Why are we still rockin sagging pants?: An Inmate Tells The Story On Video
Lil’s Waynes drawers are showing & JayZ’s t-shirt are covering his!
A colleague of mine, Mwaalkebu-Ian Akil, recently shared the video below with me. It was so good that I had to share it with you. You probably have heard that Morehouse University recently implemented a new dress code that bans among other things, sagging pants. So I wanted to write this post that details the history of the sagging pants, Morehouse’s policy and hey a picture of Lil Wayne and Jay-Z.
Morehouse’s new policy details 11 expectations of students, including:
* no caps, do-rags and/or hoods in classrooms, the cafeteria, or other indoor venues
* no sun glasses worn in class or at formal programs
* no jeans at major programs, as well as no sagging pants on campus
* no clothing with derogatory or lewd messages either in words or pictures
* no wearing of clothing usually worn by women (dresses, tops, tunics, purses, pumps, etc.) on the Morehouse campus or at college-sponsored events.
And since the media has been talking about this dress code, I thought it’d be a great thing to share the history of the sagging pants. So here’s a video. The first 2 minutes the inmate explains what sagging pants indicates in prison.
My attorney, Excel Sharrieff, is a Morehouse man so I asked him about how he felt about Morehouse’s new dress code. He said:
“For a private institution such as Morehouse I think that it is extremely fair and necessary. The Morehouse tradition and mission is bigger than five students or even the current student body. Its about building certain type of leaders for tomorrow. Morehouse is about business and leadership I have no problems with anyone’s lifestyle but Morehouse is a PRIVATE institution like a private club and its members MUST abide by the rules or attend a public institution.”
What do you think about the sagging pants? Why are we still rocking them? Now when I look at Lil Wayne and Jay-z with their pants half around their knees, I don’t like it. Shouldn’t the history of the sagging pants make a difference?
About the Author
Yasmin Shiraz is the President of Still Eye Rise Films, an independent production company which films educational and thought provoking documentaries that chronicle the lives, traumas and experiences of youth. Her first production, Can She Be Saved?, a documentary that examines violence among middle school girls, was an official selection of the 2009 Roxbury Film Festival and recently won a 2009 Indie Award of Merit from IndieFest.
Yasmin Shiraz is the Award winning Author of Retaliation a novel about a community’s response to youth violence. In 2009, it was selected as one of the top Ten Quick Picks for Reluctant Young Adult Readers by the American Library Association. She is the author of The Blueprint for My Girls: How To Build A Life Full of Courage, Determination & Self Love (Simon and Schuster) and five other books. Her best selling “Blueprint” empowerment series is utilized as a self esteem, motivational, and educational tool at middle and high schools, after school programs, non-profit youth centers, as well as Boys and Girls Clubs throughout the country. 
One Comment for Why are we still rockin sagging pants?: An Inmate Tells The Story On Video
October 30, 2009 at 10:40 am
This blog is so timely because I have to minister to a men’s correctional facility next week. My heart sank when the young man said he could not even go in a frig and get a cold piece of chicken. I thank Ms. Shiraz for this blog/video!!