Omar South’s connection to his community starts in his barber shop, but it doesn’t end there. Omar is the owner of Cut To Fit Barber Shop at 19 Norfolk Street in Codman Square, a business he started in 2004 and has sustained ever since.
“That’s all I knew how to do,” says Omar. “I’ve been cutting hair since high school and this just kind of fell into place.”
Throughout his 21 years in the business, Omar has come to know the community quite well. “It’s part of the neighborhood,” he says. “I hear all the news and gossip.”
In recent years, this connection has led to a particular focus on supporting men in the community. He started passing around flyers about a men’s support group that he and his friend, Richard Mitchell, decided to form.
“We were just trying to help guys on the street who feel like they don’t have a chance to begin again or get a restart,” he recalls. “We just wanted to help anywhere we could.”
When Omar was introduced to Marilyn Forman
and Marcus Rogers at CSNDC, the idea really started to take off. Now the Men’s Collective meets every month, usually at the barber shop when it’s closed on a Sunday.
Omar appreciates the support and empowerment the group offers to a growing number of participants. The group has had an impact on him as well. Last fall, he joined CSNDC staff and other leaders from the group at a NeighborWorks America Community Leadership Institute in Baltimore, MD. And he has put his leadership skills to good use by starting a petition opposing proposed bus and bike lanes on Blue Hill Avenue.
“If they take away lanes, it’s going to eliminate parking for businesses and residents, and that will create a trickle-down where businesses are going to lose business, residents are going to lose parking, and traffic is going to be terrible. It’s not what the neighborhood wants,” he says.
So far, Omar has collected nearly 1,900 signatures. “I’m just trying to be an example,” he says.
