because of the important social role bash be barber shops play e community, woody vail plans to train barbers, to talk to pe about registering to vote. >> they are always going to have their customers. even when the project is over they can still get the information. that has the key, they have status, key stakeholders in the comiernt. >> woody's program is called sharp snielgt. he's lawrping it with a $250,000 communication grant from the knight foundation. this is one of 22 projects that won funding through a competition called the knight news challenge. to tackle civic problems like low voter turnout and political engagement in low income and communities of color. >> the project is geared towards black men because we have different issues around voting and being involved civically. >> according to a new york times analysis philadelphia ranks third in the country for the missing number of african american men behind new york and chicago. these are men who either died young or in prison. >> in philadelphia we had a big crack cocaine epidemic in the '80s and '90s, a lot of men were in