The Politicians they were one of the most popular and well known social groups from among their peers throughout their high school years from 1982-1988 with memberships ranging from Lew Wallace, Roosevelt,West Side,Wirt,Horace Mann,and East Chicago. For all of their popularity they were considered by most an outcast,misfits,not belonging to a part of their peers because of their unorthodox style from the way they looked,dressed,acted,talked, through the type of music they listened to in the way they expressed themselves on the dance floor. The Politicians as one supporter explains:Had a way of relating a political statement through artistic expression by providing those from among there peers an escape from the pressures gangs,drugs,violence.It offered those of their peers who didn't fit into mainstream society especially celebrated by athletes,popular social groups separated by class,status and gender a way of hope and a freedom of expression.For one member of the group , describes the experience: It was like "church for people who had fallen from grace"As another supporter describes in watching them perform on the floor was like old time religion in the way people would get happy and scream. Although the content of their dance was very sensual and had much mystic in it.It went so far as to have a "eroto-mystic delirium" breaking down into 3 styles .Jazz,Modern,African and Latin descent

SYNOPSIS:

In the 1980’s Gary, Indiana was well into its second decade of a decline of prosperity that brought the city to its knees. Urban blight transformed a city with a rich tradition in politics, sports and entertainment into an empty shell. From this environment sprang a youth culture refusing to submit to the negative and dysfunction. Linked by schools and neighborhoods, these social groups created an energy that spawned one of the most infamous of them all---The Politicianz. While the other groups looked outward for inspiration in terms of fashion and popularity, the Politicians were a counter-culture all their own; outcasts who didn’t fit the traditional high school social paradigm. They were under the radar brothers who reveled in their low key status and their unorthodox style of dress and attitude.

They were a Midwest version of the social outcasts hanging out in NYC’s seedy Lower East Side during the Reagan era who were just as comfortable in the Danceteria, CBGB’s, or the Funhouse. They were a different breed whose sophistication did not lie in their affluence but their ability to travel in their own world that had no room for concession or acceptance. They were Prince and the Revolution, and Parliament-Funkadelic, meet Boyz-N-The Hood and the Breakfast Club. Their soundtrack was a hypnotic blend of Detroit Techno, Chicago House,and Latin Freestyle with a dash of Duran Duran, Tears for Fears and the Minneapolis Sound.

At a party they posted up in the dark like stickup kids watching the crowd wild out to Run-DMC and slow grind to Ready for the World and Freddie Jackson. As the deejay cued up Model 500’s No UFO’s, about ten of them slowly emerged into view like zombies Night of The Living Dead. As the throbbing bass line filed the room, their presence drained all the energy from the crowd. They formed a circle around a girl, stomping their feet and gyrating and pumping to the driving beat punctuated by electronic hand claps and a blistering keyboard riff. As they closed ranks, the female dance matched them move for move as they arched back and forth generating a pseudo-erotic aura that transformed a teenage lunchtime jam into a revival meeting-slash-Carnival--meets Plato’s Retreat. As the record ended they faded away as quickly as they came. These were the Politicianz.