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NORTH CHARLESTON, South Carolina (The People’s Beat) – “This is our responsibility to make a better place, a better city, a better nation and a better world,” said the Dominican, Feidin Santana during the opening of his new business.
Change Up Cuts offers all the services of a barber shop and salon, but Santana says he hopes to change more than just physical appearances.
“We need to have more love, more unity in ourselves and believe in diversity. Believing we have to come together to make this a better place,” Santana said.
Santana became known nationwide in 2015 when he captured video showing City of North Charleston police officer, Michael Slager, shooting an unarmed Black man to death. The victim was Walter Scott.
The entrepreneur says he wants his business, Change Up Cuts, to be a safe place for the community to come together and work together to solve problems such as racism. The goal of his facility is to provide a space to build bridges across the diverse community of North Charleston and surrounding areas. A press release sent by Pastor Thomas Dixon labeled this business as “the biggest, most progressive barbershop in town.”
Santana is also asking local leaders to add a new season to the calendar. The Community Healing Season would take the 75 days between the killing of Walter Scott on April 4, and June 17, the date of the Mother Emanuel Church shooting.
“In North Charleston, everyone knows me from my 2015 recording, you know, a tragedy that affected many families. Today, this is my way of starting a new chapter,” said Santana.
Change Up Cuts is located at 5900 Rivers Avenue Unit D-4 in North Charleston.
Feidin’s vision for Change Up Cuts is multi-faceted. As a full-service barber shop and beauty salon staffed by licensed barbers and cosmetologists, in order to promote the spirit of entrepreneurship, Change Up Cuts will also double as a training facility for members of the community interested in learning to cut hair and manage a business.
Feidin’s dream for Change Up Cuts is that it will be a safe space for the community to gather. A place where people can begin to build bridges between the ethnically diverse communities of North Charleston.
People interested in working at this location can call (843) 609-4066.
