AD/PR AGENCIES
A.C. Nielsen Co.
Arnold Worldwide
BBDO NY
Bravo Group
Brodeur Porter MNovelli
Brandimensions
Bumble Ward & MAssociates
Burston Marsteller
Campbell Ewald
Carat USA
Chicago Creative
Cimarron Group
The Conference MBoard
Cramer Krasselt
Creative Media
Crispin Porter & Bogusky
Dai Worldwide
D'arcy Masius MBenton Bowles
David & Goliath
DDB Needham
Deutsch, Inc.
Designory
Draft Worldwide
Euro/Halvas North America
Fallon
Fleishman Hilliard
Foote, Cone & MBelding
Fusion P.R.
Goodby,Silverstein
Grey Advertising
GSD&M
Hal Riney & MPartners
Hill & Knowlton
Hill, Holiday
Interpublic Group
J. Walter MThompson USA.
Infinity Marketing Solutions
Jager Di Paola
Kemp
Jordan Case McGrath
Landor Associates
Leo Burnett USA
Leverage
Lowe Lintas
The Martin Agency
The MacManus Group
Masterminds Adv.
McCann-Erickson
McKinney & Silver
MetroDetroit Signs
The McManus MGroup
McKinsey & Co
Mediacom
Media Log
Mindshare
Modem Media
Modernista
Mullen Advertising
Noble &
MAssociates
Ogilvy & Mather
Organic Online
Omnicom Group
P&F MCommunications
Partnership
Patriot Media and MCommunications
Publicis
Rives Carlberg,
The Romann Group
Saatchi and MSaatchi
Schlesinger Assoc
SevenTwentyFour
The Sponsorship MCo.
Sullivan, Higdon & MSink
TBWA Chiat/Day
True North
US Web
US Web Pittsburgh
Valentine McCormick Ligibel
Wong Doody
WPP Group
Western Media
Young & Rubicam
Zentropy
Zyman Group

PUBLICATIONS
Adrants
Adweek
American Busines Media
American City MBusiness Journal
Bloomberg Financial
Brandweek
C|Net
Chicago Tribune
CMP Publications,
Corbis Corp.
Cox Newspapers
Crain Communications
Dow Jones
DowJones-
MTelerate
Forbes, Inc.
Getty Images
Hachette Filipacchi
Harper Collins
Houghton Miffin Co.
Las Vegas Review MJournal
Lexis-Nexis
Los Angeles Times
Medialink MWorldwide
Meridith MCorporation
Monster Worldwide
MNetwork
New York MMagazine
New York MObserver
New York Times
News Corp.
Playboy
Public Interest MNetwork
Random House,
Reuters MInformation
Screenvision MCinema
The Mcgraw-Hill MCos.
The Providence MJournal
The Economist
TV Guide
United

FINANCIAL FIRMS
Assurant, Inc.
American Express
American Family MInsurance
Automatic Data
Bank Of America
Bank One
Banque Paribus
Bear Sterns MSecurity
Booze Allen MHamilton
Central Life MInsurance
Charles Schwab & Co.
Citicorp Global Information Network
Chase Manhatten MBank
Commonwealth
Dean Witter
Debartolo MProperties
Deutsche Bank
Dorland Sweeny MJones
Ernst & Young
Fannie Mae
Farmers Insurance
First American Title
Guardian Life MInsurance
Greenwich Capital Markets
Harris Trust & MSavings
Icon International
Indymac Bancorp
Investors Bank & MTrust
John Hancock Insurance
Johnson & Higgins
Kiwi Partners, Inc
KMPG LP
Kmpg/Peat MMarwick
Lehman Brothers
Lazard Freres
Massachussetts MMutual
Mckinsey & MCompany
Merril Lynch
Met Life
Mutual Life Of MCanada
Mutual Of Omaha
Morgan Stanley MGroup
Nations Bank
New York Life
Oliver Wyman, Inc
PanAsian Venture
Capital .
Paine Webber
Price Waterhouse
Principal Financial MGroup
Progressive Insurance
Regent Business Centers
Reliastar Financial
Royal Bank of MCanada
Salomon Inc
State Farm Mutual
Sun America
Swift Ventures
VeriSign
United Title
Wells Fargo
World Bank Group

GOVERNMENT/NGO
42nd Communications Squadron, Maxwell AFB
Admin Office of U.S. MCourts
Air Force Logistics MCommand.
Autism Partnership
The Art Institute MInternational
American Red Cross
Cal Dept. of Social MServices
Canadian Wheat Board
City Of Philadelphia
City of Los Angeles
City of New York
Commonwealth of MKentucky
Communicom Services, Alabama
Development Prog.
DOD Network
Eastern Band of MCherokee Indians
Federal Reserve Board
Hadassah MCorporation
Harvard University
Institute For MAdvanced Study
Internal Revenue MService
John D & Cathrine T. McArthur Foundation
Leukemia & MLymphomia Fund
LosAngeles Unified
School District
NASA
Navy Network MInformation Center
NJ Dept. of Treasury
N.J. Transit
New York Police MDept.
Office of Mgmt. and Budget
Port Authority Of NY MNJ
State of Idaho
State Of Ohio MNetwork
State of Tennessee
MDept. of Education
St. Francis House
St. Luke's Shawnee MMission
The Freedom Forum
The Hay Group
U.S. Army Research
U.S. Dept. of Commerce
U.S. Dept. of State
U.S. Dept. of Housing and Urban Development
Utah Educational Network
U.S. Environmental Protection Agency
United Nations
United Space Alliance
U.S. Geological Survey
United Federation of
Teachers Welfare Fund
Virginia Economic Development
Western Cancer MCenter

(New This Month)

TECHNOLOGY
Accelovation
AG Technologies
Allied Signal, Inc.
Altavista Company
Apple Computer
AT&T Corp.
Bell Laboratories
Boeing
Cisco Systems
Computer Sciences MCorp.
Compass MCommunications
Computerwise, Inc.
Cornerstone Research
Cybernostic Group
Cyveillance, Inc.
Danger.com
Dell Computer Corp.
Diebold
Digitas
Energy Group MNetworks
E. D. S.
Edaptivity.com
Equinix, Inc.
Evocative, Inc
GHI Technologies
GTech, Corp.
Genentech, Inc
General Electric Plastics
Hewlett-Packard MCo.
Hollywood Interactive
Honeywell, Inc.
Hughes Network
IBM Corporation
Knology Holdings
Intel Corporation
Layered MTechnologies
Macromedia, Inc.
MediaLog, Inc.
Metrored SA
Microsoft Corp
Microsoft Hotmail
Mobilnetics, Corp.
MindShare
NKH&W Fon
National Center for MSupercomputing
NTT America
Netscape
NetVision, Ltd.
New Dream MNetwork
Northrop Grumman
Oracle MDatenbanksystem MGmbH
Pulitzer MTechnologies
PlayStar Music MCorp.
PiloSoft, Inc.
Ricoh
Reuters Information
Rackspace.com, Ltd.
MTech
Salk Institute
Savvis
SAP America
Sciworth, Inc.
Scripps Research Institute
Sonic Walls
Sun Microsystems
Supercomputing
Secure Computing
Symantec
MSystems
UAL Loyalty MServices
Union DataCom
VeriSign
Virtual Compute
Corp.
Wynne D City Power
Web M.D.
Xerox Palo Alto Research Center
Yahoo!
Yipes Communications

ENTERTAINMENT
19 Entertainment
20th Century Fox
Agency for MPerforming Arts
Ask Jeeves, Inc.
Barnes & Noble
CAA
CBS Studio Center
CBS, Inc.
CineWorks
Clear Channel
Courtroom TV MNetwork
DIC Entertainment
DirecTV
Disney Worldwide Services
Electric Lightwave
Emeril’s Homebase Exxon Mobile Corp.
ESPN
Fandango
Franklin Weinrib Rudell
Golf TV
GE/NBC
Harpo Productions
Hollywood Gower
International MCreative Mgmt
Metropolitan MMuseum of Art
MCA Inc.
NHL Enterprises
Paramount Pictures
Public BroadcastingMCo.
Screenvision
Sirius Satellite Radio
Sony Pictures Entertainment
Steinway & Sons
The Broder Kurland MAgency
The Gersh Agency
The New York Jets
Ticketmaster
Universal Studios
Universal Music Group
United Talent Agency
Vasallo, PC
Viacom MInternational
Videotron Telecom
Visable World, Inc.
Webb Uffnar MAgency

CONSUMER PRODUCTS
Abbott Laboratories
Affiliated Foods
Air Canada
Allegiance
American Airlines, Inc.
Healthcare
Amazon.com
Allied Signal, Inc.
Amaco Corporation
Anheuser Busch
Apple Computer
Berretta, USA
Bausch & Lomb
Bayer Corp.
Borders, Inc.
Calvin Klein Cosmetics
Canadian Mental
Christian & Timbers
MCompany
Colgate Palmolive
Conrail
Cooper Oil Tool Div.
Delta Air Lines
Dr Pepper/Seven Up
Eli Lilly & Company
Estee Lauder
Ethan Allen
Federal Express MCorp.
First Health Growth
Health Assn
H.J. Heinz Co.
Heinz Service Company
Hotjobs.com
The Home Depot
HQ Global Workplaces
Humana
Ikea NA Services
International Paper
Johanna Foods Inc.
Johns Hopkins
Johns Manville
Johnson & Johnson
Joseph E. Seagram
Kaiser Permianente
Kinkos, Inc
Masonic Homes
Mead Corp.
Merck & Co.
National Gypsum
Nike
Office Max
Pepsi-Cola
Pfizer
Phillip Morris
Procter & Gamble
RCN Corporation
The Ritz Carlton
S.C. Johnson Wax
Scripps Health
Schering-Plough .
Sharper Image
Sony North America
Starbucks Coffee Co
Starwood Hotels
The Limited, Inc.
Tiffany & Co.
Tishman Speyer
Tyco Electronics
Under Armour
Wellpoint Health
MNetworks
Wm. Wrigley Gunderson
Yum! Brands, Inc.

Once upon a time, as legend had it, there was a high school football team. Compton High School's football team to be exact. Or maybe it was their basketball team. Legend gets a little sketchy as to the sport, but not to the fact of an actual game. And its location in the predominantly Black city of Compton, California. Anyway, this football (or basketball) game was against its arch-rivals from the South Central Los Angeles district of Watts.

The Compton colors were Blue and White. The Watts Team colors were Red and White.

Now as to who won this particular game, nobody seems to recall. What is recalled is that the refs and the crowd had a bitter dispute as to the final play and the winning score. Which is why it came to be that the aftermath of the game has cause for some degree of historical significance.

It seems that a group of young fans left the game that Saturday (or Thursday) afternoon and set off on the trek across town to their neighborhood in the Hoover (or Crenshaw) district some seven miles to the West side of L.A. As proud supporters of their comrades at Compton High, these fans sported the blue flags, jerseys and bandanas of their team.

And so it was that these twenty or so young fans took a short-cut through a park in the Piru Street section of Compton where they encountered a number of fans sporting the red banners, jerseys and bandanas of the team from Watts. A dispute ensued, which soon escalated to an all-out brawl. Injuries were taken on both sides but from all accounts the blue team got the better of the battle and continued West, somewhat battered and bruised.

But word spreads fast in the ghettos of Los Angeles and in the blocks to come the allies of the Piru street boys, members of a street gang called the Brims lay in wait for the fans in blue. They were told that their enemies would be easy to spot because several of them had sustained severe leg injuries and two of the older members were seen walking with makeshift canes like cripples. Or in the street vernacular of the times, "crips."

And so it was that this rag-tag but legendary crew of wounded teen sports fans became referred to as the "Crip Gang" and wound up fighting their way from Compton to Hoover/Crenshaw in a gauntlet that was said to have left a number of fatalities and serious injuries in its wake, but resulted in an all-night welcoming street party once they reached their own neighborhood.

A street party that had as it's high point a series of victory dances performed by the severely wounded sports fans who were eager to show, "they never touched us" to their celebratory families and friends.

In the weeks to come this modern day version of Sherman's March through Georgia was not without retaliation. And in each of the brawls that ensued, the combatants took to wearing the colors of the neighborhoods they supported. When victorious (which was in the vast majority), those in blue would return to their neighborhoods and celebrate their survival (as these fights had turned deadly) with the arrogant strut that became known as the Crip Walk.

From these neighborhood conflicts there arose a full fledged war that claimed tens of thousands of young lives between 1970 and 1988 when I was called upon by then City Attorney James Hahn (later elected Mayor) to work with his Gang Intervention Unit to come up with a with solution. We did and in July of 1990 the first Watts Gang Truce agreements were signed by the leadership of the Crip and Bloods street gangs and the war was over.

But many of those involved in the war had amassed considerable wealth as narcotrafficers in the crack cocaine trade. The cessation of violence gave law enforcement the opportunity to refocus their efforts on drug abatement.

Those gang affiliates who were bankrolling drug distribution began to diversify their investment portfolios into legitimate businesses as the Irish and Italian mobsters had done years before. The "High Rollers" and "Shot Callers" of the various Crip Gangs turned to financing the growing cottage industry of West Coast Gangsta Rap.

Eric "Easy-E" Wright became one of the first ex-dope dealers to make more than a million dollars selling his violence-themed, profanity laced "dubs" outside high school playgrounds from the trunk of his blue '68 Cadillac. His group NWA (Niggaz Wit Attitude) went on to spawn such rap legends as Ice Cube and Dr. Dre and laid the groundwork for the infamous empires built by Shug Knight and Calvin Brodus, aka Snoop Dogg.

As West Coast Gangsta Rap grew to replace Rock and Roll as the prime mover in record sales, the music videos that promoted these artists gave ample display to the "Crip Walk" from such visual acts as MC Hammer and Li'l Bow-Wow.

THE BIG BREAKTHROUGH FOR WHAT HAD BECOME KNOWN AS THE "C-WALK" WAS ITS INCLUSION ON THE CLOSING TITLES OF SESAME STREET.

What had started as a celebration of bloodshed in one of the deadliest wars ever waged on American soil-a war that had claimed more lives than the Revolutionary War, Civil War and Spanish-American War combined-was now a signoff for the most watched children's television show in the nation.

But the journey of the Crip Walk doesn't end there. Enter Web 2.0. Now we have YouTube.com and an entire generation of user-generated content. And one of the most popular self-created "stars" on YouTube is Gosu a young Chinese boy from Hong Kong who has built a worldwide following by performing his amazingly stylish version of the Crip Walk in public venues all across Hong Kong, Mainland China and now London. Every day the ranks of his followers are posting their versions of the Crip Walk for the world to see.

And just this week, realizing that I had to lose this twenty pound tire I had grown around my waist, I found myself watching Gosu to pick up a few new steps to the dance I had tried back in 1988 in the Jordan Downes housing projects under the direction of an amused group of Grape Street Crips. Damn this shit makes you work. Let me sit my fat ass down. Crippin' ain't easy.

That's when I realized that my five year-old daughter had been watching me make a fool of myself trying to learn this dance, but as a result, she now has the C-Dance down pat and can't wait to teach her friends at Pre-School. What a legacy.

Stay tuned.