‘More than just a haircut’: Twin Cities teacher celebrates Black barbershops in new book

NINA MOINI: A new children's book is out today by a Twin Cities author. It's called Saturday Morning at the Shop. And it's a debut book for Keenan Jones, who's a local English teacher. Keenan joins us on the line now to talk about his book and how it came to be. Keenan, thanks for being here. And congratulations.

KEENAN JONES: I appreciate it. Thanks for having me on.

NINA MOINI: How do you feel today that your book is out?

KEENAN JONES: It's crazy. I feel a sense of excitement. But I haven't really been able to enjoy this moment, because I'm currently on my lunch break, as I'm awaiting my students that will be coming in about a half an hour. But it's been truly a joy, a blessing, and just getting an outpouring of support from around the country.

NINA MOINI: Yeah. You work in literacy and helping children. What made you go into this line of work?

KEENAN JONES: Well, it's kind of a family tradition. My mother is an educator. My aunt is a retired educator. At one point, I thought I was going to be playing professional basketball in the NBA. And then an injury made me revisit my life's plans. And so then I fell in line with education. And I've been in it for the past 15 years.

NINA MOINI: Wow. Do your students know about your book? Are they excited for you?

KEENAN JONES: Yeah, they know. They know about my book, for sure. They're really excited about it. And many of them talk about how they've never had a teacher that was a published author, let alone a picture book author. So it's historic in that sense as well.

NINA MOINI: Wonderful. So when did you decide that you wanted to write a children's book? Had it always been on your mind?

KEENAN JONES: Yeah. It's always been on my mind. I mean, I've always been great with words. I've always loved literacy. And I've always tinkered around with writing. But I think once I started teaching elementary school and starting getting into that world of children's literature and teaching writing to my students-- you can't be an expert in teaching something if you don't do it yourself. And so that buzz to write books came back. And then fast-forward to 2020, the pandemic and the George Floyd tragedy, which inspired me to write this uplifting book.

NINA MOINI: Yeah, a lot of people during that time made changes or began to pursue something that they had been thinking about for a long time. What was it about the barbershop that made you want to center your book around it?

KEENAN JONES: Well, it's funny that you say that, because as I was thinking about what topics or books I could write about, I thought about sports. I thought about social justice. And the barbershop book actually came up because the barbershops was closed. My hair was getting kind of crazy. My face was getting crazy.

And when the shops opened back up, I sat in a chair and had a conversation with my barber just about the state of Black men in America. And then the idea came right there. And I said, what do you think about a picture book around the barbershop? And he just said, man, I don't know if I've ever picked up a picture book about the barbershop.

So I did my research and noticed that there weren't a lot of books about the Black barbershop. And so the idea came there, just being amongst a community of other Black men and just sharing our stories and talking about all the things that are going on in society.

NINA MOINI: Yeah. I was paging through the book. Beautiful illustrations as well. But it was joy. It was comedy. It was politics. Tell me a little bit about your experience growing up, going to the barbershop. What makes it a special part of community and life?

KEENAN JONES: Well, we always say it's more than just a haircut. It's an experience. And then it's a place where-- it's like your local library or that local gas station or the school where you're going to see so many people from the community coming in for something positive and just being amongst each other and in each other's presence. And so just that positive energy, I think, is just what attracts us to the barbershop, aside with coming out with a nice haircut as well.

NINA MOINI: [LAUGHS] That's the bonus. You mentioned that you didn't really see books like this growing up. There aren't a ton. What are you hoping that children, particularly young Black boys, take away from reading the book?

KEENAN JONES: Well, I just-- I hope that they see that-- the joy, the smiles. Sometimes we aren't as celebrated in a positive light in the media. And I hope that this book can show them that we are doing great things in the community. We are a beautiful culture. And we have a lot to offer.

And also, just a reflection of themselves in literature, as we know through research that Black boys, and Blacks in general, only make up a small portion of picture books that are produced. And so being able to have those mirrors, I think, can only help motivate young people.

NINA MOINI: Yeah. I wonder if-- have you sat down and read the book with any youngsters? I don't know if you have children or-- but have you had that experience of reading it to young people?

KEENAN JONES: Well, I've been summing to not do anything yet. But now I can. But through the pages that I have shown, I've gotten great responses from young people and even teenagers. I was able to speak at my former high school back in the spring. And I was able to show them a few images. And the excitement even coming from teenagers to see, wow, a Black man that created a picture book that just shows Black men in a positive light and just the amazing illustrations. I think it even motivated those high school kids.

NINA MOINI: Yeah. So you do, though, have some events coming up for your book release. Do you want to tell us about those?

KEENAN JONES: Absolutely. So January 11, this Saturday, is my book launch event at Strive Bookstore in Minneapolis, from 11:00 to 1:00. On January 18, I'll be at Duluth, Minnesota, from 1:00 to 3:00, at Zenith Bookstore. And then January 25, I'll be at Barnes & Noble in Minnetonka with a meet and greet from 1:00 to 3:00. So that's what I got lined up so far for January.

NINA MOINI: That's great. So it does sound like you're busy. You're at work right now. You have this book coming out. Have you thought about what your next chapter might be or what else you might want to do? Maybe more books?

KEENAN JONES: Absolutely. Definitely more books. I got some things in the works now. But just getting out and doing more speaking engagements. I have also a lot of school visits coming up in the next couple of months as well. But just really trying to spread the joy around literacy and empowering families and young people to pick up books, to read books, because words and knowledge is power, as we always say. And we need to get our young people off the screens and more into more books. So I'm all about that.

NINA MOINI: Absolutely. Many goals and all that I hope that you are able to accomplish. Keenan, thank you so much for being with us. And congratulations again.

KEENAN JONES: I appreciate it. Thanks for having me. Thank you. That was Keenan Jones, author of the children's book Saturday Morning at the Shop. You can find it wherever you get your books. We'll have information on those book release events as well, at our website, mprnews.org.

Tomorrow on the show, we're going to hear from retiring Representative Gene Pelowski. And we'll learn about the St. Paul Dumpling Passport, which takes you to restaurants across the city, featuring different cultural dumplings. I'm looking forward to that. Hope you have a great rest of your day. Thanks as always for listening to Minnesota Now.

[MUSIC PLAYING]