Meanwhile, the demos of the Bronx was finding voices. One voice was the explosion of graffiti on our subways. I loved it! The kids who made it were thrown into a public transit system that was far more broken down than today’s. They told the world, “We are not helpless; we can make this world colorful, exuberant, exciting.” I was thrilled. I took my mother to the 149th Street subway stop, near where we had lived, with a good view of the trains. She was a very reserved woman, but she said, “It’s a rainbow, in a place where who would expect one?”
Emerging from the Ruins | Dissent Magazine
Beautiful lecture on the destruction of the Bronx and its subsequent resurgence against all odds. I particularly enjoyed the attention devoted to graffiti and rap music as early signs of a turn for the better.
