CHARLOTTE, N.C. -- This ACC season, maybe more than any other, has shown the importance of a good pair of sneakers.

• Johnson C. Smith has the only higher education class on sneakers
• Professor Jemayne King says sneakers and social justice go hand-in-hand
• RELATED: Sneakers Sell Out in Minutes Ahead of All-Star Weekend

That's the idea behind the Culture and Kicks Event held Friday night. It was a chance for sneakerheads to talk about the culture around kicks and how it intersects with social justice.

Johnson C. Smith University professor Jemayne King teaches the only higher education class on sneakers. He says the history of sneakers and social justice in the U.S. go hand-in-hand.

"Actually, sneakers goes back to the mid-1800s and it was commodification in all those things that we apply. Those terms we could take it back to the 1800s, but sneaker culture as we know it today started in the late to mid-60s and grew as a sub culture within hip hop culture," he said.

With all of the foot traffic in and around the Queen City this weekend, there have been plenty of sneaker styles on display.