Originating in South Bronx during the early 1970s,
the Hip-hop movement was embodied by four different artistic elements, Rap
Music, Turntablism, B-boying, and Graffiti, all of which were used to highlight
the social problems that seriously troubled the African American community.
Hip-hop culture quickly spread throughout the Bronx and was adopted by
the many other sub-cultures outside of the Male African American community. One sub-culture to quickly embrace Hip-Hop
and most notably Graffiti were young Puerto Rican Males. This is evidenced by the several famous
Puerto rican graffiti artists to emerge out of the late 70s and 80s such as
Cope2. While Hip-Hop has spread around
the globe, its roots are still firmly planted in the Bronx. One prime example of this is the
aforementioned Cope2 and his “Street Art” store “Tuff City” that is located
right across from Fordham University’s Rose Hill Campus. Cope2 has served as a mentor and inspiration
for many young Graffiti artists across the Southwest Bronx area. His and other graffiti artists influence can
literally be seen on walls, street signs, overpasses, and even cars throughout
the borough.
Having lived in the Bronx for the last four
years, I have been fortunate enough to have seen a fair amount of Graffiti
across my neighborhood. While not all of
it is good, a large amount of it is very aesthetically pleasing and should be
considered Art (in my opinion). On my
walk to the subway everyday, I always see one piece in particular that always
piques my interest. While not
particularly aesthetically pleasing or well crafted, it draws my scrutiny over
the sheer oddity of it. The piece is a
large spray painted image depicting Jesus Christ and the Sacred Heart. For the first few years, every time I would
wait for the subway I couldn’t help my mind from contemplating the nature of
this particular piece. Since there was
no “tag”, as is common in the graffiti world, I wondered who painted it. Based
on the fact its been there as long as I can remember, I wondered if the owner
of the building had some attachment to the piece. But mainly, I wondered why the hell was there
a giant Jesus sticking out of an alleyway.
Like I said, it isn’t particularly well done nor did it seem to convey
any specific point or meaning. After a
while I started to dismiss the graffiti as just a random depiction of
Jesus. It wasn’t until recently that I
came across a new and more engaging question.
Having very little formal religious schooling, I
just dismissed the Sacred Heart as just some typical Christian imagery. But after passing the piece recently with a
friend who attended catholic school, I asked him if the piece meant anything to
him. All he could tell me is that he recognized the Sacred Heart as a symbol of
the Roman Catholic church. Considering
that it was in a neighborhood heavily populated by Puerto Rican’s and African
Americans, I began to wonder about the skin color of Jesus. This depiction of Jesus has a very distinct
white-european look, which made me think about James Baldwin and his rejection
of Christianity. Baldwin rejected
Christianity largely because of the way he believed it was shaped by whiteness
which in turn vilified black people while instilling black self-contempt. Considering that both African Americans and
Puerto Ricans have a history of having Christianity imposed on them, I found it
interesting that the piece depicted a white Jesus. I wondered if this was evidence of Baldwin’s
claims against Christianity. The fact
that the idea of a white Jesus has permeated into the minds of young African
American and Puerto Rican Catholics could be evidence that Christianity
bolsters and promotes symbols of whiteness.
If this is true it is easy to see how this could foster feelings of
self-contempt among people of other ethnicities like Baldwin.
Graffiti started as one way to provide a social
commentary on the troubles plaguing the African American Community. While I don’t believe this particular piece
consciously begs any socio-political questions, I think there are some serious
questions raised by the subconscious undertones.
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