The Barber of Little Rock [Movie]

The Barber of Little Rock is a 2023 short documentary film that follows barber Arlo Washington, who founded a community development financial institution (CDFI) called People Trust with the goal of improving the financial health of his predominately African American Little Rock (Pulaski County) neighborhood. The film, directed by John Hoffman and Christine Turner and distributed by the New Yorker media company, was nominated for a 2024 Academy Award for best documentary short but lost to The Last Repair Shop.

Washington founded Washington Barber College in 2008, having worked as a barber since the death of his mother when he was seventeen years old as a way of supporting his two younger sisters. A longtime customer requested a small loan from him due to having recently lost a job, and he started thinking about the role credit (especially the absence of ready credit) plays in the Black community. So the same year he founded his barber college, Washington also founded People Trust, following the example of his mother’s community engagement. The institution provides small loans to lower-income people who would otherwise have to resort to loan sharks and payday lenders.

The film opens with Arlo Washington discussing the racial wealth gap and generational poverty as disparate neighborhoods of Little Rock are shown, before shifting to Washington demonstrating techniques at the Washington Barber College. The next scene moves to the offices of People Trust and is followed by interviews with a number of people discussing the idea of ownership and the importance of passing down wealth to the next generation. Many also discuss the hardship of “banking while Black,” or being treated differently by financial institutions on the basis of race. Also shown are a number of People Trust’s clients as they discuss their needs with loan officers.

During the film, Washington highlights Interstate 630 and how it functions as a representation of racial segregation in Little Rock. Washington emphasizes the lack of banks south of I-630, in large part a function of a discriminatory practice known as redlining, and the surfeit of banks in the predominantly white Pulaski Heights neighborhood. The film also focuses on select people who received loans and started their own businesses. At the end of the film, People Trust is shown opening a storefront in a Black neighborhood completely lacking other banking opportunities.

Aside from its Oscar nomination, the movie was nominated for a Critics Choice Award in the category of short documentaries.

For additional information:
The Barber of Little Rock. YouTube. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1amOPUn49aM (accessed May 3, 2024).

“The Barber of Little Rock.” Internet Movie Database. https://www.imdb.com/title/tt28627868/ (accessed May 3, 2024).

Lybarger, Dan. “Acclaimed Short Explores LR Barber’s Impact.” Arkansas Democrat-Gazette, January 12, 2024, pp. 1E, 6E. Online at https://www.arkansasonline.com/news/2024/jan/11/acclaimed-short-explores-little-rock-barbers/ (accessed May 3, 2024).

Staff of the CALS Encyclopedia of Arkansas