The Barbershop and Black Congregation Cooperative is a left-of-center religious coalition that is a member of the left-of-center faith-based group ISAIAH. The group was a supporter of an unsuccessful ballot initiative that would have dissolved the Minneapolis Police Department after the killing of George Floyd by police and replaced the department with a public safety department with limited roles for police officers. ¹

The group also supported an amendment to the Minneapolis city charter that gave the city council the power to impose rent control. ²

The founder and head of the coalition, Brian Fullman, is a former drug dealer. ³

Background

Brian Fullman, an organizer with the left-of-center faith-based group ISAIAH, created the Barbershop and Black Congregation Cooperative in 2017 with the goal of building Black political power in Minnesota. The group canvasses at barbershops and Black churches for the purpose of political organizing. ⁴

The group views barbershops as “staples of communities as they provide both individual and collective empowerment, esteem and moral.”  ⁵

By February 2020, the group had organized with two dozen barbershops. ⁶

Advocacy

Restrictions On Police

In April 2021, the Barbershop and Black Congregation Cooperative supported legislation passed by the Democratic-controlled Minnesota House which restricted the police. The legislation would restrict the use of no-knock warrants, limit when police officers could pull drivers over, and increase the use of mental health teams to respond to some 911 calls instead of police officers. ⁷

Minneapolis Police Abolition Initiative

In 2021, the Barbershop and Black Congregation Cooperative supported an effort to abolish the Minneapolis Police Department and replace it with a new public safety department. The push to abolish the Minneapolis Police Department came after the murder of George Floyd by a Minneapolis police officer. ⁸

Groups supporting the abolition of the police department came together under the “Yes 4 Minneapolis” banner. The campaign got 20,000 signatures, almost twice the necessary signatures to put the initiative on the ballot, and raised $1 million by August 2021. The George Soros-aligned Open Society Policy Center donated $500,000 in support of the initiative. ⁹

Minneapolis Question 2 would have replaced the Minneapolis Police Department with a Department of Public Safety which would have taken a “comprehensive public health approach to safety.” Minneapolis voters rejected the initiative in November 2021. ¹⁰

Rent Control

In September 2021, the Barbershop and Black Congregation Cooperative supported a call made by TakeAction Minnesota, Faith in Minnesota, the Muslim Coalition of ISAIAH, MN350, Our Revolution Minnesota, Home 2 Stay, and other left-of-center to far-left groups to pass Minneapolis Question 3, which would give the city council the power to pass rent control. The initiative passed in November 2021. ¹¹

Felon Voting

In February 2023, the Barbershop and Black Congregation Cooperative supported a bill that granted convicted felons the right to vote while serving probation or parole. The group said it would help those felons register to vote and encourage them to vote. ¹²

Leadership

The leader of the Barbershop and Black Congregation Cooperative is Brian Fullman. Fullman is a former drug dealer who later became a barber and a minister. He gave up his barbershop to become an organizer with ISAIAH, a left-of-center religious-based political organizing collaborative. ¹³

1. “New Push to Disband Minneapolis Police after George Floyd’s Death.” Courthouse News Service, August 9, 2021. https://www.courthousenews.com/new-push-to-disband-minneapolis-police-after-george-floyds-death/.
2. “Community Organizations and Legislators to Minneapolis Residents: Vote No on Mayoral Control, Yes on Public Safety and Rent Stabilization.” TakeAction MN, September 22, 2021. https://takeactionminnesota.org/community-organizations-and-legislators-to-minneapolis-residents-vote-no-on-mayoral-control-yes-on-public-safety-and-rent-stabilization/.
3. Coolican, J. Patrick. “Mixed in with the Fades, the Barber Shop Is Fertile Ground for Political Organizing.” Minnesota Reformer, February 17, 2020. https://minnesotareformer.com/2020/02/17/mixed-in-with-the-fades-the-barber-shop-is-fertile-ground-for-political-organizing/.
4. “Brian Fullman.” Home – Democracy and Power Innovation Fund. Accessed August 12, 2024. https://www.dpifund.org/people/brian-fullman.
5. “Barbershops and Black Congregation Cooperative.” ISAIAH. Accessed August 12, 2024. https://isaiahmn.org/project/barbershops-creating-change-in-the-community/.
6. Coolican, J. Patrick. “Mixed in with the Fades, the Barber Shop Is Fertile Ground for Political Organizing.” Minnesota Reformer, February 17, 2020. https://minnesotareformer.com/2020/02/17/mixed-in-with-the-fades-the-barber-shop-is-fertile-ground-for-political-organizing/.
7. Bakst, Brian. “Minnesota House Pushes to Limit Police Powers.” MPR News, April 22, 2021. https://www.mprnews.org/story/2021/04/22/house-pushes-to-limit-police-powers.
8.   “New Push to Disband Minneapolis Police after George Floyd’s Death.” Courthouse News Service, August 9, 2021. https://www.courthousenews.com/new-push-to-disband-minneapolis-police-after-george-floyds-death/.
9. “New Push to Disband Minneapolis Police after George Floyd’s Death.” Courthouse News Service, August 9, 2021. https://www.courthousenews.com/new-push-to-disband-minneapolis-police-after-george-floyds-death/
10. “New Push to Disband Minneapolis Police after George Floyd’s Death.” Courthouse News Service, August 9, 2021. https://www.courthousenews.com/new-push-to-disband-minneapolis-police-after-george-floyds-death/.
11. “Community Organizations and Legislators to Minneapolis Residents: Vote No on Mayoral Control, Yes on Public Safety and Rent Stabilization.” TakeAction MN, September 22, 2021. https://takeactionminnesota.org/community-organizations-and-legislators-to-minneapolis-residents-vote-no-on-mayoral-control-yes-on-public-safety-and-rent-stabilization/.
12. Bakst, Brian. “Minnesota’s Largest Voter-Eligibility Change in Half Century Passes.” Sahan Journal, February 21, 2023. https://sahanjournal.com/news-partners/minnesota-senate-legislature-felon-voting-rights-bill/.
13. Coolican, J. Patrick. “Mixed in with the Fades, the Barber Shop Is Fertile Ground for Political Organizing.” Minnesota Reformer, February 17, 2020. https://minnesotareformer.com/2020/02/17/mixed-in-with-the-fades-the-barber-shop-is-fertile-ground-for-political-organizing/.