Shoefiti 101: What’s the Deal with Sneakers on Power Lines? These Theories Could be Behind It
You’ve probably seen sneakers slung over power lines at one point or another.
Whether in your neighborhood or around town, this phenomenon sparks curiosity. Some say it represents drug dealer territory. Others say that it’s part of leaving a mark on your neighborhood or childhood. Meanwhile, others have a burning desire to take them down.
It turns out that shoe tossing, better known as “shoefiti,” is a global practice that means different things to different people. And yes, we definitely got the tea on what those are.
Shoe tossing as a way of marking territory
Let’s start with the most common theory—and probably the most popular—shoe tossing as a means of marking gang territory. In fact, Snopes took the time to list several theories behind sneakers in powerlines, and three of them circled around this one.
And while there’s no real proof of this theory, Missouri state prison inmate and former high-ranking Bloods gang member Patrick Starr had something different to say. In an interview with WBEZ Chicago, he shared in Kansas City, “It was about your crew and y’all marking your neighborhood.” In the same interview, other inmates from Missouri and Illinois shared it “represented guys who were killed from each neighborhood.”
The sneakers can be a result of taunting or bullying
This theory makes much more sense to us because, let’s face it—if you survived high school, you can survive it all. What better way to keep you on your toes than leave you on your toes, right? A utility pole seems like the perfect place for your sneakers to be out of reach.
Drug dealers in the area?
This urban legend continues to be incredibly popular—just like the gang theory. But research has debunked it. In an interview with Robert Aspholm, a social worker in Chicago and doctoral student at the University of Illinois, he shared, “No one is going to put what they’re doing out there in that type of way to get themselves arrested.”
Sociologist Randol Contreras, author of “The Stickup Kids: Race, Drugs, Violence, and the American Drea,m” concurred. Saying when he was growing up in the Bronx, a shoe tosser himself, it was always for fun and laughs, not to reveal drug activity.
Memorializing the departed
Finally, one of the most common debates online is that the sneakers are there to memorialize the departed. Yes, forget your ofrenda and grab your favorite power line to remember those gone. According to IFLScience, this could be another reason why.
