The Air Raids are the shoes that had a hand in me learning about Malcolm X.
Yeah. Sounds hella stupid. But it’s true.
For those of y’all that are old enough to remember, Malcom X was REALLY popular around 1991-93. It all started with the @officialspikelee movie ‘Malcolm X’…
Around that time, these ‘X’ baseball hats started popping up and making the rounds. Just a baseball hat with an ‘X’ on it. That was it. I’m pretty sure it was just a custom hat that Spike began wearing and it just took off. I was used to SF Giants hats and it was refreshing to see something new.
Not much later (or earlier), the Air Raids came out…and…the original Black/Grey pair had this massive ‘X’ that held down the laces over the top of the shoes. They looked mean and the marketing behind them – streetball culture – enticed me.
I was 12 years old and I was easily influenced by anything that looked different. I was obsessed with the simplicity of the ‘X’ and I pretty easily convinced my mom to buy me some Air Raids and almost convinced my dad to buy me an ‘X’ hat…I remember my dad had his wallet out at a shop in Monterey, CA and then he looked at me…‘what’s the X for?’ I responded ‘it’s Malcolm X’. My dad: ‘What do you know about Malcolm X?’ I have no idea what I said but it was most certainly nonsense… So he responded with: ‘I’m going to buy you the Autobiography of Malcolm X. And when you finish it, I’ll buy you the hat.’
Sure enough, my dad bought me the book…and…at age 12, it was a bit heavy for a white kid from the mountains who knew nothing of the black experience. But I read it…and…other than the power of the story itself…there’s one line that always stuck with me: “I have less patience with someone who doesn’t wear a watch than with anyone else, for this type is not time-conscious. In all our deeds, the proper value and respect for time determines success or failure.”
Anyway, this pair of Air Raids – the ones with the Peace symbol, always make me think of that interaction and that ‘teachable moment’ my dad gave me. I still have the hat. I still have the Raids. And I still wear a watch every day..
