Belizean Barber Crowned King of the City in Long Beach, California

From Camalote Village to California, one Belizean barber is proving that talent and determination can take you all the way to the top. Malcolm ‘the Barber’ Gabriel has just been crowned “King of the City” at a barbering competition in Long Beach, California. Today, we caught up with him to hear more about his journey. Here’s News Five’s Zenida Lanza, with that story.

 

Zenida Lanza, Reporting

Malcolm Gabriel started cutting hair from the age of thirteen, as he recounts moving around the Cayo District, with family in Camalote while hanging out in Roaring Creek. Coming from a family of four and watching his mother struggle, he knew that he needed to make money fast. Fast-forward to today, he’s been crowned the best barber in all of Long Beach, USA. So, who was his inspiration?

 

Malcolm Gabriel, Barber

“My stepdad and my uncle, because they’ve been our barber since we were kids. They’ve been cutting our hair since we were kids, you know? So they actually like inspire me to become a barber. I’ve always seen them cutting our, like my little cousins, my brother’s hair in the yard and stuff. So I always wanted to try it, you know, until finally they had me try it and I loved it and that’s how it started.”

 

But it wasn’t always easy. Malcolm says his biggest challenge was people not believing in him.

 

Malcolm Gabriel

“The biggest challenge was always people believing in me. I always believe I could do it. I always believe that I would be a well-known barber. I always like feel good about being a barber, you know. If da neva cause a this, to be honest with you, if da neva cause a barbering, I don’t know where I was going, where I would have been right now.”

 

Fueled by that self-belief, Malcolm kept pushing himself to compete and to win. From taking the title of Best Barber in Belize in a SMART competition, he’s always aimed to go up against the best.

 

Malcolm Gabriel

“I want to face the best barber in Long Beach because they’ve always been saying the guy who actually hosted the event, Jew City, they said he was the best barber in Long Beach. And I always want, anytime I saw him, I was like, bro, I want to face you. I want to challenge you. Until he was like, man, I’m having a barber battle for the “King of the City”, Long Beach. So I was like excited to join it.”

 

Though he was nervous about the strict time restraints of the competition, Malcolm said his years of experience prepared him for the moment.

 

Malcolm Gabriel

“And I’m grateful, like I said, I’ve always been grateful for this blessing. Major shout out to Z’s Barbershop dah Belmopan. All my friends, family, supporters, everybody who comment, send me a message. Everybody who show support. I love all of you guys. Everything I do, is for Belize regardless, you know, but I need to do something back home that will not only help youths and youths coming up, but I want to help grow deh. I want to help build deh, take deh out of the street.”

 

Now crowned King of the City, Malcolm says he’s setting his sight even higher on the international stage. Reporting for News Five, I’m Zenida Lanza.