MONROE — To some people, a shoe is just a way of protecting their feet from the elements. But to others, like Jemayne Lavar King, shoes can be a window to the past, a source of nostalgia, a hotbed of culture and a status symbol.

King, 32, teaches at Johnson C Smith University and wrote “Sole Food — Digestible Sneaker Culture,” which is a collection of essays, stories and poetry about sneaker culture. He attended the second annual N.C. Sneaker Summit on Nov. 21 at the Metrolina Tradeshow Expo in Charlotte. The show allowed people to showcase their collections of sneakers. Activities related to sneaker culture, such as break dancing and deejaying, also had exhibits. King argues that there’s great meaning behind a shoe’s seemingly simple design and color scheme. He talked with The Enquirer-Journal about the culture’s history, standards and future.

Q: How did you get involved with sneaker culture?

A: I’ve identified with the culture since I was a child. I remember my father, when he saw I had an interest in sports, made sure that he kept a subscription to Sports Illustrated. He saw that I was reading it. I would read them to see what sneakers certain players were wearing, like Byron Scott (of the Los Angeles Lakers) from the 1980s. The basketball sneakers would be team colors back then. I’d never seen white and purple sneakers before.

Q: What is your favorite shoe?

A: My favorite shoe is by Next Sports. It’s called the Ewing. It was in production around 1989 to 1993. It’s a love-hate shoe: either you like it or you don’t.

My mom told me, “You can’t get them this week but I’ll give you half the money and you can put them on layaway.” I went to the store, put them on layaway and someone robbed the store and took my shoes. They gave me back the money but I’ve been chasing them for years.

Q: What’s the purpose of having 100 to 400 pairs of shoes? Especially if you don’t wear them?

A: It’s no different from any other culture. Beanie Babies, “Star Wars” memorabilia — you usually don’t catch a lot of flak if you have a ton of baseball cards. And they accrue value. It’s not like an old pair of sneakers in your closet. These things hold value. To be quite honest with you, some people treat it as an investment. The same way you’d buy savings bonds or block gold.

Q: How does sneaker culture compare to other clothing cultures like flashy necklaces or hats?

A: Sneaker culture is more closely related to individuals who purchase classic cars. In 1968, there was a young man who was in love with a ’68 Camaro, but he was a teenager and didn’t have the means. Then he grows up, goes to school, becomes successful and says, “That was a goal or dream of mine, and now I’m financially or socially in a position to do what I want.” There’s a large part of sneaker culture that’s based on that premise. The rapper Eminem, when he was 16, the Jordan 2 was released. It was about $60 at the time, and he wanted it so bad. He worked at this burger joint. He saved up enough money to buy it. Now he can have as many as he wants. It’s a lot like a classic car. They’re buying the dreams of their childhood when they’re established in life.

There’s a large part of the culture who’s all about getting the shoes before release date to show their clout. The whole intent is to show that I have avenues that I’m able to get things that you have to wait for.

The culture is definitely in line with hats. A lot of the same individuals buy both. They’re one and the same. It goes back to Bboy (break dancer) style. In the early ’80s, break dancing was a huge part of the culture. Sneaker culture came out of this culture because they would break dance with their sneakers. To separate themselves from other crews, individuals would wear shoes that were comfortable and flashy.

Sneaker culture and hip hop culture are in the same family. There are four elements of hip hop: graffiti, deejaying, rapping and Bboying. Some would consider sneaker culture the fifth element. It’s hard to separate them.

Sneaker culture touches different demographics. It’s worldwide. It’s bigger than a gold chain, white T-shirt and a pair of Nikes. It brings different cultures together. Last weekend at the sneaker summit (in Charlotte), there were individuals that I may not have had a chance to speak with and converse with in my daily circumstances. But because we’re all connected by sneaker culture, I got to meet a lot of new people.

Chains are more of a staple of hip hop culture.

You know Kurt Cobain? His music definitely touched on many different cultures. He was as big in the black community as in the suburbs. He’s remembered for his love of the Chuck Taylor. People inside sneaker culture think crispness and newness is something desired. But not when it comes to Chuck Taylors. My students talk about how you have to break them in. The grungier the better. It’s almost shameful to have Chuck Taylors that look fresh out of the box. I’m not saying he was the originator of this. But the Chuck Taylor is one of the most iconic sneakers in history

Q: How would you describe the demographic of people in sneaker culture?

A: The culture stretches from children up to individuals in their 50s and 60s. A lot of the younger individuals will identify with the culture because their favorite athletes endorse them. I’m pretty much living out the interest I had as a child. Older sneakerheads pretty much carry the culture with them. Young sneakerheads have the same interest but for different reasons.

For me, the Air Force Max took me back to the Fab 5 of (the University of) Michigan in the NCAA Championship of 1993. They were wearing those sneakers. That was my connection to that game.

I met a young man and saw him wearing the Air Force Max. I said to him, “That’s a cool sneaker.” I asked him why he wore that particular one, and he just talked about how it looked cool and he wanted to play basketball in them.

Q: Was Nelly’s “Air Force Ones” the first mass media reference to sneakers?

A: The Air Force One has been a quiet phenomenon for years. Nike didn’t spend one dime of advertising on it and people from around the country still loved it. It started a cultural phenomenon. It just took off. And it had its own secret society. People created it in 1982. They made them for a while, and then they discontinued it. In Baltimore and uptown New York, Nike found out there was a high demand for them. They made them but only released them in those two cities. They found people were coming to the cities to buy them. When Nelly came out with his song, it was the opposite of what the culture surrounding the shoe was. It became boy bandish. Here’s a shoe we’ve loved for years, now it’s getting all this negative attention because of individuals that identify with it just because of the song.

Run DMC was first With “My Adidas” in 1980s. They were wearing this shoe. They were wearing adidas sneakers. They were shoes made popular by Run DMC. At that point they realized, “We have all of this influence.” People were coming to concerts wearing adidas. They went to adidas and said, “We’re making you guys a lot of money. We’re attracting a lot of attention. They invited the execs to a concert. While they were performing, between songs, they told everyone to put their adidas sneaker in the air. This was a packed concert in Madison Square Garden. ... Once execs saw this, they gave them an endorsement. They were the first non-athletes to ever have sneaker endorsements.

“My Adidas” was the greatest hip hop song of all time. If you go into some type of venue and you play that song, you’re going to get a reaction from that song. It was the first song dedicated to sneakers. Others tried to copy or replicate the formula. Heavy D had a song called “Nike.” Run DMC definitely gets the credit for being the first group of any kind to do that.

Q: How do women fit into sneaker culture?

A: One of the things for sneaker culture is education. That’s really big. Someone may see that a certain sneaker gets a certain type of attention but is only buying it because they want attention. Education is one of the foundations of sneaker culture: why it’s popular, the origin. Women — just like in any other male-dominated avenue — the standards for women are the same and sometimes a little higher. My girlfriend Teresa, who grew up around the culture but wasn’t as into it as she is now, she’s taken my lead in learning a about it more. There are individuals who go out and buy fake sneakers, like the bootlegged kind. It’s the same as if you were buying a knockoff purse. Knockoffs in sneaker culture is big just like in other cultures. And it’s frowned upon. It’s looked upon as being taboo.

The perception can be that a woman is wearing them because she is dating someone who’s into sneaker culture. Something like a male made her do it or she’s trying to attract the attention of males. It’s not because she has a genuine interest or because she identifies with the culture. That’s one of the negative stereotypes of female sneakerheads.

It’s one of those things where you can tell. You observe and tell who’s posing and authentic by what they’re wearing, how they’re wearing it or their habits. Individuals who are not part of the culture will look like a tourist. Hype beast is someone who is doing it for popularity reasons and not because they’re really interested in it. Those individuals are waiting for sneaker releases not because they’re interested but because they know other people are interested in it. So they buy them to get attention.

Q: How do you think sneaker culture affects socialization among children and teenagers?

Do you think it creates an environment where less privileged kids can’t possibly work themselves up to a certain status because they lack the funds?

A: There’s an element of that in sneaker culture. You have the haves and have nots. There are individuals who have the means of being able to get sneakers, which gets them positive attention. here are individuals who can’t have that. Some of them take it so seriously. They would go to all types of other means to get them. Like robbery or breaking the law. But you can find that with anything in life. It’s the element of haves and have nots. It exists in many different versions and ways in this country.

Q: How has sneaker culture changed in light of the economy?

A: The economy has definitely had an effect on sneaker culture. It would be a lot to buy a $100 plus pair of sneakers you want to wear but can you imagine spending 200 or 300 (dollars) on a sneaker you’re not even going to wear. People are thinking wisely about that. It’s a luxury. It definitely has had an effect. I won’t say it’s killed the culture. As things improve for our nation, things will improve for individuals immersed in the culture. People are doing a whole lot of window shopping.