Barbershop Health Network: A System in Crisis

Adabelle U. Ekechukwu is a senior in Quincy House. Though concentrating in Neurobiology, she has a fond interest in the humanities and the arts, especially in English, photography and film. She is originally from Chicago, IL, but after graduation, Adabelle would like to live in the warmer climes of the West Coast. Her time at Harvard has been primarily spent as a thrower on the Women’s Varsity Track and Field team—of which she is co-captain—and as a writer and photographer for the Harvard Crimson. Her midterm and final projects for this course focus on the non-profit organization Mosaic Cultural Complex and its initiative Barbershop Health Network. Based in Worcester, MA, the organization encourages men of color to speak about health in the comfortable barbershop setting.  She explores this initiative through the eyes of several people involved in the network, including Schweitzer Fellow, Lauren Powell. With a growing interest in health disparities and other social problems, Adabelle hopes to continue to use film in the future to illuminate such issues.