What PLUR means

PLUR stands for Peace, Love, Unity, Respect. Four words, and the reason a stranger at a show will take a bracelet off their own wrist and put it on yours.

Where it came from

It started with Frankie Bones. At a Storm Rave in Brooklyn around 1990 a fight broke out, and he got on the mic and said that if people did not start showing some peace, love and unity, he would break their faces. The irony was lost on nobody, and the phrase stuck anyway. Adam X painted Peace Love Unity on a train that July.

Respect came later and is usually credited to Laura La Gassa. It is also the one that does the most work. Peace, love and unity tell you how a room should feel. Respect tells you what to do when someone says no.

The PLUR handshake

This is how kandi actually changes hands. Four moves, done slowly, facing each other. Nobody is grading you.

1. Peace — you both make a peace sign and touch fingertips.
2. Love — each of you makes half a heart with your hand, and together they make one heart.
3. Unity — clasp hands, like a high five you never let go of.
4. Respect — interlock your fingers, and slide the bracelet from your wrist onto theirs.

If you fumble it, the other person laughs and you both start again. That has happened to everyone who has ever traded.

Questions people actually ask

Do I have to trade my kandi?

No. Wearing it is the point; trading is a thing you may do, not a toll you pay. Plenty of people keep every piece they have made.

Can I say no to a trade?

Yes, and that is what respect is for. “This one means a lot to me” is a complete sentence, and anyone worth trading with will say no problem.

Is PLUR only about trading?

No. It is mostly about how you treat people who are new, alone, or having a bad night. The bracelets are just the part you can see.

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