IntroductionAfrican American adults are disproportionately burdened by chronic diseases, particularly at younger ages. Developing culturally appropriate interventions is paramount to closing the gap in these health inequities. The purpose of this systematic review is to critically evaluate health promotion interventions for African Americans delivered in two environments that are frequented by this population: barbershops and hair salons. Characteristics of effective interventions will be identified and evidence for the effectiveness of these interventions will be provided. Results of this review will inform future health promotion efforts for African Americans particularly focused on the leading health inequities in obesity-related chronic diseases: cardiovascular disease, cancer and type 2 diabetes.Methods and analysisSubject headings and keywords will be used to search for synonyms of ‘barbershops,’ ‘hair salons’ and ‘African Americans’ to identify all relevant articles (from inception onwards) in the following databases: Academic Search Ultimate, Cumulative Index of Nursing and Allied Health Literature, Embase, PsycINFO, PubMed, Web of Science (Science Citation Index and Social Sciences Citation Index) and ProQuest Dissertations. Experimental and quasi-experimental studies for adult (>18 years) African Americans delivered in barbershops and hair salons will be included. Eligible interventions will include risk reduction/management of obesity-related chronic disease: cardiovascular disease, cancer and type 2 diabetes. Two reviewers will independently screen, select and extract data and a third will mediate disagreements. The methodological quality (or risk of bias) of individual studies will be appraised using the Effective Public Health Practice Project Quality Assessment Tool. Quality and content of the evidence will be narratively synthesised.Ethics and disseminationSince this is a protocol for a systematic review, ethical approval is not required. Findings from the review will be widely disseminated through conference presentations, peer-reviewed publications and traditional and social media outlets.