DeJuan Hall cutting Kamrin Gray's hair. Gray is 7-years-old and in the second grade.

The Black Magic Project focuses on people and organizations who carry on the empowering and resilient spirit and legacy of the Civil Rights Movement in big and small ways. Despite setbacks in his past including a year in jail, DeJuan Hall gave up the streets and started a career in barbering and helping out the community.

In a small corner at SoHoz Salon and Barbershop Shop in Homewood, class is always in session.

But the lessons aren't crammed into textbooks or scribbled on whiteboards. Nor do the subjects focus on math or science. With clippers in hand, DeJuan Hall becomes a teacher who gives students with straight A's free haircuts on Mondays. He pulls life lessons from his story of starting his own career after spending more than a year in Jefferson County Jail hoping it will be a cautionary tale that it will keep the youth out of trouble.

Since starting the free haircuts in June 2016, Hall has barbered the heads of around 20 children, which usually cost between $10-$15 each. Since the deal doesn't have an age limit, the financial loss is about $20 each for adults in school.

But Hall said money isn't the end goal here. It's all about Education.

"I know what kids go thorough as kids as far as being peer pressured in school," Hall said. "So if I can stop most of that and keep them more focused on being in school, then that's my way of giving back."

He said he spotted many boys in Birmingham's West End neighborhood without haircuts. Hall already knows why as a native of the neighborhood himself. Growing up, Hall lived with his grandparents who were also raising five other grandchildren in a small home. They could only afford the bare-minimum necessities of life such as shelter, food and basic clothes. Everything else was extra.

Living this way gave Hall a server's heart. So he waived the price for a haircut in exchange for good grades in an effort to alleviate some of the financial hardships some parents face.

"This is just my way of making people realize that everybody need somebody," Hall said. "We can sit around and complain about the situation, but it's going to take all of us to get up out of it."

As a mother who works two jobs to keep the bills paid, Patricia Goodwyn said she appreciates the deal. Hall has been styling the hair of her 6-year-old son, Jamari Brown, for a little over a month. A first grader, Jamari has never came home with a C and B's are rare. When Goodwyn's sister told her about Hall's free haircuts, she wanted to reward her son.

Hall came to the appointment on time and finished his haircut in a timely manner. Goodwyn said Jamari is usually not good with barbers due to bad experiences. But the expression on her son's face after his first appointment with Hall spoke to Goodwyn.

"With the smile on his face, Jamari just knew he was cute," Goodwyn said. "Now when his hair starts to grow out he says, 'I'm going to go and see DeJuan.'"

Although his professionalism is a plus, Goodwyn said she was impressed with how he connected with her son. Hall is always interested in what her son wants to be when he grows up and how he is doing in sports.

Hall said his favorite moments are laughing with the kids. A child's bluntness can turn the appointment into a mini-comedy show. He remembers a child asking why Hall was combing his hair so hard.

"He looked at my beard and said, 'You don't comb your hair that hard.'" Hall laughed. "I was like, 'Yeah, I guess I don't.'"

When Hall asks about school or life, he doesn't settle for the short answers such as "Fine" or "It's OK." When a child in his chair, Hall treats them as if they are his own blood. After digging deeper, he excavates bigger issues within themselves that they haven't spoken about before.

"There are a lot of things that, as young, black men or young, black boys, they hold in because they are supposed to be known to be tough. So if no one asks, they don't tell," Hall said.

Goodwyn said her older son, who's 13 and an eighth grader at Bessemer City Middle School, hasn't received a free haircut yet. Although he succeeds in basketball, football and baseball, Goodwyn said her oldest son still struggles in the classroom. She appreciates how Hall tries to keep him focused.

"He tells him, 'It's OK to be in sports, but you have to also keep your head in the books,'" Goodwyn said. "He gives him stories, like what would happen if something starts interfering with your grades."

Sometimes the conversations can center around guilt when it comes to asking for certain materials, like Nike shoes or certain clothes. Hall knows many of the children he deals with live in households where things like that are sometimes just a dream. If a parent buys one child a certain type of shoe, that means the rest of the siblings will have to get shoes, too.

But instead of intensifying the guilt of wanting new things, Hall turns the opportunity into a lesson. He hands the child his broom, asks them to sweep up the hair off the floor and he pays them.

"I want to teach them that anytime you want something in life, do it by working," Hall said. "I'm not going to give it to you for free because life ain't free. I don't want to teach them to beg or ask for a handout. If you want it, work for it."

Hall wishes he was taught that way when he was younger. His parents were addicted to drugs and his grandparents were busy working. He didn't have many people to tell him what hard work meant, but he still had a lust for Jordans and other material things. In order to fund the objects he wanted he started making money through legal and illegal means, he said. Selling marijuana and crack was a way to make "easy money," he called it.

But living that way led to a parade of problems.

"Everything that I have learned the hard way, I try to give it to them early so they don't have to go through the situations that I went through," Hall said.

Slowing down

The thing about easy money is that you value it less, Hall said. As soon as he got the cash in his hand, he would spend it all. The constant hustle was tiring. He started making the transition to get out of the streets by keeping his mind busy. He deicide to go to the Alabama State College of Barber Styling. During the day, he was studying the craft. At night, he was frying wings at a restaurant to make sure his bills were paid. In between school and working, he made sure his clippers were close by so he would always be prepared to give anyone a $5 haircut.

After getting his work permit from the college during the summer of 2011, Hall left the restaurant and started working in a Centerpoint barbershop. He was excited to start the career, but he was also nervous about messing up.

In Aug. 2011, Hall said he felt the heavy weight of disappointment after he was placed in jail for robbery and attempted murder charges. According to Hall, a man broke into his home, stole his stuff and pawned his items. When he saw the man again, Hall said pistol he whipped him. According to court records, the victim accused Hall of attempting to shoot him while trying to take approximately $600 in cash. As he waited for trial, his lawyer to the then 28-year-old the maximum sentence he was facing: 25 years. He repeated the number in his head.

25 years, he thought.

Twenty five years in a place where grown men are treated like children. They were told when to get up and when to go to bed in jail. Their first names were replaced with their last names or a number.

"I wouldn't wish it on nobody. You lose all independence when you go to jail," Hall said. "You don't have no identity. So anybody out there thinking that it's cool, it ain't cool."

Hall said he didn't stop barbering during his year and a half in jail. With only a comb and a razor as his tools, he would shave the inmates hair. It was an hour and a half process that would usually take around 30 minutes with clippers, but the extra time kept his mind busy.

His motivation to stay out of trouble was sleeping on a hard mattress in an overcrowded cell and the lack of privacy when going to the bathroom. In a way, Hall said jail changed his whole mindset. He decided he was over the streets. As for the people he hung out with before, if they didn't send him anything while he was jail then he wasn't dealing with them anymore, he told himself.

"I was like, 'Ok, I'm through. Whatever I got to do to cut hair full time, that's want I'm going to do," Hall said. "Once I got tired, my mind was focused on being the best barber I can be."

According to court documents, Hall's trial date had to be rescheduled from early May 2012 to September 2012 because the victims in the case did not arrive to court. During the September trial, court records said the state told the court that the victims received their letters informing them of the new trial date. The victims were also informed that the case would be dismissed if they didn't arrive in court, documents said. Since the victims were not present, the judge over the case dismissed charges and Hall was released.

When he was informed about dismissal, his first thought was to finish what he started.

"I'm going to go back to school and I'm going to be out these streets, man," Hall remembers telling himself. "This is my last rodeo. My focus was to re-learn that book again."

Getting back to where he was before his arrest was the hardest part of his release. Once he left the jail, the only place where he could lay his head was his mother's couch. But the lack of material things didn't stop him from attempting to get his barber license two days after his release. He officially received his license a few months later.

"Once you get tired of certain situations you are going through or living conditions, then you're going to come to yourself and say, 'Self, what do I have to do?'" Hall said. "Then you're going to answer yourself and say, 'Hey man, you have a talent. Either you are going to play with it or you're going to take it seriously.'"

Being the change

Tiffini Brown was one of the seven barbers and stylists who joined DeJuan Hall as they gave the homeless free haircuts on Monday, Nov. 20, 2017.

Hall didn't completely leave his street mentality behind. He said some of his past techniques are still present. Before jail, Hall would be the first one up in the morning selling drugs. Now, he gets up at 3 a.m. posting pictures and videos of his work on his Facebook page. He rebranded himself from his street name, JuanD, to DeJuan The Neighborhood Barber.

Hall said he would rather work hard for peace of mind then make "easy money" with a target on his back. He can take care of his family and not worry about their safety. The anxious feelings he used to get when the police drove behind him don't exist anymore, he said.

"The battle with myself was the hardest thing for me because making easy money is easy but it's hard to get out those situations once you make that money." Hall said. "Cutting hair is like the same hustle, but it's legal. Instead of you selling the product, you are the product."

During his years as a professional barber, the gun violence involving youth in Birmingham has become a common conversation piece between Hall and his clients. So far this year, 11 children below the age of 18 have died during acts of violence in Jefferson County. While there have been many young victims in 2017, some teens have been jailed for serious crimes.

On Oct. 25, 18-year-old Chandler Jacoby Bryant was indicted by the Jefferson County Grand Jury in the fatal shooting of a popular Birmingham store clerk. In June, 18-year-old Monsure Davis and 17-year-old Dequerius Tyrell Fair were indicted on capital murder and attempted murder charges in the January shooting of Wenonah High School senior Juzahris Webb. Police said they also shot at Webb's friend as both males were walking home from school.

Hall is asking the teens to put the guns down and be aware of their inner circle and their surroundings.

"If you need to be somewhere where you need a handgun at 18, you don't need to be there," Hall said. "I understand if you feel lame for not being there. It's cool to be lame. Lame people live longer."

That's one of the reasons cutting kids hair is so important. It gives him an opportunity to instill the importance of hard work and focusing on an education. For example, Hall knows more children would get haircuts for free if he were to accept both A's and B's. But he set a high bar so the child will reach for more and discover their true potential.

"It's a way to teach them that everything in life is going to cost something," Hall said. "When I was a child, C's were acceptable. If kids think C's are cool, then that's all they are going to shoot for."

He also makes sure he is a good role model for the those who look up to him. He is one of the founding members of the Willing Family, an organization of volunteers focused on serving the community in any way they can. They have cleaned up neighborhoods and made sure children had a safe place to go for Halloween during their trunk-or-treat celebrations. He was also one of the seven barbers who gave more than 200 homeless people free haircuts at Linn Park on Monday. The event was so well received that the barbers plan to do it again on December 17.

Hall hopes he makes any child who walks through his doors feel a mini superhero who has more power over their world than they think. They just have to put their mind and effort into it.

"Don't let your living conditions or the environment you grew up in stop you from doing anything you want to do," He said. "This same way that you came in feeling bad but as soon as that hair hit the floor you feel like a new person, you can feel that way every day. It's inside of you."