SKATEBOARDING FOR EVERYBODY
Stay on Board chronicles Leo’s journey balancing the gendered world of sports, transition, society, and skate culture. Streaming on Netflix on August 11 – don’t miss it!
Mental health is the ultimate foundation. During times of depression and anxiety, it’s much harder- often impossible- to build & maintain a positive, productive life. Without a solid base, chances are your house will eventually fall down. But it is possible to go in there and add some braces and support beams. Jack that puppy up and stabilize!
These upcycled, hand dyed and printed T-shirts are our new recipe for success. And since success here is measured by our ability to express our individuality, we are “Charlie Sheen” winning. Also, because yellow and navy are the main colors in our palate, these shirts really scream BIGOOT!!!
For me, no one in the world is more influential in skateboarding & life adjacent than Jodi McDonald. I was around 20 years old when I met her, (the equivalent number of years ago) super awkward, clinically depressed and struggling hard to find my place in the world. Jodi was warm and generous and her inspiration on a skateboard was colossal. But her spirit? Intergalactic.
Instead of the city’s yearly “Go Skate Day” gathering, creative minds in Portland listened to the word of the streets and made appropriate changes in both name and purpose. “No Hate Day” provided an opportunity for skaters and skate-adjacent to gather, skate, educate, appreciate and enter a raffle that raised funds for Black Lives Matter affiliated organizations. Before the event wrapped, Smart Collective reported that donations of $875 were made to Black Resilience Fund, Don’t Shoot PDX, The Okra Project and $900 to Equitable Giving Circle.
This is skateboarding as it should be. It’s not about what race you are or who you want to bang. It’s about having fun rolling around on a skateboard, being a freak and eating shit. I’m so happy that the tide has finally turned. It feels like the earth’s magnetic pull was off axis this whole time and finally, it’s back on track. But this time, let’s not forget the past. No more beating up on the less celebrated or fortunate. Cause being a fucking dickhead is not cool. Being yourself is.
Absurd. Lindsay’s narrative is — and has been for these past few weeks —ridiculous. Uncharted. Somehow Suay Sew Shop has flipped from a dark wave of uncertainty to a crowd-funded infusion of over $110,000. The news story recounts the drama of Lindsay, her business partner Heather Pavlu and childhood friend Chloe Schempf as the trio began researching, constructing and innovating the essential and notoriously absent PPE masks.
When the homie Poppy Starr jumped into the ocean recently in her hometown of Newcastle, 100 miles north of Sydney in the burning State of New South Wales, she emerged covered in ash. “Felt like an apocalypse, end of the world type stuff.” Like the majority of cities in Australia, Newcastle sits on the coastline & benefits from offshore winds decreasing the accumulation of smoke.
On October 11th 2018, nearly one year ago, one of the most influential and powerful men in skateboarding, Neal Hendrix, was criminally indicted as a rapist and pedophile by professional skateboarder, Julz Lynn Kindstrand Nelson.
