http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2omq2XBrElM

Disco Wiz and Grandmaster Caz, two D.J.’s in New York City during the early 1970s, give their account of what it was like to be present during the chaotic New York City blackout of 1977. The two describe the day of the blackout, recalling that they were D.J.-ing for a crowd in the city when all of a sudden the blackout hit and everything went dark. They remember immediately hearing crashing windows and seeing “families carrying furniture down the street” as people began looting the shutdown city. The two also attribute the growing population of D.J.’s in the city to the blackout, claiming that expensive D.J.-ing equipment stolen by looters allowed them to more easily enter the profession.

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Two D.J.’s Recall the Blackout appeared first on Witnify.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ts85TH-jaD4

New York City residents, including various D.J.’s and well-known journalist Geraldo Rivera, comment on the July 13, 1977 city-wide blackout that they experienced. Wilton Sekzer, a member of the New York Police Department during the chaos, describes how difficult it was for officers to get the citizens under control as widespread looting and arson broke out. D.J.’s describe the event and explain how the looting of music stores attributed to the growing hip hop culture within the city. The way one M.C., known as KRS-One, explained it, upstanding citizens that were well-known in the community were “reduced to looters, thieves and rioters.” The changes in the political arena are also described by the mayor at the time, Abraham Beame, who was criticized for the events and soon voted out of office.

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Changes Brought on By the Blackout appeared first on Witnify.