementary School hosted a community haircut event last month called “Free Cuts.”
The event was created by Chadwick Burnaw, 23, a Mission resident who felt inspired after watching “The Blackpower Mixtape,” a documentary created by Swedish filmmakers about the 1970s Black Power movement in the United States.
“The social projects put together by the Black Panthers for their children encouraged me to do something for the children in my community,” he said.
Burnaw brought his idea to life by coordinating with Cesar Chavez Elementary School.
Carlo Solis is the first community outreach coordinator at Cesar Chavez Elementary and his job is to build connections between children, parents and organizations.
Like many other low performing schools in San Francisco, Cesar Chavez recently received a federal Student Improvement Grant that provides approximately $1.6 million annually for the next three years, and the school agreed to use the money to implement a “transformation model,” which will provide a stronger curriculum by integrating the community into the learning environment.
“That’s why I’m here,” Solis said.
Solis provided a space for Burnaw to manifest his desire to do something for his community. For him, this meant offering free haircuts to kids and their moms in the community.
Burnaw started by recruiting roughly 15 local hairstylists as volunteers for the event.
Local stylist Emma Mulbane of the Pretty Pretty Collective hair salon on 22nd Street, was delighted to be a part of event.
“This was a great opportunity for us to give back to our community and give kids a style that they might otherwise not have been able to get,” she said.
Approximately 30 children and 6 moms walked out with new haircuts that day—everything from mohawks, to trims, to fades.
The energy of the event was fresh and uniquely inviting.
Burnaw’s friend and local DJ, Eddie “DJ Golden Cobra” Galan, set the tone for the event, spinning classic funk music that captured the tone and energy of the early Black Panther Party. And a local group of budding Latin percussionists, “Los Rumberos del Barrio,” brought back the sounds of the Mission in 1960s and ‘70s.
Local establishments R Image Market, El Faro and Philz Coffee all donated food and drinks to the event.
Everyone that participated in the event seemed to walk out a little happier that day, satisfied in the knowledge that they were part of an event that was created by and for the community.