Barbers to offer free haircuts to protest Michigan lockdown

LANSING, Mich. — Barbers plan to offer free haircuts on the Michigan Capitol lawn to protest the state’s stay-at-home orders, a defiant demonstration that reflects how salons have become a symbol for small businesses that are eager to reopen two months after the pandemic began.

Barber Karl Manke, 77, has been the star at rallies outside his shop in Owosso, 30 miles northeast of Lansing. His license was suspended last week by Michigan regulators.

“We all have the same spirit and the same soul for freedom,” Manke said this week. “One of the things I want to emphasize, Michigan, all of you business owners, you beauticians, you barbers, massage therapists — all of you. Open up your shops! Stand up and show up!”

Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer’s closure of nonessential businesses is among the nation’s toughest and is in effect at least through May 28.

While new infections have flattened, Whitmer, a Democrat, is being cautious with what she calls a “slow re-engagement.” She has opened construction, manufacturing and outdoor industries, along with real estate. Restaurants and bars reopen Friday in less populated northern Michigan.

“I would love to go get my hair done, too,” Whitmer told Kalamazoo television station WWMT after saying it is “very unlikely” salons will open next week. “But the nature of that personal service is such that it’s intimate, it’s close. You can’t social distance and get your hair cut.”

Manke was joined this week by Shelley Luther, a Dallas salon owner who was jailed for opening her shop before the Texas governor intervened. Luther said her employees in Dallas wash the hair of women with disabilities.

“Salons should be the first thing to open up after hospitals,” she said.

Wednesday’s “Operation Haircut” protest is being organized by the Michigan Conservative Coalition, which led a car-based rally against Whitmer’s orders in April. Organizers expect 25 to 30 people will cut hair, groom dogs or offer massages.

“The haircut situation was something we felt was symbolic of all service industries. This was something we felt we could highlight, set it up and show it can be done safely,” said Rosanne Ponkowski of West Bloomfield, president of the coalition.

Whitmer “keeps saying only essential businesses. Every business that is making a profit is essential to somebody or they wouldn’t be there,” Ponkowski said.

The governor has a warning for protesters who get out of hand.

“We don’t want to have to write tickets, but if that’s what’s necessitated, it may have to happen,” Whitmer said.

from Boston Herald https://ift.tt/3cNMhqk