Behind the Image

Image – The public’s opinion or concept of something.  The character projected to the public as interpreted by the mass media. 

 American Heritage College Dictionary

   

 Hotep,

I learned at an early age that my grandfather, the late, great, Mr. Julius Samuel, was in the business of making people feel better about themselves.  He was the proud owner of ‘Art Barbershop,’ a small, but productive establishment that was a pillar in the South Philly community.  He was the epitome of success for the younger generation of men in my fam.  My cousins, Zay and Chuck as well as my brother D and myself, spent a lot of time with ‘Pop-pop’ inside of Art Barbershop.

Pop-pop was a catalyst in a sense of adjusting a person’s image.  To him, barbering was more than a trade.  It was a refined art, hence the name, Art Barbershop.  He was an artist with the skills for creating favorable public perceptions for anyone that required his services.  Whether it was a job interview, wedding, funeral or graduation, Pop-pop authored the first impression of his clientele with a steady hand and well maintained clippers.  Word is bond!

The lack of well maintained clippers led to my decision to grow dreadlocks in 2001.  For 5 years, I nurtured my wavy ‘Caesar’ into shoulder length knotty roots.  Something I know Pop-pop would never have approved of, but I had to do what needed to be done.  Na mean?

Outside of my fam, I didn’t bother explaining to anyone my reason for growing dreads.  The length of my roots altered the everyday interaction between me and some staff members of this prison.  My image coerced a change in their disposition.  I began to accumulate write-ups.  Some were warranted, but most of them I attributed to my choice to bare dreads.  Feel me?

I’ve been rocking the bald head since 2006, not to win favor with the staff.  My reason for taking the razor to my dreads was simple: As time moved on, so did my hairline.  Real talk.  It’s like I said earlier, I had to do what needed to be done.  Ya heard?

My write-ups have reduced drastically since I cut my dreads.  It’s crazy, because I can recall being advised not to wear a bald head during my pretrial hearings.  I was told it would make me look like an angry black man.  Well, I followed that advice and a death sentence was the result.  The lesson learned?  My image as a hip-hop artist would dictate the outcome of my trial.  My haircut was irrelevant.  Na mean?

The image of president Obama addressing the nation concerning the international coalition to instill safety amongst Libyan civilians is that of a no nonsense politician, but behind this image he’s just a loving father with a decent haircut trying to make the world a better place for his children and the generations to follow.  My grandfather would be proud of the 44^th president, not because he had a decent barber either.  My grandfather knew that the heart of a man was the beginning of his image.  Public perception can’t define who you are on the inside.  Ya heard?

With that said, I want to acknowledge the hand behind the artwork for this week’s post, my man Cerron T. Hooks.  His infinite skills created this image and this image is now immortal expression.  Good look Dunn.  That’s what’s up!

Stay Up,

MannofStat

Copyright © 2011 by Leroy Elwood Mann

-        Making moves not to lose always hovers over your head, whether bald or dread. Hear my voice cause if they had a choice, they would rather see me dead.

Doc Terra (DaMann)

“Say a lil something”