Alabama barber Isaac White, Sr. probably knows more about shape-ups than your flyest uncle.
The Mississippi-born 97-year-old has been cutting hair since 1944 when he began his barber business with nothing more than a chair in a shoe shine parlor.
As White’s business grew, young people began asking him how they could become barbers. So in 1960, he established Barber College in Mobile, Alabama. The courses are free-of-charge and provide students with a barbers’ license upon completion of the program (under the condition they secure a job).
White was featured in Allstate’s “Worth Telling” campaign, which pays tribute to little-known black change-makers throughout Black History Month. But the campaign isn’t the first to recognize White’s dedication to Mobile: a street was named after him in the town in 2015.
Hear more about White’s story in the video above.
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