In the 50th anniversary of Hip Hop culture, a professional skateboarder has been charged in Portland for performing one of the original elements of the music culture – graf or graffiti. This is during the same time that Portland has decided to implement their One Block At a Time to clean up graffiti and trash.
Scateboarding has become sort of an add on to hip hop culture popularized by rappers like Lupe Fiasco and Lil Wayne. Skateboarder Emile Laurent, 22, pleaded guilty to three misdemeanor counts and one felony count of criminal mischief in a plea deal that wiped away 21 other counts of criminal mischief.
Graf and complaints of graffiti have been on the rise in Portland. After the numbers, leaders decided to take action. In 2020, the Portland reportedly received 897 reports of graffiti, compared to 2,117 in 2021 and 5,260 in 2022. The Salvation Army, Downtown Portland Clean & Safe and Central City Concern’ new program One Block At a Time looks to manage graffiti and trash on the streets, especially in much needed areas.
Polar Skate is the company that sponsors Laurent. His image and likeness appears on the Swedish company’s website. The skater was previously charged in 2018 after a arrest and felony conviction where Laurent was charged with criminal mischief for tagging. That case was dropped by Multnomah County prosecutors.
This year is the 50th anniversary of Hip Hop where graffiti is considered one of the original elements. The other elements, as laid out in Portland ‘s first Hip Hop documentary Small City Big Hip Hop, is DJing, MCing, and break dancing/b-boying. Knowledge based activism, fashion and a number of other elements have been added over the years.
