Norman Tunnel and Hip-Hop

Hip-hop is much more than a genre of music. Hip-hop is a cultural movement. It started as a way for repressed minority groups to express themselves and their struggle to as many people that would listen, and it has grown to become a way for all youth to express themselves and relate collectively. Hip-hop has become a sort of community, that takes away racial and social boundaries and allows for people to connect through music, dance, such as breakdance, and art, such as graffiti art.

The University of Florida's Norman Tunnel is an expression of hip-hop. The tunnel is covered in graffiti art, with students constantly repainting and recovering various sections of the tunnel's walls. This tunnel takes away social boundaries, just as hip-hop does, and allows students to connect with each other through their self-expression. Students express themselves through the pictures and words they paint onto the wall, and then other students respond or react to each other's expression, which creates a connection. The tunnel functions the same way as hip-hop on a smaller scale, and through a form of hip-hop, graffiti art.