The Graffiti Art Movement in Philadelphia
“Coming to a Wall Near You!” From the 1960s to 1980s, Black teenagers in Philadelphia convinced the world that graffiti wasn’t vandalism, but public art rooted in protest and self-expression.
Menika Dirkson is an Assistant Professor of African American History at Morgan State University. She received her Ph.D. in History from Temple University. Her research focuses on race, crime, and policing in post-1968 Philadelphia. She is the author of the 2024 book, Hope and Struggle in the Policed City: Black Criminalization and Resistance in Philadelphia.
“Coming to a Wall Near You!” From the 1960s to 1980s, Black teenagers in Philadelphia convinced the world that graffiti wasn’t vandalism, but public art rooted in protest and self-expression.
© 2021–2024 This project is a collaboration of Getty Images and Origins: Current Events in Historical Perspective.
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