In September 2001, Felipe Coronel of Harlem, New York, debuted as rapper Immortal Technique with his album Revolutionary Vol 1. For the last 16 years, Tech has established himself as a talented songwriter, musician, and social activist. On the surface, Tech appears like another successful pursuant of the American dream
Tag: gangs
Jeremy Meeks was arrested back in 2015 for firearm possession. After his mugshot appeared on the Stockton, CA Police Department’s Facebook page for being in jail, his image quickly flew across social media and he became known as the ‘hot’ criminal. People were going nuts over this man with the
The once sleepy beach town of Santa Cruz has a long and storied history that is often associated with surfing. Records hold that in 1884 three Hawaiian princes brought surfing to Santa Cruz. The three Hawaiian princes traveled to Santa Cruz and made their way to the mouth of the
In November 2014, a local San Diego man named Brandon Duncan (also known as Tiny Doo) was incarcerated on the basis that his rap music promotes gang violence in San Diego. According to ABC and the video by CNN News, he was prosecuted for profiting in relation to a gang
This video is yet another proof of how art shapes criminality and how criminality shapes art. A teardrop tattoo is a perfect example of the effects of criminal world on societal cognition and perception. Indeed, rap culture made a common for prisoners teardrop tattoo popular among the general public. In
The art of tattooing has become mainstream in today’s society. As tattoos are slowly starting to possess a primarily aesthetic purpose, it is easy to lose sight of the representative value tattoos have had in the past. For incarcerated criminals, the purpose of tattoos is merely in their function; they
Robert Yager (aka Johnny Rotten), the lead singer of The Sex Pistols, is a freelance photographer that began documenting the lives of various gang members in Los Angeles gang scene in 1991. The most reoccurring gang in his photographs are the Playboys. In addition to his area that focuses on
During the 1970s, the Bronx was bathed in blood. Gangs could be found on every street corner, and death by gunshot was an every day occurrence. Skip back to 1963, when Jewish, Irish, and other various ethnicities still populated the Bronx. The streets were filled with protesters and progressives- people
Everyone across the nation has seen a pair of shoes hanging from a power line or a telephone pole, but no one knows for sure why they are there, could they possibly have some deeper meaning or was it simply just for fun? Due to the widespread phenomena of “shoefiti”
Irezumi (入れ墨, 入墨, 紋身, 刺花, 剳青, 黥 or 刺青) is the Japanese name for the traditional tattoos that Yakuza members get. Irezumi means “insert ink” in Japanese. These tattoos were used for decorative and spiritual purposes. The process was done by hand poking, meaning that the ink was inserted beneath