The Story of a Barbershop ...and So Much More

Shamon Antrum left Shawnte Swint’s chair with a Mohawk fade—and a glimpse of a younger man who might follow in his footsteps.

Antrum received the haircut in a just-opened renovated barber shop called Double Kutz. With shiny parquet floors and spiffy interior, not to mention talk of lives that overcome adversity, the spot brings a touch of entrepreneurial optimism to a tough stretch of Dixwell near Pond Street.

The modest shop sits a half-dozen storefronts, several of them boarded up, north of Crown Fried Chicken. There “Tuggy” Brown was shot and killed in January, the first New Haven homicide of 2011.

“We used to cut Tug’s hair,” said Double Kutz’s owner, Richard Rose, as customers and well-wishers dropped in and out to admire the rehab. The place sparkles with new mirrors and an array of barbering tools, some trailing bright yellow cords down to their outlets below the three active barber stations.

Shawnte Swint, who’s 25, rents a chair from Rose at Double Kutz.

“Hey, it’s Newhallville,” he remarked from his perch.

Everyone knows if you hang out on the corner with people who have guns, you’re going to end in a bad way, he reasoned. If, on the other hand, you learn from mistakes, take in the good examples of hard-working people around you, the outcome can be positive.

The outcome for his customer, Antrum, was positive. Antrum was a star basketball player at Hillhouse High back in the day (recently inducted in the school’s hall of fame). He played professionally in Europe; for five years he has run Camp Antrum for New Haven kids, with an emphasis on academics.

Shawnte Swint was a basketball standout, too. He also faced more than his share of adversity—and chose the positive road.

6 Foster Homes
Swint had some role models who pointed him that way—and others who didn’t.

His grandfather Willie Swint owned a private garbage and carting company in Newhallville for decades. Shawnte was to have been one of the men in the family to grow up into a job in the business, but it fell on bad times. Shawnte’s grandmother sold it when he was kid.

He lived in Newhallville until he was 10. Both of his parents used heroin. He was taken away from them before he was out of elementary school.

“Hey, my father was one of the biggest dealers in Newhallville. He did 10 years, and he’s set to do 12 more,” Swint said as he looked down the wide street in front of Double Kutz, a flicker of wistfulness about his gaze. Swint said he loves his father and stays in touch with him.

Shawnte ended up living with five difficult foster families, until he was taken into the embrace of a loving sixth foster family, Jerome and Patricia Stallings. He lived with them between his 14th and 19th years. He has a tattoo of his foster mom on his arm.

Meanwhile, Swint developed a talent: basketball. He was a star shooting guard at Wilby High School in Waterbury, where he scored 59 points, including 13 threes, in a single game. That record still stands in Connecticut, he claimed.

He landed a full scholarship to play on the Division I Hofstra University basketball team. Then an arm injury in his freshman year ended the basketball career.

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