Category: BIPOC
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Pam Cox
I found this photo not long ago of Pam Cox skateboarding in both the Newport News Daily Press (August 22, 1978, p.3) and Culpeper Star Exponent (September 2, 1978, p.3) based out of Virigina. The photo was taken by Kenneth Silver and Pam was obviously living it up, dialed into the radio with her headset…
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Check it Out magazine
In the mid-1990s, a group of Brazilian girls came together with a unique vision that would evolve into the publication Check it Out, which would have a profound effect on women skaters internationally. Photo: the cover of the very first zine from 1995 next to the creator, Liza grinding a mini-ramp in 1999 It all…
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Jaime Reyes
Jaime Reyes has been inducted into the Skateboarding Hall of Fame (2025) and her impact on the progression of women’s street skating, especially in the 1990s is irrefutable. Jaime’s early sponsors included Real, Rookie, Zoo York, Gallaz, Alpha Numeric, Supreme, Venture trucks, Swiss bearings, Stealth Wheels and even Evian water. Over time, as some companies…
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Ocea Lei Iverson
In 2010, a powerful exhibit at the California African American Museum in Los Angeles was launched called “How We Roll,” focused on Black surf and skate culture, and Ocea Lei Iverson (she/her/they/them) was part of the planning team focused on women’s participation. Ocea’s father is Black American with Indigenous heritage, and her mother is first…
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Love & Friendship
In anticipation of Slow Impact 2025 in Tempe, Arizona I’ve been preparing some excerpts from my book to read as a kind of “sneak peak.” If you’re at the event, skater / author Kyle Beachy has arranged an evening called “Anything At All” at 8pm on February 22nd at Cowtown skateshop. It should be a…
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Resistance
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…
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Shaunda Shane
Filling a void in the representation of black female skaters in skateboarding history is critical, and it helps when you’ve got Clyde Singleton, Tony Hawk, journalists, newspapers and public librarians collaborating! The search for Shaunda Shane of Fayetteville is seriously the most heart-warming story. It all began when The Black Archives published a batch of…
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Irene Ching
In a recent visit to New York, I was encouraged by skateboarder C’naan Omer (Hamburger), who won Vancouver’s Slam City Jam women’s street in 2000, to reach out to Irene Ching. Irene is a vert roller-skater with a long legacy going back to the 1970s, and I trusted C’naan’s recommendation. In this archival project, I…
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Linda Finley
In 1964, C&D Skateshop in southern California organized a team of youth who were avid surfers to provide demonstrations as part of the “Skate Board Division” of the Surf Team. There’s a vintage group photo with everyone on the team barefoot, including one Linda Finley in the middle, possibly at a contest since there’s trophies…
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Skate and celebrate
Happy Go Skateboarding Day and Indigenous People’s Day! Fun fact… Trevor Adolph of the Xaxli’p First Nation won the Canadian Nationals in the 12 and under amateur boys in both 1980 and 1981. He was celebrated in the September 1980 issue of Indian World where it was written that the contest was held in Burnaby…
Womxn Skateboard History 