SKATEBOARDING FOR EVERYBODY
A working group of skateboarding organizations has today launched a ‘Commitment to Anti-Racism in Skateboarding.’ The initiative came out of Skateistan’s Goodpush Alliance and involves organizations and individuals from across skateboarding, who seek to create an anti-racist culture in the skate community worldwide.
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.
ROLL WITH US was held on June 21st in Seattle. The event consisted primarily of skateboarders but included any wheeled ally- rollerskaters & bladers, bicycles, longboarders- could literally “roll with us!”
The purpose of this peaceful rally was to take a stand against police brutality. The rally started at the Carl Anderson Tennis courts now part of the C.H.O.P area in Capitol Hill and ended at the Jose Rizal Bridge approximately 1.5 miles south. Once reaching the final destination all wheeled friends chanted against police brutality and for Black Lives Matter.
Girls and boys. Men and women. Freaks and geeks. Skaters, bladers, roller skaters and a spectrum of skin tones. Everyone was welcome and everyone showed up June 10th to skate around the waterfront for black lives.
“Watching places we had vacationed to burning to the ground on social media, hearing friends stories of being evacuated from their homes & the sounds of koalas screaming became overwhelming. We just had to do something to help our land, people and animals.”
As skateboarding makes its historical debut in the 2020 Tokyo Olympic Games, we are calling for NBC Sports to hire skateboarding legend Alex White to provide commentary for the women’s broadcasts. As skateboarders, we believe that nobody is more well-equipped and deserving of this important role. Alex is a ripping skater who entered the scene at early age when female skateboarders were scarce. In following years, she proved herself as a leader in making the sport more accessible to girls and women worldwide. She has the talent, insider knowledge and perfect timing to reflect our sport in the greatest, most authentic way possible as it debuts on the world stage.
