Week 7 Blog Post

 After reading "Graffiti Is Art" it reminded me of an anthropology class I took my junior year at UCLA. In that class we also did an in depth analysis of graffiti and how it is a type of art that people choose to express themselves and the negative stereotypes that come with it. Charles "Chaz" Bojorquez discusses graffiti and talks about his personal journey with graffiti as well. As stated in the reading graffiti is viewed as ghetto, vandalism, and loss of moral control. Mainly because graffiti is seen in more lower income areas. One part that I think was important that author Bojorquez mentioned was the difference between cholo graffiti and hip hop. Reason being that most people might not know the difference (like myself). Another piece mentioned in the reading that stood out to me was the description of Los Angeles gang wall writings called "placas." I did not know that a placa is written in a contemporary high advertising format consisting of a headline, body, copy, and logo. Graffiti is something I have grew up around and been a part of my life for years. I have people in my family and know friends that do graffiti and I have come to appreciate it very much. As previously stated, most of the time it has negative connotations centered around it but I think it would be great to break past these barriers. It is a way of expression and speaks to what brown individuals face in our barrios. As Bojorquez stated "culture and people are defined by their language." Graffiti is a type of language artists use to express themselves that most people do not understand. Without the analysis and understanding of graffiti it will always be demonized by society.