Cornbread

Darryl McCray was born in 1953 in Brewerytown, raised by his mother and grandparents. In 1965, McCray was sent to a juvenile correctional facility called the Youth Development Center. While at YDC, McCray was nicknamed “Cornbread” because of his love of cornbread. The YDC was full of Philadelphia gang members writing their names on the walls. McCray claims he was never part of a gang, but wrote his nickname “Cornbread” on the walls next to gang members. McCray claimed that he was the first to "tag" his own name and not a gang name or symbol.

After leaving YDC, he continued his "work" on the streets of Philadelphia and joined forces with friends such as Cool Earl and the Kool Klepto Kid. He is certainly known for the “Cornbread Loves Cynthia” sign that he persistently put on the walls until he won his high school sweetheart. 

Ko so ga, po strelskem obračunu tolp, mediji napačno označili za mrtvega, je bil še bolj odločen da opozori na svoj obstoj. Tako se je v 60ih letih prejšnega stoletja odločil pretihotapiti v Philadelphijski živalski vrt, kjer je na lev in desni bok slona napisal  “Cornbread Lives” . Spomnimo pa se tudi, da se je podpisal na privatno letalo Jackson 5, ko so nastopali v Philadelphii. Zaradi takšnih in podobnih podvigov je večkrat pristal za zapahi, obtožen vandalizma. Kljub temu, pravi, da so ga enkrat celo policisti prosili za avtogram med tem, ko je bil pridržan.

Več o Cornbreadu si lahko ogledate tudi v filmih Wall Writers: Graffiti in its Innocence, Cry of the City Part 1: The Legend of Cornbread in  Bomb It.