Dondi was a daily comic strip about a large-eyed war orphan of the same name. Created by Gus Edson and Irwin Hasen, it ran in more than 100 newspapers for three decades (September 25, 1955 to June 8, 1986).
Interviewed before a Comic-Con audience in San Diego, illustrator Hasen told TV-comics scripter Mark Evanier the origin of the strip during a trip to Korea:
Dondi's original backstory describes him as a five-year-old World War II orphan of Italian descent. The boy had no memory of his parents or his name, so when a pretty Red Cross worker said he was "a dandy boy," he thought she was naming him "Dondi." Two soldiers who spoke no Italian, Ted Wills and Whitey McGowan, found the child wandering through a war-torn village. The soldiers brought the child back to the United States and Ted eventually became his adoptive father.
Like other comic strip boys, such as Dennis in Dennis the Menace, Dondi's character never ages. This became problematic in later years, as Dondi's age made the origin story impossible. Eventually, references to his Italian origin ceased, and he was adopted by Ted and his wife, the former Katje Bogar. "Pop" Fligh, a former pro baseball player, became Dondi's adoptive grandfather when he married Ted Wills' widowed mother. Following this, Dondi was portrayed simply as an adopted child, although in the early 1960s there was a reference to his being an orphan of the Korean War. During the mid-1970s, there was a reference to his being from Vietnam.
Donald Joseph White, "DONDI" (April 7, 1961 – October 2, 1998) is considered one of the most influential graffiti artists in the history of the movement.
Born in the East New York neighbourhood of Brooklyn, Dondi was the youngest of fourteen children. He was of African American and Italian American descent. He attended a Catholic school during his sophomore years. By 1975, East New York became an unstable region with racial tensions and social conflicts such as the prominence of gangs. In an interview with Zephyr, Dondi stated that he had joined several gangs in the 1970s to avoid being attacked. Anxious to leave high school behind, he earned his GED in 1984, took a job in a government office, and began to indulge his interest in graffiti.
Graffiti became a serious part of Dondi's life in the mid-1970s. He tagged using “NACO” and “DONDI”, and worked on refining his style, gradually moving from simple tagging to building more elaborate pieces. Using the name Dondi (a version of his own name) was considered very risky at the time, as the Metropolitan Transportation Authority and the New York Police Department (NYPD) were trying to crack down on writers. In 1979, Dondi officially adopted his name when he painted a giant piece on the roof of his house.
I don't like to be alone
With thoughts that don't belong
To me
And I can swim inside your head
For hours till I'm fed
With all your insecurities
It takes me forever and a night
To get back in my own fight
Chorus:
Sometimes, I don't wanna be, I don't wanna be me
There's some kind of lie, that I just can't see
And sometimes, I don't wanna be me
I am suddenly aware
Of what you're doing here
And why I hate myself today
It burns a hole through everything
A word can leave a stain
That doesn't always wash away
It takes me places I don't wanna go
It's not the me that I know
Chorus:
Sometimes, I don't wanna be, I don't wanna be me
There's some kind of lie, that I just don't believe
And sometimes, I don't wanna be me
Oh, it takes me places I don't wanna go
It's not what I know
Chorus:
Sometimes, I don't wanna be, I don't wanna be me
There's some kind of lie, that I just can't see
And sometimes, I don't wanna be me
Oh, sometimes I get in my way with the little things you say
It makes me believe that I'm not ok