Cornbread

 Darryl McCray, better known as Cornbread, was born in 1953 in the Brewerytown neighborhood of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Raised primarily by his mother and grandparents, McCray was sent to a juvenile corrections facility called the Youth Development Center (YDC) in 1965. It was during his time at the YDC that he adopted the nickname "Cornbread" after complaining to the cook about only baking white bread. The cook, Mr. Swanson, started calling him "Cornbread", and the name stuck.

While at the YDC, McCray was surrounded by gang members who wrote their names on the walls of the facility. McCray would write his new nickname, Cornbread, next to the gang members' names. He claimed to be the first person to tag his own name and not a gang name or symbol.

After being released from the YDC, McCray attended Strawberry Mansion Junior High School, where he developed a crush on a girl named Cynthia Custuss. To win her attention, he wrote "Cornbread Loves Cynthia" all over North Philadelphia. He continued to tag the area even after winning her over.

In 1971, when Cornelius Hosey was shot and killed in gang warfare, Philadelphia newspapers mistakenly identified him as Cornbread the tagger. In response, Cornbread decided to make a comeback and gain media attention by "bombing" the entire Philadelphia Zoo with his tag. He also wrote "Cornbread Lives" on a tame elephant that he had met a few days prior. As a result, he was arrested and had to serve community service.

In 1984, Mayor Wilson Goode founded the Anti-Graffiti Network, which eventually turned into the Mural Arts Program, the largest public art program in the United States. McCray was recruited to help stop inner-city youth from tagging.

McCray's legacy as a pioneer of modern graffiti has been recognized by the Graffiti Hall of Fame in East Harlem, which honored him in 2013 for his contributions to hip-hop culture. Documentary films, such as "Cry of the City Part 1: The Legend of Cornbread" and "Bomb It", have also featured his story.

Today, McCray works as a public speaker and youth advocate, sharing his experiences as a tagger, his struggles with the law, and his battles with drugs. In 2021, he married Consuela Sanchez, a longtime friend from Philadelphia.