Published on 03/18/2009

Author J.L. King leads educational crusade to end the fad

By Sr. Correspondent, D. Kevin McNeir

A quick cruise around Atlanta's infamous Piedmont Park is one way to spend a sunny Sunday afternoon - especially if you're in the mood for some tantalizing eye candy. Because from stripes to polka dots and rainbows, you'll see brothers and sisters sporting their boxer shorts and even spandex that leave nothing for the imagination.

However, the problem, as best-selling author J.L. King sees it, is that the style of sagging pants brings with it a host of mixed messages with the first being is he gay, looking for action and/or attention or is he a straight boy just modeling the latest BET video? And who better to speak on this controversy then the brother who put the "C" in controversy with his eye-opening book about life on the down low?

"This all became an issue for me when I was at church a few months ago and a young brother walked up to the altar to give his life to Christ," King said. "His pants were sagging so low that they actually fell down to his knees when he got to the altar. One sister commented "that's a damned shame - that boy's ass out like that and no one is saying anything about it." That comment really hit me and as the father of two sons I have always been on them about making sure they dress appropriately so that they are taken seriously."

Prompted by that experience, King says he put together a group of nine black men, the youngest being 17 and had a candid conversation. And what he discovered so moved him that he began to wonder how he could change the sagging behavior pattern that is now so prevalent in the black community.

"Most of the guys said they were sagging their pants because it was popular but few knew that the "style" came out of prison as a means of brothers signaling that they were looking for sex," he said. "And then I told them that for gay men like me, they were sending us signals too - I mean I love looking at ass and want to see the pants down even lower. And then, it's not just [gay] men who are looking - women are looking too.

Please continue to Full Story

Sagging pants: Fashion phenomenon or gay frivolity?

"These brothers didn't seem to have a clue about the image they were perpetuating and that the look is actually one that for some people, even evokes fear. I realized that there was an opportunity to educate them and others and that's what I'm doing now - in a major marketing campaign that has already gotten the attention of educators across the country."

King says his mission remains the same in both this and all of his endeavors - to educate African Americans. To that end he has put together a team that includes Atlanta-based model and clothes buyer Alvin Ferguson who is developing and facilitating workshops for high school and college groups and that focus on the notion that how what we wear our clothes often defines both our self-identity and public image.

"Wearing your pants like that [sagging] is not helping these brothers' cause and women are adamant about it being disrespectful to them," he said. "We have all kinds of marketing material including posters that are being distributed and placed on billboards and kiosks and have a lot of principals and college presidents anxious for us to come talk to their students. I was on Morehouse College's campus recently and it seemed like half the students were wearing their pants below their behind. Right now we're talking to rap star TI and hope that he, or someone of his caliber, will agree to come on board as our national spokesperson as a representative of the hip hop community. The majority of those folks will tell you that sagging is just a uniform - not a way of life, at least not for them.

When you look at the gay community, the young guys have taken this thing to the extreme - even for me. I saw one guy wearing tight spandex, another without underwear at all and then a really heavy set guy sagging. You know what sagging looks like on a very obese brother? Like he has a load of shit in his pants. See, these brothers are trying to be hard core but wind up looking ridiculous. We hope that this campaign will speak to all of our young black men, no matter what their sexual orientation."

Many cities, including Atlanta and Dallas are advocating laws that would fine those who wear their pants below their waist, male and female alike. And in some countries, like Grenada, authorities are instituting bans against the fashion trend, saying they are determined to bring "morality [back] into the 20th century."

King is already garnering record numbers for people who are visiting his website to place orders for materials or to request the participation of his team for workshops. If you are interested, go to No More Sagging.Com and check it out for yourself.