Carlos Morgan works as a barber at Cut Close Barbershop, in Fayetteville, Arkansas. One of his biggest hopes is to be able to leave something behind for his kids, “…to own something, to leave something for my children…I don’t have any want to buy a brand new car or nothing, that’s not a dream.” Photo by Aubry Tucker.
Carlos Morgan, 32, was born in Tennessee, but said he grew up in California, before he found his home in Northwest Arkansas. He has been cutting hair for 14 years and started out cutting his own hair before he learned professionally. He said after filing his taxes for 2017 that he made about $26,000, and estimated that he was making about $10 an hour at his job. He takes one day off a week and usually works from 9:30 a.m. to 6:30 p.m. Morgan said he shares the custody of his children, one of whom is a basketball player at Fayetteville High School, graduating this year.
Morgan’s most expensive bill is his rent which is costing him more than $1,000 a month for a three–bedroom apartment, a cost he pays alone. Morgan said most of his money goes to bills and that he doesn’t spend money on frivolous things. Next year Morgan said he wants to buy a house, and one day a barbershop of his own. Morgan described his childhood as “pretty rough,” and even, “cliche,” of a black man growing up. “Pretty much cliche, mother did what she did, father was in jail, things like that,” he said. He said he has three siblings, two of whom are incarcerated, and another that he doesn’t keep in touch with.
Morgan takes pride in his work, “a haircut is more than just a haircut,” he said, because it changes the way that someone feels about themselves. His client, Stanley Chukwuanu, 24, chimed in to add how special he is to him and the relationship they’ve developed through many years of knowing each other as barber and customer. Chukwuanu said he takes advice from Morgan, talks to him about his relationship, and that they always joke around with each other. Chukwuanu said he plans to move to Oklahoma City soon and doesn’t know who he’ll be able to trust with his hair there. Morgan said he works with different people everyday from an array of ethnicities. Several of Morgan’s clients have been coming to him for many years, and two more young gentlemen in the shop said they have been coming to Morgan for haircuts since they were kids.
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