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Mzuri
"Cyniquian" Level Poster
Username: Mzuri
Post Number: 2574
Registered: 01-2006
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Thursday, December 28, 2006 - 01:31 am: | 
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Famous Chicago Barber Shop to Move
By LAUREL JORGENSEN
Dec 27, 9:20 PM EST
CHICAGO (AP) -- A historic Chicago barber shop where Muhammad Ali used to get his hair cut and Sen. Barack Obama still goes for weekly trims is moving after the building it's in was sold.
The Hyde Park Hair Salon, which has long served as a gathering place for the city's black leaders, is moving after about 80 years in business under different names and owners, said owner Abdul Karim Shakir.
But unlike in the movie "Barbershop" - in which a Chicago barber shop owner fights shady developers to save his historic shop - the sellers in this case, the University of Chicago, have promised to help move the salon to a new location, possibly just a few blocks away.
The university is selling the building to a development company for $2.3 million, which plans to lease space to local and national stores and restaurants, according to the university.
"My heart just bleeds," said Leroy Cain, the salon's former owner. "I hate to see that shop move out of that building, period."
James Spiller, 41, stopped in Wednesday for his regular cut. He said he enjoys the shop's lively conversations about sports and social issues.
"There are certain conversations you can only have in a barber shop," said Spiller, who said he sometimes brings along his 6-year-old son to hang out. "I will go to wherever they are to get a haircut."
The salon's clientele, like the neighborhood, has changed over the years, Cain said. Staff and customers in the 1960s were mostly white, he said, but it began drawing more black customers after he bought it in 1965. Cain said the shop, which he renamed "Cain's" from "Joe's" when he bought it, got its current name in 1975 when he decided it would give the community a sense of ownership.
He said the shop's had an eclectic mix of customers that has included university students, Chicago politicians and baseball players.
Chicago's first black mayor, the late Harold Washington, was one of his personal clients, Cain said. But Ali, a former heavyweight boxing champion, preferred one of his assistants.
"At the time he came in for service, I was really backed up," Cain explained. "One of my assistants was available and he started cutting it and continued."
Shakir said Obama, a potential Democratic presidential candidate, visits weekly for his hair cut.
"He doesn't miss unless he's out of the country," he said.
The shop will have to move before construction begins next fall, although no specific date has been set.
http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/C/CHICAGO_BARBERSHOP?SITE=FLTAM&SECTION=US
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Lola_ogunnaike
Regular Poster
Username: Lola_ogunnaike
Post Number: 136
Registered: 10-2006
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Thursday, December 28, 2006 - 01:33 am: |
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Interesting piece. Thanks for posting it. |
Cynique
"Cyniquian" Level Poster
Username: Cynique
Post Number: 6293
Registered: 01-2004
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Thursday, December 28, 2006 - 01:58 pm: |
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Well, at least we know that the controversial Obama goes to black American barbers to get his hair cut. Wonder why he doesn't grow a mustache? I think it would give him a more mature distinguished look. |
Chrishayden
AALBC .com Platinum Poster
Username: Chrishayden
Post Number: 3197
Registered: 03-2004
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Thursday, December 28, 2006 - 02:07 pm: |
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Cynique:
He doesn't grow a mustache because he does not want to look like a jazz bandleader or a pimp. He wants to look like the friendly manager of the local Target Store.
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Americansista
Regular Poster
Username: Americansista
Post Number: 54
Registered: 09-2006
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Thursday, December 28, 2006 - 02:13 pm: |
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^^^^^
LOL |
Cynique
"Cyniquian" Level Poster
Username: Cynique
Post Number: 6296
Registered: 01-2004
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Thursday, December 28, 2006 - 02:19 pm: |
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He may could get a lot of mileage out of a mustache in the black community. He does, after all, need their vote, too. |
Chrishayden
AALBC .com Platinum Poster
Username: Chrishayden
Post Number: 3200
Registered: 03-2004
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Thursday, December 28, 2006 - 03:20 pm: |
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The day Negroes vote for a man based on whether he has a mustache or not is the day I will personally help round them up for the glue factory |
Cynique
"Cyniquian" Level Poster
Username: Cynique
Post Number: 6300
Registered: 01-2004
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Thursday, December 28, 2006 - 03:47 pm: |
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Get real. Image is an important factor. You imply that Obama doesn't wear a mustache because he wants to appeal to middle America. Puleeze. |
Abm
"Cyniquian" Level Poster
Username: Abm
Post Number: 7228
Registered: 04-2004
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Friday, December 29, 2006 - 07:55 am: |
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Was Obama partially raised by his mother's parents? White men are less likely to wear facial hair than Black ones. So maybe Barak was socialized to shave.
Btw: Who was the last man to be elected president of the US to wear a mustache (or beard)? Teddy Roosevelt? |
Enchanted
Regular Poster
Username: Enchanted
Post Number: 334
Registered: 11-2005
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Friday, December 29, 2006 - 08:52 am: |
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Obama was not raised by his father at all. He was raised by his mother and her family.
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