Cuts, Cops & Community

In one room, dozens of children learned martial arts techniques, while children in an auditorium rhythmically clapped their hands and stomped their feet as they tried to get the hang of stepping. In yet another room, people learned about local government and voter registration.

In these ways, New Haveners at Wexler-Grant School honored what would have been the 89th birthday of the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr.

Those activities along with dozens of workshops for children and adults — on fire safety, how to have safe encounters with police officers, how to get the job you want, how to dress for work — were part of the 2018 Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Conference at Wexler-Grant in the Dixwell section of the city Monday.

The annual conference was originally started as a youth conference at the former Q House. Spearheaded by the women of the Theta Epsilon Omega Chapter of Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority Inc. with the help of other historically black service organizations like the Elm City Club of the National Association of Negro Business and Professional Women’s Clubs Inc., the Epsilon Iota Iota Chapter of Omega Psi Phi Fraternity Inc., the King Solomon Lodge #23 Prince Hall Masons, the Eureka Chapter #2 of the Order of Eastern Start, the Pi Lambda Zeta Chapter of Zeta Phi Beta Sorority Inc., the event now features workshops for both adults and children.

Monday workshops addressed financial literacy, social justice, fitness, health, fire safety, African drumming, and planning for the future. Dozens of volunteers helped teach and moderate all the simultaneously offered workshops. Conference attendees also were fed breakfast and lunch.

An ever popular part of the conference is the opportunity for a free haircut. During this year’s event Troy Turner and Rob Adams of Bladez Barbershop in West Haven did the honors, cutting the hair of a succession of three boys: Amir, 4, Zyere, 8, and Dyrell, 11, with the care and flair they would their paying customers.

The boys had stopped by the classroom, turned barbershop-for-a-day, with Mashonda, who is mother to Amir and Zyere and sister to Dyrell. She said this was her first time attending the conference. She was there assisting someone who was vending as part of the event.

“This has been really nice,” she said of the conference. ​“And [the haircuts] are a blessing. It definitely saves me some money.”

Sondi Jackson, conference chair, said that this year’s event featured new vendors, speakers, and workshop presenters.

“Each year more people join us and want to be a part of this experience,” she said. The event has also picked up new corporate sponsors, which she said helps ​“grow and sustain this community program.”