e. A 1971 article in the New York Times suggests that a teenage bike messenger, who wrote "Taki 183" everywhere he went, was the individual who kick-started the phenomenon. Taki was his nickname; 183 the street he lived on. Almost immediately, a host of competitors arose, asserting themselves on subway lines, and within a few years, the famous, colorful spray can "pieces" became an essential element of the battle.
             Richly illustrated in Andrew Witten's book Dondi White, "hit-ups" (gang names and artists' signatures), "roll calls" (gang membership lists), and "pieces" (complex works by artists who are not gang members), describes the meanings and aesthetics of the writing on the wall. For example, "The SM X7 st" denotes the Santa Monica 17th Street gang (the "X" is a roman "ten"). The numbers 13 and 14 signify southern and northern California, respectively. (That is because, among other reasons, the 13th letter of the alphabet, M, represents the "Mexican Mafia," a Chicano prison gang whose members are mostly southern Californians. The 14th letter of the alphabet stands for northerner.)
             Graffiti artists can become very competitive. Races broke out to see who could do the most pieces. Throw ups peaked from '75 thru '77, as did tagging entire cars. Due to the lack of resources writers became extremely territorial and aggressive, claiming ownership to tra
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