Blog Assignment 1 Vetta S

Just from reading a few chapters of Changs book I realized how much gangs have changed over the years, and how they had a huge impact on Hip

Hop. When they 1^st got started it was all about people wanting to have their own territory or “representing” for their own territory. Where Gangs would fight over who would have the most territory. To tell others where their territory stated and ended it was. Gangs also had a type a style to distinguish who was from whose gang, so they would know when it was time for them to defend what they own and love. But then when people started feeling music and wanting to be more into the music industry gangs fell off it was all about if you could be the best tagger from there where you can put your artwork up, so everybody can see where you came from. It was something that was so your name was out there and that was how it lead into the hip hop culture. The DJs and the MC started tagging as well…..

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…. But once the hip hop industry got big the gangs were pretty much nonexistent and the DJ and MC went to do parties where kids would break dance and pop, these crews became the “new gangs” where they would dance to see who was the better group rather than who was the best fighter. THIS was the beginning and what hip hop was all about how people came together to enjoy one sound one beat and not about fighting or arguing, but enjoying oneself with freestyle dancing and following what beat was being dropped.

The youth of this day and age just went with the crowd wanting to be in the “in crowd” at the time, the gangs were done and over, so the next best thing was going to those house and street parties and learning the styles of being a beboy

and breaking and popping. They were essentially following in the footsteps of the older generation, but at their own pace. The older generation would break dance up and then go down, but the kids switched it and started from the bottom to the top.

 I don’t think that you can talk about hip-hop without talking about gangs because it was all meshed together to make one complete era. That generation of time is only the beginning of the hip hop nation these days hip hop is so big

that it runs the world if you will. Children and some adults hang off of every word that an artist may say because they are so influenced by the beat and when really listening to the lyrics they want to go out and be like the artists.

 

The Socio-historical context of the Bronx Gangs and their culture

The Socio-historical context of the Bronx Gangs and their culture

The Cross Bronx expressway that was competed in early 1963 was a part of Robert Moses’s urban project renewal for New York City. The expressway was built right through the Bronx, which caused a downward spiral for the residents. It caused businesses to close, which then led to workers being laid off and residences being vacant in the already poor and working class neighborhoods. The Cross Bronx expressway was a huge factor in the culture shift and decline of the socio-economic status of the city, which I feel led to an increase of gang activity. “Only one in four youths in the borough even graduated from high school. These gangs were a vanguard of the rubble. They were the children of Moses grand experiment” (Chang p.48)

                                    
  

Race was not a factor in the formation of gangs, you had the whites up in north Bronx (North of Fordham Road) and all throughout the rest of the Bronx were individual gangs of Hispanic and African American gangs. With the economic crisis so evident in the Bronx, the youth thought best they stick together. “That’s the only way we can survive out here, because if we all go our own ways, on by one, were gone” (Chang P.49) One young child explains his expedition to collect birds at little Italy, when “twenty Italians swooped down on them brandishing bats and chains yelling slurs…They were learning, you just don’t go anywhere without backup”(Chang P.44) It was at that point he decided to join a gang. Following the economic decline, it was almost apart of the culture with the formation of gangs.

Savage Skull Gang

Gangs went through a transformation in the Bronx, they went from typical gang activity (fighting & turf wars). “The gangs preyed on the weak, the elderly, drug addicts, store-owners, unaffiliated youth, and each other. (Chang P.49) They went from those typical gangsters to ones that cared about the community and wanted to see change.  A New York Post columnist Pete Hamill wrote “these young people are standing up for life, if their courage lasts, they will help this city to survive” The gangs participated in what they called a “junkie massacre”, they would clean up the streets of dealers and users, and use their strength in numbers to help eliminate all that was bad for the community.

            Despite the socio-economic decline in the Bronx due to Robert Moses Cross Bronx expressway, the formation of gangs turned out for the better, especially with their transformations from destroyers to protectors of the city. This contributed to the culture of the Bronx, and formed it into what it is today.

Rafe B.