Capital Press Club Podcast
Capital Press Club Podcast
CPC Legacy Podcast #21: The Role of Black Barbershops and Media Literacy Today
What role do Black barbershops play in bridging generations and fostering community dialogue today, and how did they evolve from serving white clientele to becoming pivotal entrepreneurial spaces for Black men? Join us as we explore these questions and more, reflecting on the historical significance of civil rights heroes and the modern-day digital platforms that echo the traditional barbershop's role. Inspired by Vice President Kamala Harris's campaign outreach, we examine these spaces' cultural impact and share personal stories about our connections to this vital Black public sphere.
In our next segment, we tackle the pressing challenge of media literacy in the age of misinformation and disinformation. With technology becoming an integral part of seniors' lives post-COVID-19, the ability to discern credible information is more crucial than ever. Hear our insights on the importance of media literacy education, drawing lessons from Scandinavian countries, and discover how initiatives like US Media Literacy Week aim to empower individuals. We delve into the threats posed by AI-generated content and stress the need for critical thinking skills to navigate today's complex media landscape.
Hello and welcome back to another episode of the Capitol Press Club Legacy Podcast. I'm your host, dr Colin Campbell. You are here with us for episode number 21. We've got a number of things that we wanted to talk to you about today.
Speaker 1:First thing, though, is this month, in this time in black history, we have the conviction of seven men who were, they were accused of killing the freedom riders Cheney Schwerner, and we have Cheney Schwerner and one more guy who were they were convicted of there were three of 12 Freedom Riders, and they were convicted. Seven men were convicted of killing them. Now, these men who were convicted did not serve much time. I think the longest sentence was about six years, the least was about three years, so no one really served any severe penalties for the conviction of these men, for the murder of these men, and so we have, and again, the names Cheney, and then Goodman and Schwerner.
Speaker 1:Those of you who are very familiar with this story, we're probably getting it from your seats, like come on, campbell, get the names right. But yeah, we have Cheney, goodman and schwerner. Those were the three men, uh, freedom writers who, uh, championed civil rights and were against segregation, and they were targeted. Now you have one brother who was killed. That was cheney, goodman and schwerner, two jewish guys who were riding along uh, also championing for civil rights for black americans, and they lost their lives. They paid the ultimate price trying to fight for equality for all Americans, particularly Black Americans. So we did want to make a note of that and, of course, once again, today was the day, several years ago, many years ago, where seven men were convicted of their murder. All right, so, moving along to our topics of the day, I wanted to bring in my man behind the scenes and in front of the scenes Derek Kenney. Derek, how's it going? Man?
Speaker 2:Hey, it's great, colin, Great to be here. Another great episode, let's get it.
Speaker 1:Yeah, definitely, definitely. One of the first topics we wanted to talk about was the black public sphere and the use of the barbershop. Now, of course, in our digital spaces, the barbershop, or the conventional thinking of the barbershop, is a little bit different, and this comes on the heels of Vice President Kamala Harris, who, of course, is running for the presidency of the United States in less than a month, went around and tried to appeal to black people, particularly black men, as there seems to be some indications of some hemorrhaging of support coming from black men. So she wanted to reach out and speak to black men. She came out with a plan to encourage them to support her for president so that she could improve their lives. Apparently is what her claim is. So she did go out and speak to a number of people. She went on a media blitz and this encouraged me to talk about the black public sphere and the barbershop, where she is not specifically and literally sitting in barbershops talking to black men, but she is going on different talk shows, different platforms where a lot of black men pay attention to the hosts and the commentary on these shows. One of them that she did was with an interviewer by the name of Charlemagne the God who has a show on the Breakfast Club. She sat down on a one-on-one with him to answer a lot of questions, but it made me want to look into what the history of the Black barbershop was, and these were spaces where they started to grow in the post-reconstruction era. Now, in the beginning, I would say later in the 19th century, black barbershops were a space where white men would go and get their haircuts and black men were barbers for giving white men these haircuts. Now, in the antebellum, south, post-civil War, you had an increase of Irish and Italians migrating to America and you had black men who cut their hair. As the popularity of these barbershops proliferated in the US, you started to see black men opening up barbershops in an entrepreneurial way to serve their communities, and that's where you started to see black men gather to, of course, look their best, get their hair cut, and then also in an area where, in a safe space where they could coalesce around a theme of unity and a theme of strength and the themes of perseverance. And so that's where you get the establishment of the Black Barbershop as a as a space for black men to share ideas, to dispute things. Of course, we get different views of the Black Barbershop, like in Coming to America we saw that scene with Eddie Murphy and Arsenio Hall, where they were in the Black Barbershop. We also know that there have been movies called the Barbershop, and so we know that Black Barbershops have become a very permanent part of Black American society as a place to share ideas in the public sphere.
Speaker 1:Derek, I have to admit something to you, man Most of the time I cut my own hair. Now I have been to a Black barbershop. The last time I went to a Black barbershop was about a year ago, just before I started a new job, and the guy did not do a a great job. So I'm not in a hurry to go back to the black barbershop. Not that it has anything to do with the mean black or black barbershops in general, it's just that it was a barbershop not too far from me. I rarely go and I said you know what? I'm starting this new job? I'm gonna go to this barbershop and, you know, have nice conversation, get my haircut. Conversation was good, but haircut haircut not so great, so I don't know what your experience is with that. I know that you try to keep your head shut. What's it been like for you in the park.
Speaker 2:I know it's going to be a surprise, but I, too, cut my own hair, so it just shaved my head. So, but yeah, but for years, for years. That's a good place for you, for a person, to get information about the neighborhood, like hyper, hyper local news what's happening down the block? What's happening down the block, whose kid has the 4.0 GPA, who's graduating next week, who's concerned about someone in the neighborhood that's maybe doing crime or that may be getting a new opportunity. All that stuff happens in the barbershop.
Speaker 2:And not only did the barbershop have great conversations, they were a great source for African-American or just news periodicals. When you go to the barbershop really just like any waiting area where you have to wait a while there's a plethora of magazines, news magazines that you can sit there and read up on things and then, as a result of reading up on what's going on, you'd have these high-level conversations about politics, world politics, what's going on not just in the neighborhood, but what's going on in the state, what's going on in the country, what's going on with technology. And all these conversations are happening in the barbershop, and one of the most influential sources of information and correct me if I'm wrong, ask Mr Google is from someone that you know, someone that you know and that you trust, may have the most trusted and powerful source of information you can have. So, yeah, the barbershop is a great place to reach African-American men where they are open to talking. It's akin to maybe having someone capture you on the golf course where you're able to talk for four hours of golf and you have them there. But, yeah, I think it's great and I showed you a picture of Kamala Harris from her YouTube page.
Speaker 2:She did it four years ago. She went to a black barbershop to talk to black men where they are, and I was really surprised when she did that interview with Charlamagne, because that was really to me. I think that was a risky move because he's not. I think he'll be effective in reaching her audience, but I don't think he's not someone that you be predictable in your conversation and in the questions that you're going to ask. So I give her her inner campaign a lot, of, a lot of credit for thinking outside the box and putting a lot of effort and thought into reaching the African-American community, particularly black men, because we're oftentimes forgot about, like we're just an afterthought, and it's good to be thought of in a positive light, as something to be coveted in this election, like she's actually working for our vote. I appreciate that.
Speaker 1:Yeah, yeah, I think that right now, looking at it in an objective way, she's getting mixed reviews with it. I think that there are a lot of guys out there who do appreciate her effort in speaking to Black society, Black community, particularly Black men, going into various spaces. There's some who think that it's a little bit too late We'll see what happens, obviously but it is a very cogent way to reach out to black America and especially to capture the attention of black men. I remember as a kid going to the barbershop my dad would take me after karate on the weekend I think it was typically a Saturday. I'd go to the barbershop and you hear men talking about sports, obviously the latest scores, boxing matches.
Speaker 1:I don't remember politics, but then again, I could have been too young to really be sensitive to that, but I do remember a lot of conversations about sports and everything, so I knew it was a place where black men gathered. It was like a sense of community, a sense of fellowship, and I think that she was right and I think it was a good strategy for her to speak to members of the barbershop back then.
Speaker 1:I don't think she's done it within this campaign cycle, though I do know that she had the interview with Charlemagne and I think that at this point, because there are only a few days left until the election, she's going through the mode of mass communication. Instead, it's kind of going straight to the punch with a big name interview. She had a Fox interview, of course, late in the week, trying to reach disaffected Black men who might be citing more supporting Trump more. So she's definitely out there and some of the issues that are talked about within the barbershop aren't just about sports. They do talk about politics, they do talk about family development. They talk about just some of the concerns that they have within the community how to bolster the community. So this is a great space for people, and particularly black men, to come together and talk about what's on their mind, sometimes, most oftentimes, free from judgment, but of course, conversations can also get a bit spicy too, they can be a bit.
Speaker 2:Yeah, they can.
Speaker 1:People have different perceptions and I think that highlights the diversity of African-Americans and African-American men.
Speaker 2:We don't all think alike. Even in the barbershop there are discussions, or heated discussions, because there's differing opinions about sports, about politics, about who you want to vote for, where you want to eat. So we're not as homogenous as many people may assume when it comes to African-American men. And again, at the Catholic Press Club, and again, we are nonpartisan.
Speaker 2:This is not putting a feather in Kamala Harris' hat in terms of being the politician to vote for. We're just examining the way that she communicates, or her campaign is communicating with African Americans and also the platform which has been the traditional platform the barbershop, not just the black barbershop, because you look at the uh, the whitest barbershop in history, uh, in Mayberry, where um Floyd would sit down with Andy and Andy would spill the beans and and Barney and talk about what's going on in their, their area. So so the barbershop is a place where men, while you're sitting there, vulnerable with a razor to your neck or to your scalp, and sharing, you know what's going on. You know it's a great place. The first time I miss it. I do miss going to the barbershop, but you know, yeah, it's a great source for personal information, no doubt.
Speaker 1:Yeah, you know, that speaks to the reason why you're seeing businesses that are opening up where they cater to more of the refined experience of a barbershop, where you can get food, you can get a drink there at times you definitely could get that nice warm lather and everything. So, yeah, I do think that it speaks to the quest to have an improved experience of going to the barbershop, just because it is very popular and it is a place where black men come to relax and, like you said before, it's not exclusive to black men, but there is that trope in our society that this is where black men go to congregate and talk more than, I would say, any other space. You really don't hear that associated with the church or on the basketball court or any other sports event. Really, of course, we go to sports events, but when it comes down to really having more serious discussions about society, you often hear it associated in the public sphere, within the barbershop. So, very sweet, iily harris doing her thing this week, you know, um.
Speaker 1:Another thing that I wanted to talk about, derek, was the digital divide and how their initiatives of trying to deal with the digital divide, especially when it comes to senior members of our population and this is where we talk about digital inclusion. Uh, in Baltimore this is a story that came up a few weeks ago and how they have a digital literacy training program to help seniors and others understand how to navigate media more efficiently and how to read certain cues and how to fact check certain pieces of information, to read certain cues and how to fact check certain pieces of information and, of course, that's a huge discussion right now in an age of misinformation and disinformation, where you have so many different views and opinions that are being put out that a lot of people are being confused. You know, what alarmed me about this was, earlier this week I heard about a story of a family that was kind of in strife. Now, this I don't believe this is a black family. Actually, I believe this is a white family, but the son-in-law was very upset that he couldn't really connect with his father-in-law over concerns about receiving FEMA money, and the impression was that if the father received FEMA money this the father was thinking that if he received FEMA money or applied for FEMA money, the government would then try to repossess his house, and of course, that's not true, but he heard that information on a popular, very ultra conservative, somewhat extremist podcaster whose name I won't mention, and he went on from there and he really didn't even believe his son-in-law. So the rate and the height of misinformation has increased so much that not even family members can really sway each other against the misinformation and quite possibly disinformation that's out there.
Speaker 1:And just let me just continue this really quickly, derek, just so we can differentiate between misinformation and disinformation. Misinformation is miscommunication or information that's put out there that may be accidental or under-informed or misinformed, while disinformation is the purposeful distraction and deceit of information being disseminated to misguide people or to set a propagandist agenda. So I did want to make that differentiation as we talk about media literacy and the importance of reaching out to senior members of our population going through this who aren't on a computer every day, knowing that what they see on the computer isn't always true, even if it is on the internet.
Speaker 2:Yeah, and it's quite important that seniors are educated not only about how to use their technology appropriately which I believe they've gotten a lot, particularly in some of our local counties so that they can deal with things like social isolationism or being able to have medical visits that now are done via webcam. You know, like you see your doctor via the webcam, You're going to see your doctor's visit via the web. You're talking to your nurse online. So there's a lot of things during COVID that brought seniors up to speed and more reliant on technology. But now, as a result of that, they're now exposed to all the information good and bad that's available online and all the scams that are targeted towards people that are vulnerable or maybe lonely or may not be as aware or as astute as we are. And then, when it comes to information, sometimes you accept and embrace information that is more in line with the way you're thinking already, and so sometimes you have to hold the individual accountable for what they're believing, because they want to believe it. You know, if you are, I don't have a horse in this race, I'm just going to bring it up. Like flat earthers on the Internet, there are people that firmly believe the earth is flat and there's people on the Internet you know that say you know well, conventional wisdom is the earth is round and both have compelling arguments all over the Internet is that the earth is round and both have compelling arguments all over the internet, and, whatever you believe, you can find things that will tell you that one or the other could be true. This might be an example of misinformation, depending on what you believe to be true or what you hold as an authority when it comes to these types of matters, but there's a lot more going on there that you've got to be aware of as well.
Speaker 2:So, yeah, but it's a lot going on, but there's definitely a need for that and, I think, a good, and I'll give this recommendation the organizations that you leaned on years ago, the news organizations that you looked for on TV or radio if you need information or news, look for those organizations on the web. You know there's some new ones out there that are reliable, but a lot of the trusted and true organizations Washington Former, the AFRO, the Washington Post, the New York Times, WTOP, CBS, no preferences, but those places are online. So if you're looking for news and accurate information, those organizations are there. They're cheap to access, or free, and they oftentimes have good, reliable, up-to-the-minute news information.
Speaker 1:Yeah, they do. Unfortunately, I think there is a channel which channel is it? That has decided to not do news updates anymore on the radio. Maybe they'll have news updates online, but I almost doubt that too. It might be CBS, I think is.
Speaker 2:Oh really, yeah, I think that is CBS National, the National right, not the local right. The local is the National, yeah, national right, not the local right. Is it the local or the National?
Speaker 1:Yeah, where they will be doing new dates on the hour. They're going back into music programming or something like that. So that's why we need we rolled out this initiative for seniors to learn how to use the technology, know how to discern different pieces of media and to understand what the motivations for different media messaging might rely upon. So there are a lot of different components there that I don't think that we often critically analyze because we're just so busy in our day. And same with seniors.
Speaker 1:You know they may have some luxury time but they have other things that they're paying attention to in more detail than wondering what the information, the importance or the not just the relevance but the accuracy of the information they're receiving online, how much of it is true and how much of it is false. And so they have to be taught these skills, like all of us do. I believe some Scandinavian countries where they have made it part of their childhood curriculum and school to teach children how to be media literate and digital media literate that's another component. It's not just watching TV or listening to radio, but what you find online.
Speaker 2:Yeah, and I will say that it's terribly important to this era, this era of AI, because now things your eyes can trick you. Ai can mimic a voice, very accurately, mimic a voice and say things that are totally untrue. It can take an image and make the image into a video where the image is talking. It can take a video or create a video of someone that you know doing something that you know they didn't do. So these days, you have to be aware of the technology available that is being used to do fraudulent or doing things that aren't real, so that you can make judgment and that you can be aware of what the reality is and it's a very interesting era.
Speaker 1:And speaking of fake news, yeah, before we jump in here really quick, derek, I know we're running out of time soon, but I did want to say this is Media Literacy Kickoff Week. Oh, yeah, please pay attention to media. We do try to. Yeah, there we go. The 10th annual US Media Literacy Week. I believe it was started.
Speaker 1:The concept, at least in the Western hemisphere, was started in Canada and the US adopted it because, like we both just elucidated, that is something that is very much needed here in the US trying to understand how to comprehend media and discern different messaging. You have critical thinking skills to understand the messaging around us, what the difference is between hard news and propaganda, commentating or just hosting. We do know that. Again, not an indictment on Fox News, but we do know that a lot of the segments that come out of there are more entertainment-based than they are news-based, and I think that a lot of people conflate those two. Where you have a comedian, often I talk about news stories and they're doing it more of an entertainment way rather than looking at all the accuracy. That's another conversation, but we did want to say this is the, the introduction, starting on the 21st, the annual US Media Literacy Week. So, yeah, read up on how you can be more media literate and back to Derek with the fake news story of the day. Speaking of media literacy, right.
Speaker 2:Fake news of the day, big news this past week, tesla, elon Musk, introduced his whole suite of products from Tesla where you can have new cars. There's cars that are driverless, taxi cabs, there are things that are what would you call them. There are vans, buses that you can look at, that are driverless, that will drive you around, that are vans, and there's this whole shindig for lack of a better term right this whole thing for people to consume, and part of that not just the new Tesla cars and the driverless cars, which were very, very cool I will say that was cool as a guy that doesn't necessarily love driving as much. The idea of driverless cars were fantastic, and he also introduced some things that might be disruptive to things like Uber or Lyft or even Metro or the popular public transportation systems. With the Tesla taxis, which are two seated cars that only cost $30,000 per year $30,000, and they basically will. They have no steering wheel, no controls at all. They will pick you up and take you to your destination, drop you off, and, if you own the taxi, after it drops you off, you're going to have it working for yourself or working all day long itself, paying fares and doing whatever. So that's one of the things and that was actually factual. I mean, it's not there yet, the policies aren't in place to allow it, but the technology seemed to be in place, but they were in a controlled environment. So who knows if that's actually going to happen, but that seemed legitimate.
Speaker 2:There's also the Tesla. Was it a bus or a van? I think it was a Tesla bus or van, something like a Tesla van, and it was very futuristic looking. Looked kind of like an iRobot van that had the military robots inside of it. That was there. That looked very cool. It didn't have like traditional windows or anything. You couldn't tell the front from the back and people who were sitting in it were actually facing each other. So, as you're sitting in it, there's no visible way to control it. So it's just totally futuristic driverless cars, whatever.
Speaker 2:But along with this entire event where people are all excited about all this new technology coming from Tesla event where people are all excited about all this new technology coming from Tesla, where the Optimus robots were featured and these things were walking around, they were not people in suits. They were not people in suits, okay, so that's the thing. So that part was true. They were walking around, talking to people engaging with people. They were also serving drinks, I believe, and they were also dancing, even dancing right, but part of it was the illusion that was not clearly made apparent to everyone. People were given the impression that these things were totally functioning autonomously and they weren't.
Speaker 1:The conversations were not AI. These were actual robots. Or did you say there were people in suits?
Speaker 2:They were actual robots, actual robots.
Speaker 1:They were actual robots, but they were remote controlled, or like there was somebody off-site with a microphone. Yeah, engaging with the people using remote technology.
Speaker 2:Think of them as animatronics, but they were fully able to walk and gesture, but the walking and the gesturing was done by a human somewhere.
Speaker 2:So the conversation you had with the robot, the charm that you got from the robot or the responses you got from the robot were from a human person and it was not announced and it was not made clear. It happened to come out in a conversation with the robot from one of the clever people. You're driving a Tesla, you're a smart person, right? So you're going to ask all the questions and try to trick the AI and eventually you found the accent would come out. Some of the person's accent would come out and they'd repeat something or say something that you know is not going to be programmed with AI. And then someone asks the question are you a full AI robot or are you a person operating this robot? Which is still cool. I will say it's cool If I could sit at home and I could have a robot walking around my office and communicate with people and pick things up, put things down and type on the keyboard. That's still cool.
Speaker 1:however, well, but but we still have the fake news today like we just had a fake news, basically was that they were passed off or they were promoted to be fully autonomous systems, but they weren't autonomous.
Speaker 1:They weren't totally autonomous. They were humans that were a lot of times offsite or wherever they were engaging within these conversations, that weren't just using neural language processing from an independently thinking I put that in air quotes robot. It was actually humans interacting. Now, one of the things I did want to end with there really quick was the, the process of media literacy, and that is to access, to analyze, evaluate, create and then act. So that's five parts to media literacy and I'll say that one more time.
Speaker 1:That's access, analyze, evaluate, create and then act with that we're going to end our podcast, the Capital Press Club Legacy Podcast. I want to thank my man, who's always here to support us, and I want to thank all of you for watching. We'll see you next time, oh gosh.