From the always excellent art.blogging.la comes this link to an amazing Flickr collection of vintage photos taken of gang graffiti in East Los Angeles during the early 1970’s. 

Kid Duece writes…

“When these photographs of Chicano “placas” (wall writing) were made in the early 1970s gangs and their graffiti were a mysterious presence that few understood—if they were aware of them at all. In the thirty plus years since the popular media and entertainment industry have repeatedly spotlighted the subject to the point that the gangsta culture has become a pervasive part of our society.”