Written by Angelina Fraga

There’s no striped pole or hydraulic kick leather chair. No sign posted on a door pertaining to hours of operation or holidays off. It’s just Bryan Slayton and his barber tools laid out on his mobile cart, plugged into the city’s power outlet. Slayton’s “clients” sit on a chair pulled from a park table.  On a good day, you can see people lined up waiting for a new do, sometimes not so many. Regardless, he stays from 8 am until noon, waiting to make someone’s day.

Slayton is a Chattanooga barber making a difference for those less fortunate in the community. You can find Slayton at Miller Park every Wednesday with his clippers and barber tools set up at his side.  He gives haircuts to anyone in need, they just walk up to his improvised office and ask. 

Slayon grew up in Chattanooga’s West Side projects and got his first pair of second-hand clippers for Christmas from his uncle when he was just ten years old. He mastered his craft through trial and error, but in the beginning it was only a side hustle.

In his late teen years, the main source of Slayton’s income came from selling crack cocaine. Due to increased law enforcement around substances, marijuana had suddenly become hard to find, and a new drug emerged. Slayton recalled the summer after his junior year of high school. “That summer something happened, weed just disappeared and all of a sudden, boom! Crack! At the time, nobody knew what crack was.” 

Despite its many dangers, selling crack cocaine introduced Slayton to a richer quality of life he had never experienced before. Rather than shopping at thrift stores, he was able to buy items brand new like shoes and clothes. He could take his mom out for fresh meals and buy a nicer car. This lifestyle showed Slayton drug dealing could provide for him, but it wouldn’t come without consequences.

In 1989, shortly after leaving high school, Slayton was imprisoned 31 years for selling crack cocaine during the national War on Drugs, a campaign to reduce illegal drug trade and production in the United States. Nowadays, the legal system would consider this sentence an obscene amount of time for the non-violent crimes he committed. 

During the late 80’s, law enforcement was targeting black youth in impoverished inner cities. President Reagan’s Anti Drug Abuse Act of 1986 put a racially discriminatory 100:1 sentencing  disparity into effect (nowadays the disparity has been lessened to 18:1). Courts would sentence an individual posessing 5 grams of crack cocaine the same as an individual holding 500 grams of powder cocaine. Crack cocaine, made from powder cocaine with other additives, was cheaper. Consequently, the new drug became popular in impoverished urban areas which inordinately affected black communities. Powder cocaine was more of a drug of choice for the wealthier white demographics. This meant many black people received much harsher sentences for committing the same crime as white people..  “They threw us away, and I went to prison.” Slayton said. 

While in prison Slayton continued to cut hair, not only supporting himself but earning respect and safety while behind bars. He wasn’t the prison’s designated barber. Instead, he worked out of his unit with the supplies he managed to get his hands on. He would cut hair with a makeshift tool crafted from just a comb and razor blades, and a toothbrush to clean up the edges. He was released from prison at the age of 49. 

Being behind bars was a punishment that changed his life completely, but he understood he owed a debt to society. “Maybe not for that long”, Slayton sighed.

He went on to say that dealers have this idea that if you don’t sell drugs to someone who asks, another dealer will. However, later in life, you will likely see the consequences of your actions. “That woman you sold to back in the day looks rough now. She’s addicted. You know her kids don’t eat, her mama don’t get the meds she needs, kids don’t get new shoes”. 

The government eventually realized they had made a mistake sentencing offenders so harshly. In 2021, Senator Bob Corker along with other government officials helped Slayton get pardoned, along with 16 others who were harshly punished in Tennessee during George H.W. Bush’s term. 

Three years ago, after being released, Slayton was outside cutting his friend’s hair when a woman approached him and asked for a haircut. She appeared to be struggling so he agreed to cut her hair for free. Suddenly, another man came asking for a haircut. He was about to go to a job interview, and Slayton agreed to help him out.  Days later, the man approached Slayton on the street stating, “I got the job, man, I got the job!”. 

From that day on, Slayton decided to use his talent to help those in need get a better chance in life. The haircuts might help his clients get a job. Other times it got them nice compliments.  “Sometimes a kind word can go farther than a meal or a couple of dollars,” Slayton said. 

He reflected on the motivations behind his practice, “I don’t owe them, they don’t owe me. I have the time, and I have the skill. What I’m doing now is small. Some people may think it’s a waste of time, but I don’t think so.”

In every cut he gives, Bryan isn’t just shaping hair—he’s shaping second chances, one person at a time.

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