Englewood Barber Makes A Difference One Haircut At A Time
CHICAGO (CBS) -- A Chicagoland barber, surrounded by violence, is sharing his story of hope as he works to positively influence his community.
Just four blocks away from where two innocent bystanders were shot over the weekend, one fatally, one man is trying to make a difference.
In Englewood Monday, the buzz was all about weekend violence.
"It ain't getting no better. It's getting worse," said Kenneth Clayton. "I can hear the gunshots – pow, pow, pow – and then go right to our regular conversation because it's the norm."
Kenneth Clayton, better known as KC the Barber, knows the violence is anything but normal.
"We all have to take some type of ownership in this," KC said.
For three years, KC has made it his personal mission to offer free haircuts once a month to teens at the Englewood library.
"I try to give them a whole 'nother view, a whole 'nother outlook," he said, saying it is a chance to listen to their problems and fears, and encourage them to stay on the straight and narrow path.
"I couldn't do it by myself," KC said. "So I know there is a lot of people who need a helping hand."
"He's trying to get the gun violence and kids off the street," said Lameisha Brown, mother to a five-year-old son.
Lemeisha Brown says she worries about her son, Kayden's, future, but says it's people like KC that provide inspiration and positivity.
Kayden says he wants to be a doctor when he grows up in order to "fix people."
"I hope to give these kids a head start. Some don't have fathers. Just because I'm not your blood doesn't mean I can't be a positive role model," KC said.
KC will be at the Bud Biliken Parade, offering free haircuts from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. in the kid's corner.
