The image on the left is of a very common street art design/label found all over Williamsburg as well as Brooklyn’s other “creative spaces” like DUMBO and Park Slope. I see this specific form of street art all over social media, especially from people posting about their trip to “hipster” Brooklyn. These stencilled letters have a meaning much deeper than “Protect Yo Heart;” they reflect the manipulation and colonization of hip hop, specifically graffiti, and its use as a weapon for gentrification .
The rise of hip hop culture, which includes rapping, DJing, b-boying, and graffiti, provided African-American youth with an artistic avenue to express their frustrations. It created solidarity within an underserved and oppressed group and communicated their unheard voices. However, the culture that started as an innovative street art and form of resistance in the South Bronx has transformed into an instrument for corporate gain and now permeates as a one-dimensional yet moderately artistic genre of music. In his essay, “When the People Cheer: How Hip-Hop Failed Black America,” Questlove suggests that “Once hip-hop culture is ubiquitous, it is also invisible. Once it’s everywhere, it is nowhere (2014).” The culture of a marginalized and neglected community rose to prominence, but as it gained recognition it’s original purpose quickly faded and became exploited for material gain.
In the chapter “How Brooklyn Became Cool,” Zukin suggested that Black Brooklyn neighborhoods never benefitted from the rise in the cultural production and appropriation of hip hop. “Protect Yo Heart” and other forms of street art are typical and ubiquitous in gentrified communities such as Williamsburg and Bushwick. It represents the whitening of Brooklyn and the simultaneous loss of hip hop’s influence as an art form and as a medium for resistance.
