On a day like today, it’s tempting to be consumed with disgust, rage, and fear. My heart breaks for those who are being targeted specifically for their immigration status, their race, sexuality, gender, and those brave individuals who chose right over wrong in relation to January 6th in condemning terrorist behaviour, now deemed permissible. How is one supposed to live and function when there’s fascists in power?
We can look to the past and find strength in knowing that others before us have resisted through empathy, community-building, compassion, wisdom, and joy, and not being paralyzed by hopelessness
Instead of feeding the trolls and allowing their sickness and emptiness to infect our spirit, we can choose a path of humility, simplicity and integrity. And in terms of skateboarding, let’s keep cultivating communities that are legitimately countercultural. Having power and being rebellious isn’t about being an entitled asshole, it’s about creating space and honouring each other.
Today’s feature photos give me hope. They are all mysteries, and include some fabulous photos from the Black Archives:
Photos: Alain le Garsmeur (Savannah, Georgia 1983), Jamel Shabazz (NYC, NY 1980s), Ricky Rogers (Smyrna, Tennessee 1980).
[Check out the profiles on Shaunda Shane and Cheryl Thornton, who were also featured in the Black Archives]
Here’s some more delight! British schoolgirls enjoying their skateboards at Kensington Palace Gardens, May 4, 1977:
Photos: unknown source
I’d also like to give a shout out to Cole Nowicki for his thoughtful condemnation in regard to the allegations against SOTY Chris Cole in a post for Simple Magic, and Joa Fields for his recent investigation, injecting wisdom and reason into the debate. This is sadly not the first time a SOTY has battered his partner, and it has always grated on me that a certain person will likely never be held accountable for his actions over twenty-five years ago. But skateboarding is changing, and I am grateful.
Check out these mystery skaters from Holland, Australia, America and Italy getting stoked!:
There have always been male allies in skateboarding. Sometimes it seems like they’ve been few and far between, versus the mob of meatheads buying Gator boards for their collection, but I know they exist and when I go to events like Slow Impact, I feel their presence.
A great example is Skip Engblom who played a pivotal role in elevating female skateboarders in the 1980s through his company Santa Monica Airlines (SMA). Please visit the SMA Instagram account to learn how you can support Skip and his family who were among those who lost their homes in the L.A. fires. I hope that those who have experienced significant loss find refuge and that this devastation becomes one of those shining moments in history, when community triumphs in spite of adversity.
Back in 1986, Skip sponsored KZ Zapata after attending a contest in Isla Vista where KZ was the lone female skater. Skip encouraged KZ, believing that their presence was important. He felt that female skaters deserved to be recognized and supported rather than pitted against the guys. KZ expanded on these conversations in the zine Push, Push, then Go! and appeared several times in Thrasher magazine in the 80s. KZ was penpals with Bonnie Blouin and advocated for contest divisions for girls when there were none.
SMA also sponsored Christy Jordahl from Huntington Beach, a good friend of Saecha Clarke who was competing in street at contests like “Street Life” in San Diego in Nov 1988 (which was reported on by Lynn Kramer in her zine Equal Time) and the Zimbabwe Skate Safari. I recently interviewed Christy who said that she would receive massive boxes from SMA, more than she asked for. “I would hand out stickers to all the kids in the neighbourhood, like my whole neighbourhood was covered with Santa Monica Airline stickers.” So, thank you Skip and SMA. Grateful for you.
In the meantime, the next four years have the potential to be brutal, unless you let it fuel you, your sense of justice and determination to live in contrast to a mainstream definition of privilege and power. We get to look evil directly in the face and say, Fuck you, I choose love. And, for some reason that makes me feel very much alive.
Womxn Skateboard History 