Adolfo Jesus Narvaez was born on Febuary 5th 1968 in Managua Nicaragua. He was my mom's first son from her first marriage. We came to the U.S. in 1981 when my big brother was 12, and I was 2 years of age. We ended up living in N.E. Washington, DC. We lived a basement efficiency aparment on 7th Street and Acker Place. My brother's first school was Lincoln Junior High on 16th street N.W. Yeah we lived in N.E. Appearently when we moved to D.C. the neigborhood school didn't have room for him, and they wanted him to attend a school with other Latino students. My brother was the 4th Latino attending that year. He was a skinny scrawny pimple faced kid that didn't speak a lick of English. He once told me he was scared out of his mind when he first went there. They used to pick on him because he didn't speak English.
In 1983 we moved from DC to the "suburbs". We ended up on 14th ave in Hyattsville MD better known as Langley Park. This was pre-crack when Langley park was a nice place to live, We moved in with the exodus of Central American immigrants from El Salvador, Honduras and Guatemala. Back then the neighborhood was half Black and half Latino.
We lived in the Langley Way Apartments directly behind Langley Park Plaza. I remember you could see the Kmart from our living room window, I attended Langley Park McCormick and my brother's attended the prestigious hall of learning known as High Point High School.
By the time my brother stepped foot in High Point he had learned English and with that came confidence. He was still a skinny scrawny pimple faced kid, and this time he was the 10th Latino student to enroll. He was also one of the first students to participate in a experimental program known as ESOL.
By 1984 Hip Hop was a global phenomenon. In my brother's eyes that was also the best year for breakdancing. He had gone from foreign outcast to B-Boy. He was pretty good and popular for it. He had a crew at school, which he was one of only two Latinos. In the neighborhood he danced with other Latinos. Guys like Dewight, Phelipe Reyes, Osito, and Eddie the drug dealer would form the Latin Breakers.
Practice was neccesary for great routines. In the basements of our buildings there were laundry rooms. These rooms were huge and only about a third of it was used for washers and dryers. The boys would grab their cardboard and head to the laundry room and prepare for battle. One of his prized possesions was a Sanyo "ghetto blaster" boombox. The grey and silver ones with dual tape decks and equalizer lights. Lay down the board, pop in the tape, and get it on. Stuff like Roxanne Roxanne by U.T.F.O would come blasting out. He was also partial to Electric Kingdon by Twighlight 22, Rockit by Herbie Hancock, Shannon's Let the Music Play, and Jam on Revenge by Newcleus.
When they could scrounge up some cash they would walk down to the Waxie Maxie and buy tapes. The rest of the time they would copy songs off the radio. Back then the only guy playing this kind of stuff was Frank Ski on Saturday afternoons for an hour. They would drop what they were doing to run home to listen and copy the show.
When he was a bit older him and the boys would venture out to party and battle. He says they used to go down to Georgetown were other crews would gather. They never turned a battle down. Clubs like Traxx, Numbers, Chelseas, and Tight Room were also good places to catch wreck.
I asked him what was his most memorable battle. He begrudgenly told me his most memorable battle was also a bit embarrased about.
His crew had gotten invited to a birthday party at a community center. They show up. The kid that invited them, wanted them to give a show. They had no problem doing it. The crowd circles around, and they get to work. Taking turns showing off their moves. Suddenly they see these strange faces in the crowd. His boy is getting it in, and this dude jumps in and start going on him. Before you know it, it's a full fledged battle. My brother takes his turn, he starts uprocking. A girl jumps in the circle and starts rocking. At this point my brother is bewildered, because he'd never battled a girl. He starts to do a pop and lock routine were he appears to pass eletricity throught is body, running down his leg over to the other leg up to his arm to his hands. At this point he's right in front of the girl. He grabs her head with his "electric" hands, shakes her head and gives her a chest bump to "shock" her. She falls back and the crowd goes crazy, battle over.
By 1986 breakdance had died out, and Adolfo was graduating. He moved on to house music, clubbing, and carpentry. He since has married and lives comfortably with his wife and four kids. Long gone are days of shelltoe Adidas, Puma track suits, and Kangol hats. I always get a kick out of playing an old breakdance song, and he starts to pop and lock and he tells me these same old story again. I love to see the true joy in his face as he decribes his glory days.
Amazing Cesar!!!!
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