海角大神

A Memphis, Tennessee billboard, put up in 2013 urging young black men to drop the practice of "sagging" their pants is still making news.

The billboard was created and paid for by a black businessman who fought 鈥渟ide-by-side鈥� with Martin Luther King in the 1960s for black civil rights.

It depicts a graduate in a cap and gown on one side and on the other the back view of a youth in sagging trousers bracket the words 鈥淪how your mind. Not your behind.鈥� Insurance agent聽聽spent $6,000 on what he calls in an interview, 鈥渁 rather expensive personal project.鈥�

鈥淚 put that billboard up in 2013 and it still hits a nerve,鈥� Mr. Davis says in an interview. 鈥淭he reason I did it, I had been listening to people across my city and across the country moaning and groaning about the fact that young men sag their pants and some of them real low,鈥� he says, 鈥淏ut none of them were talking to the perpetrators. Nobody was speaking in the mic.鈥�

Davis explains that the images are of black youths because, 鈥淚 live in one of the largest black communities in the country, Orange Mound, it鈥檚 famous for that.鈥� He adds that when the billboard first went up back in 2013 it received 鈥渙ver 200 pages of mixed comments, many of them from a racist organization threatening violence.鈥�

Therefore, the reaction to the billboard is not new to Davis, even if the billboard is new to those who hadn鈥檛 seen it before.

鈥淭he billboard was primarily directed to this community,鈥� he says. 鈥淭hat billboard was my mic to make a contrast that you really do have a choice.鈥�

This morning when talk radio host聽聽of Chicago's聽WVON聽addressed the issue on her popular show, the phone lines lit up with callers who were eager to weigh-in on the issue she says 鈥渋s just not going away.鈥�

鈥淵ou know, black kids are not the only people who sag their pants,鈥� says Ms. Small in an interview. 鈥淚t鈥檚 now a fashion that鈥檚 crossed the border of race. When you sag your pants, that shows me that you don鈥檛 respect me as a fellow human being who doesn鈥檛 want to see your backside.鈥�

Small says, 鈥淚t does go back to prison culture [where belts are confiscated to prevent suicide]. The question is, 鈥楬ow do you respect yourself when you鈥檙e showing your backside and your boxers'.鈥�

It also harkens back to the zoot suit wars in black culture of the early 1940s when the oversized suits were worn for both its style and as a statement of defiance. 鈥淶oot suiters asserted themselves, at a time when fabric was being rationed for the war effort, and in the face of widespread discrimination,鈥� according to PBS's聽.

Activist Rosean Lindsey founder of聽: Six Principles of Who You Are in God, draws a similar parallel, saying in an interview, 鈥淎s much as 鈥榩ants sagging鈥� is connected to people in jail, this generation is unfortunately only making this decision based on persona; It shows style, power and defiance towards control.鈥�

Mr. Lindsey thinks the billboards may get a mixed reaction, 鈥淚 believe the billboard will make a lot of people in the culture offended because of the culture acceptance, however seeing the graduate on the left side to me is inspiring. Everyone has the potential to become a graduate and present themselves appropriately with their pants pulled up in this society.鈥�

鈥淢y purpose was to address African Americans who were striving for upward mobility and needed to present an image of dignity,鈥� Davis says. 鈥淚 presided over that聽聽as the聽. I was beside Dr. King. He and I were side-by-side on聽March 28th聽when he made his last march. I was jailed during the protests of the '60s. I have paid my dues. And I鈥檝e earned the right to say anything I damn please about the uplift of the black community. Now, anybody who has a problem with that, the only thing I can say is, 鈥楶ut up your billboard.鈥欌��

Small concludes, 鈥淚 think it鈥檚 a great idea [the billboard] because not everybody is going to read 海角大神 or listen to WVON, but if you live in a neighborhood where this billboard is you鈥檙e going to see it. I hope they go to every city in the country.鈥�