Younger Asian Americans navigate something new to their generation: Taking up space

NEW YORK — The chairs stay occupied at 12 Pell. From New York City, from the metro area, from many states away, they’re coming for what they see on 12 Pell’s lively social media accounts, where the young, predominantly Asian American barbers offer advice to teens and men of all ages and ethnicities with humor, quips, confidence and ease — and not a hint of hesitation. Share Share Copy Link copied Email Facebook X Reddit LinkedIn Pinterest Flipboard Print This hasn’t always been the reality for many Americans Any look at the country’s past shows that such an American reality hasn’t always belonged to everyone, including previous generations of Asian Americans. And so they were under the assumption that that kind of perception would continue throughout my years, which it didn’t.” “I always used to get so mad at my parents like, ‘Why don’t you teach me a language?’ And it wasn’t until recently that I was finally kind of able to grasp, it was nothing like it is now.” Barbers work on their clients at 12 Pell, a local barbershop in Manhattan’s Chinatown, Thursday, Jan. 25, 2024, in New York. Clients are drawn by 12 Pell’s social media, in which the young, predominantly Asian American barbers are making a study of cool, offering consultations on style and cut, what’s fashionable and not.