[Congressional Record Volume 167, Number 34 (Tuesday, February 23, 2021)]
[Senate]
[Pages S816-S817]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




      RECOGNIZING GENEVA'S SHEAR PERFECTION BARBER & BEAUTY SALON

 Mr. MERKLEY. Mr. President, this month our country is joining 
together in celebration of Black History Month. It is a month for all 
of us to recognize the indescribable impact that Black Americans have 
left made on our Nation; to recommit ourselves to the struggle to 
achieve and ensure racial justice throughout our land; and, of course, 
to celebrate Black culture and all of its contributions to America 
past, present, and future. Few institutions are more connected or have 
been more central to Black culture than the barbershop and beauty 
salon. As described by the Smithsonian's National Museum of African 
American History and Culture, for generations, men and women have been 
going to these businesses not just for hair care, but for the sense of 
community and security they provide. Black Americans go to spend time 
among peers, playing cards or chess, sharing the latest local news and 
engaging in passionate debates about politics. Men and women go in to 
these businesses for friendship and mentorship and to be engaged in the 
affairs of their neighbors and their community.
  For 30 years, this was particularly true of Geneva's Shear Perfection 
Barber & Beauty Salon in northeast Portland. Since opening its doors in 
1991, Geneva's has been a hub for Portland's African-American 
community, welcoming over 1,000 people through its doors every month. 
Folks from Michael Jordan and Muhammed Ali, to members of the Portland 
Trailblazers, sat in its chairs. But more importantly, it stood as the 
heart for three generations of Black Portlanders who first walked 
through Geneva's doors as children with their parents and then went on 
to bring their own sons and daughters for their first haircuts, even as 
the area around this local institution underwent the kind of 
gentrification that pushed Black families further and further away.
  But it wasn't only the barbershop itself that is considered an 
institution of the Portland community--so is the Knauls family who 
owned and operated it for three decades. Geneva Knauls, who passed away 
in 2014, was our State's first Black female barber. Throughout her 
years as a businesswoman, Geneva supported all different kinds of local 
grassroots projects and organizations, and become one of the most 
beloved people in the northeast Portland community. Her status is only 
equaled by her husband's, Mr. Paul Knauls, Sr., who is affectionately 
known around town as the Mayor of Northeast Portland. From 1963 to 
1970, Mr. Knauls owned and ran the Cotton Club, which was the place for 
jazz and soul music, welcoming such big names as Etta James, Big Mama 
Thornton, and Sammy Davis, Jr., to its stage to serenade music-loving 
Portlanders. He sold the Cotton Club in 1970 and went on to open a 
series of others throughout town before finally opening Geneva's. All 
the while, throughout all of his business adventures, Paul has been 
active in other ways throughout the community. He worked with the 
Junior Achievement Program at both Humboldt and Jefferson schools, 
tutored in the HOSTS--Help One Student to Succeed--program at King 
School, and served for 6 years on the board of the Urban League.
  Last year, Mr. Knauls and his son, Paul Jr., decided it was finally 
time to take a break and close the doors of Geneva's. It was also a 
decision made out of a recognition of the difficult new realities of 
trying to operate a personal care business in the midst of an 
unprecedented national and global pandemic. Sadly, the Knauls and 
Geneva's are not alone. Many businesses have been forced to confront 
life amid the COVID pandemic and BIPOC-owned businesses and communities 
have been disproportionately impacted. Last year's announcement of the 
closure of Geneva's Shear Perfection Barber & Beauty Salon was 
understandably met with an emotional outpouring from local Portlanders. 
Men and women who had been going to the shop their entire lives took to 
the shop's Facebook page to thank the Knauls family for their 
contributions to the community and to share some fond memories. 
Statements came from local leaders and celebrities touting Geneva's 
legacy, as one person put it, as ``one of the most important examples 
of a black business that represented more to the community than just a 
place to get a haircut.''
  And a year after its closing, that legacy continues to endure. 
Geneva's Facebook page is brimming with pictures of young men in 
graduation robes in front of the salon, of a turkey giveaway in its 
parking lot that took place this past Thanksgiving to help provide for 
families in need, and announcements from other local Black business 
owners who are moving into the space to continue the Knauls family's 
entrepreneurial spirit. And the legacy of ``The Mayor'' and his iconic 
standing in the community remains as strong today as it ever has; even 
after celebrating Mr. Knaul's 90th birthday age and the pandemic have 
not stopped Paul Knauls, Sr., from putting on two masks to go out for 
daily walks in his neighborhood and around the Lloyd Center. For his 
90th birthday last month, the nonprofit World Arts Foundation streamed 
a live storytelling event, featuring decades of friends, employees, and 
admirers to help him celebrate.
  I know that Portlanders everywhere will join me in expressing the 
immense gratitude to Geneva's Shear Perfection Barber & Beauty Salon 
and to the Knauls family for all that they have done for the community. 
Northeast Portland certainly won't be the same without Geneva's, but 
everyone who walked through those doors over the last 30 years has had 
their lives

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touched and impacted by it in ways both big and small. And it is 
reassuring to know that, through each of them, Geneva's legacy, the 
legacy of the Black barbershop and salon, the legacy of community and 
friendship and looking out for one another, will continue to endure.

                          ____________________