Old tweets from 2016 resurfaced this week showing the head of a Chicago youth charity cutting the locs of two young members, and the group is set to receive money from the NFL and Roc Nation.
Roc Nation and the NFL pledged a combined $400,000 to two Chicago organizations, BBF Family Services and the Crushers Club, as part of the #InspireChange initiative. According to reports, just hours before the Crushers Club was set to receive its donation, the tweets began circulating on social media.
The posts came from Crushers Club founder and president Sally Hazelgrove. One read, “It’s a family thing we box, mentor, make music and I get to cut hair.” Another said a young member let her cut off his dreads and described it as “symbolic of change and their desire for a better life.” Critics online said the framing suggested natural Black hairstyles stand in the way of success, and many called for the group to be dropped from the funding.
The Crushers Club responded with a video on Twitter featuring one of the young men from the tweets. He said the haircut happened about three years earlier and was something he wanted to do himself.
Sally told TMZ that she cut the hair at the young man’s request. In a statement she said the club has no policy against dreadlocks, welcomes all hairstyles, and sometimes helps because haircuts can be a costly expense for its members. She later apologized, telling a local outlet that she posted the tweets without much thought and that she would not do it again if asked. She also said the backlash took her by surprise.
According to its mission statement, the Crushers Club works to offer young people an alternative to gang life, built around respect, discipline, ownership and love.
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