The dap is more than just a handshake, it's a symbol of solidarity, one with a long and proud history dating back to Black American soldiers serving abroad during the Vietnam War. | Great Big Story

The DAP Handshake originated during the late 1960s among black G.I.s stationed in the Pacific during the Vietnam War. At a time when the Black Power movement was burgeoning, racial unrest was prominent in American cities, and draft reforms sent tens of thousands of young African Americans into combat, the dap became an important symbol of unity and survival in a racially turbulent atmosphere. Scholars on the Vietnam War and black Vietnam vets alike note that the dap derived from a pact black sol

The origin of the dap | Vintage & Iconic African American Everything