Graffiti derives from the word graphein, which means writing. As time progressed, the word changed into the Latin word meaning graffito. Graffiti is the plural word for graffito and it is a drawing or writing on a flat surface such as a wall (jam2.dis, n.d. para.1). To this day, graffiti is synonymous with the styles of Hip Hop, which originated from New York City in the 1970’s.
It has been said that the birthplace of graffiti in the United States began in Philadelphia. Two people by the name of “Cornbread and Cool Earl” are said to be the founders of graffiti during the 1960’s. Graffiti first gained popularity in New York and began as “tagging” (to write graffiti on objects, walls etc.) by simply writing a name on a street sign. As gangs (A group of people who associate regularly on a social basis) gained notoriety in the United States they began to use graffiti to mark their territory. However, eventually graffiti would grow and become a modern form of art. Graffiti would soon inspire young people to use it as a way of expression.
In the 1950’s, people would tag the words “Bird lives” after a famous musician by the name of Charlie Parker. Parker was important to people because he inspired countless jazz musicians, painters, poets, and writers throughout the world. People would tag these words in memory of Parker. Graffiti began to occur in subways and quickly became competitive. The graffiti artists would have competitions amongst themselves. Graffiti artists had to compete for the limited space on the subways. Since every artist was competing for space, they would do whatever was necessary to display their art even if, it meant taking over other people’s territory. For example, a person’s house or even their cars would get tagged. The Clean Train Movement was introduced because of the perceived graffiti problem. This unique era started in May, 1989, when New York attempted to remove all of the subway cars found with graffiti on them. Since security got more aggressive, many graffiti artists would quit tagging. Moreover, the few that continued to tag would get caught. Therefore, leaving many graffiti artists to resort to new ways of expression. Controversy arose as people debated on whether graffiti should be considered an actual form of art.
