Archive for the ‘Social Upheaval’ Category

Could It All Have Been So Simple Then…

Thursday, May 24th, 2012

bk tech

Editor’s note: Hail Meg!

Brooklyn Technical High School: 1986

Boys just want to have fun…

A Gang Gives a Name to Students’ Fear: Decepticons

Twenty five years ago I met a dude that helped show me all the potential that NYC held for those that weren’t afraid to bite the apple. Peace to Avalon, ThunderCracker and Megatron. The Stone brothers and the French brothers. Hell’s Kitchen Park was sometimes the meetup or maybe just Cuyler Gore Park off Fulton Street.

The Albee Square Mall was the Duffield Theater back in the day. If you ever heard of someone getting ‘duffed out’ then you just learned the origin of that phrase. I owe NYC so much and I keep giving back my soul. Peace to the fallen because those are my heroes.

bk tech
bk tech
bk tech
bk tech
bk tech
bk tech
bk tech

Hail Meg!

PURPLE REIGN…

Thursday, May 24th, 2012

megatron

WHAT’s THE FLAVOR!?! DECEP!

HAIL MEG!

Last night was the premiere of the movie ‘Deceptz’ which was loosely based on the legendary status of my brothers MEGATRON, RUMBLE and CYCLONUS. I say loosely based because the movie wasn’t written well enough to describe the passion that galvanized our collective together while we fought against the entire city. Because the story ended up being weak, ‘Deceptz’ will go straight to DVD if it even gets pressed up at the factory at all.

Last night was a gorgeous night though because I saw some brothers I have not seen in fifteen to twenty years. BOMBER, P-WOP, BLUR, BOSTON, HOOK OFF, DEVASTATOR, MENASAUR… It was a family reunion right on 59th Street, around the block from Art & Desgn H.S. Twenty years later we STILL shut that block down. The fools came out in force and you know what happens at a family reunion when one of the brothers says some sideways slick shit?

I say brothers a lot when I refer to the youth collective I joined during my teenage years, but sisters were an integral component of our collective. Let it be known that these sisters are prah’lee some of the most hardbody chicks evar. Still to this day. GOD created man first and then shit got better with woman. I had to laugh to myself that some of us are grandparents now, and still as loud and death-defying as when we were kids ourselves. Through it all I remain the Black Peter Pan. Always for the kids. No Robert Sylvester Kelly to that last sentence.

fools

The fools in front of Brooklyn Tech.

stone

STONE is a grandfather and a godfather in this shit.

fools

This looks like a picnic day at Rockaway Beach.

fools

fools

Still foolish even though some of us are a little bit fatter. Okay, in my case a LOT fatter.

fools

fools

Big CY and ROXY

fools

SPANKY and ROXY. Truth be told is that I had the biggest crush on SPANKY. Well, everyone did. You didn’t dare fuck around with SPANKY though. If she caught your ass cheating she would shank you, and that’s real talk.

fools

fools

HEADSTRONG still looks the same.

fools

Shout out to VITAL for bringing that love of family, and respect of the foundation to the younger generation, and for having everybody’s phone numbers.

Being with all of the fools last night reminded me of what the essence of DeCep was from the beginning. We are NOT a gang. We are family. You don’t become a family through violence, but through love and sharing. Yes, some people will get knocked the fuck out because they cross the family. GOD bless those foolish mortals. Let me tell you some stories about my brothers and the city we lived in. You decide if you still want to label us a gang, or if you can recognize that we were simply trying to find our place in a world without love or respect for us.

The transformation that I’ve made from two decades ago is complete and I still have love for my brothers and their struggles in life. I just think it’s time that you heard the true story of growing up poor in a city overrun with drugs, corruption and greed. Save your judgment until you have heard the truth.

By the way, PARIS HILTON was at the premiere too. Ha ha. Crazy night.

paris

R.I.P. MEGATRON

Wednesday, May 23rd, 2012

Hail Meg!

Editor’s note: Sean Price called me today to remind me that May 23rd is D-Day. Hail Meg!

I saw a movie this weekend and it further reinforced my ideas about charisma and leadership. Some people are born leaders. They have a presence that is magnetic and forceful. They have the courage to lead by example. The most intelligent leaders know how to delegate responsibilities to people who are loyal to their program.

I want to honor a young man who had all the special qualities of a great leader. His tragic flaw was only that he was young. His greatest acheivement was that he was the catalyst for the assembly of a 500+ member collective that came from every corner of the city. There was never before and there has never been since a community action group of this size and complexity.

This young man was from one of the most depressed areas of New York City, the Ocean Hill section of Brownsville. It was a neighborhood in which the abandoned buildings and vacant lots serve as playgrounds and open spaces. The services that most places take for granted like trash collection and street cleaning are luxuries. It was in this environment that he was raised, but his conciousness extended beyond these conditions. As a student in one of NYC’s most prestigious high schools, he displayed his intelligence and charisma. The students of this school were often terrorized by groups of youth from neighboring high schools.

MEGATRON decided to assemble a group of schoolmates that would repel these young terrorists and provide a measure of safety for the students that needed his help. The early success of his group spawned the formation of a larger network of students throughout the city. Thru his leadership, this youth action movement grew to encompass members in every boro of the city and was renowned and respected for its mobilization techniques.

One of my fondest memories of MEGATRON recalls a time when the original 13 members of his youth organization were prevented from securing a goal they had set for themselves. Instead of admonishing some members for not being active enough, he spun that day’s failure into a positive message for victory the following day. On the next day’s mission, who do you think was front and center in the effort to secure the youth collective’s agenda?

MEGATRON was an inspiring dynamic leader and I thank GOD for being able to call him my brother.

Respect The Architects…

Tuesday, May 15th, 2012

Rest In Peace Iz The Wiz

The early 1970s saw the growth of graffiti in a way that only its pioneers can explain. Classic Hits, the most visual book documenting this time period of graffiti art, tells the story from the view of originators Taki 183, Blade, Iz the Wiz, Alan Fleisher, and more.

Classic Hits Trailer from Dokument Press on Vimeo.

DOOOOOOOOM!

Tuesday, May 8th, 2012

Frank Magazine dropping in early June already has me HYPE!