On a Wednesday in July at Clason Point Park in the Bronx, DJ Kool Herc, the internationally known D.J. and one of the fathers of hip-hop, was flying a kite. A few people walked up while his kite was in the air, and he pulled on the string to make it swoop and jink. “See, just like that!” he said. He was greeted by a group of middle-aged black men standing next to some Puerto Rican elders playing loud salsa music and sitting on beach chairs. “What’s up Herc!” someone else yelled from a distance. “All right!” he shouted back.

You can often find Herc at this grassy spot along the East River, a string in his hand tethered to a colorful assemblage of plastic and bamboo soaring above. The July afternoon flight was just across town from 1520 Sedgwick Avenue, where, in 1973, Herc, whose real name is Clive Campbell, hosted a back-to-school jam that is sometimes credited as the birthplace of hip-hop. He and his sister, Cindy Campbell, wanted to make money to buy new clothes for school, and in the process helped along one of the biggest cultural movements in the modern era.