Rev’d Da Barber lived in Elkhart, Indiana for eleven years before he came to Chicago. He appeared as “Dionell Hill” twice in the Elkhart Truth for his anti-violence community work from when he lived there. Rev’d was inspired by figures like the Reverends Jesse Jackson and Al Sharpton when he took on his new name, even though he never went to a seminary. The only thing higher a reverend, he said, was a barber. Below both of those were the police.
On July 3, 2018, at around 3:00 p.m., Rev’d was cutting hair at the shop where he rents space, Sideline Studios. At his side was fellow barber, Snoop, “finishing up a head” before he went home for the day. When he was done, Snoop cleaned up, took the patron’s money, and walked out the door. That would be the last time anyone saw Snoop besides the four police officers he met next.
Rev’d remembers the people who stopped by the barbershop with cash to pay their respects and the people who came to the vigil. He also remembers the people who blocked the streets with their protests for days after the killing. When community organizers weren’t on his block talking to the press, they were getting beat up by police officers. Local activist Will Calloway called on the CPD to release video of the shooting, and Revcom organizers demanded an end to the socioeconomic order that had created police brutality. But to Rev’d, none of it was worth his time.
“Martin Luther King protested for 368 days for that bus boycott … after Snoop got shot? Shit, that was just a week.”
— Rev’d Da Barber, 38, barber