Skin Jack's Articles
Oi!: A Brief Personal History
I find it hard to speak easliy and briefly on what is Oi! and why it is in the first place. Having grown up a confused skinhead in the time when other kids my age were playing little league, I don't really know what the big difference is between "us" and "them" except maybe their ingnorance toward our causeand individuality. The bottom line is this, Oi! has a unity behind it that can be found nowhere else. The closeness of the people goes far beyond fashion, or hairstyle, or even race. Being a skinhead has never meant being a rascist, that;s just a misguided generalization. Oi! on the overall is for the people, be it for the punks, for the skins, heberts, for the squatters, or even the rudeboys. It passes along a message far more valuable than any one phrase could possibly sum up, though it is routinely passed along with the simple chanting of "Oi! Oi!"
Skinheads: Stick Together
Over the time that has passed since I transformed from a ful- blooded skinhead listening to the Business nonstop and renting such films as Romper-Stomper and Suburbia all the time, it seems that the newer breed are becoming more ignorant of other sects around them. As I am now more involved with every aspect of the scene, the ska shows, basement punk rock, and even the new zines out, I have realized that skinheads are fast becoming a subculture and many seperate themselves totally from any other group at shows, at parties, and when they see people on the streets. when I was a skinhead, I didn't do it to be part of some elite group, I did it because that's where I fit in. And as I changed, be ut my passing from the "skinhead scene" or my interaction with the greater sum of "punks," I have somehow been shut out by my former fellow skins. now, I can understand how some groups need their privacy, but this elite-ist stuff has to end. If we don't all unite, our scene is likely to die.
-"skinjack'
Email: Skinjack