"Having these kinds of inclusive events ... is important because skateboarding is an intimidating sport. I would go to the skatepark as an 8 year old girl and get shoved off ... but when you know there's a sense of community wherever you are it's like, 'hell yeah, let's go and skate ... I just want to have fun'. "
-Alicia Baggieri, participant at Divine Grind.

All kinds of folx braved the risk of rain and arrived together at Blue Park to engage in New York's first all women and non-binary skateboarding competition led and hosted by Mariah Davenport of SPCC Project. Local artists and vendors were welcome to use the space as well during the competition featuring free recycled decks, clothing by Speakeasy Luxe, tattoos by Erin Olivia, and an art installation by Bree Person.

Two sessions were sectioned for beginners and advanced participants overall tallying up to 17 sessions throughout the day. The coveted best run cash prize of $750 was awarded to Mathilda Kosonis for her Switch Blunt, FS Disaster, Feeble, and BS 50-50. Amber Gedman followed up in 2nd place, and Ashley O'Gormam in 3rd.
Accessibility and inclusivity remain paramount within gender and identity, especially in the skateboarding community. We're looking forward to seeing more events like these.

ARTICLE BY NATALIE HARPER

With all the recent conversation in skating around mental health— whether that be with Pushing Borders, Vent City, Quell Party, Skateism, or the ongoing work of the Ben Raemers Foundation— there is a potential now to introduce a new topic to the mix. So far the discussion has centered largely around anxiety, depression, and suicide prevention; however, I believe you cannot talk about mental health without talking about neurodiversity. 

Neurodiversity is a term used to describe the natural variations that can exist in human brains. Someone can fit the label of neurodiverse if they are autistic, or have conditions such as dyslexia, ADHD, bipolar disorder, OCD, DID, as well as many others. However, it is entirely up to the person whether they choose to use this label or not. 

As a disclaimer before we begin, this will not be comprehensive for all neurodivergent people, or even those who share my neurotype. What is to come was not created out of expertise, but out of necessity. Neurodivergent people are already very much a part of this community and yet there is little to no discussion of our existence, much less our needs, in skateboarding. 

If there was more awareness of this and the lives of neurodivergent people then we as a community could spend less time managing symptoms and more time addressing possible causes and triggers. 

I am an autistic trans woman with ADHD and OSDD 1a. I also have an anxiety disorder and experience depressive episodes. Oftentimes, as was the case for me, what may look like anxiety or depression at first is just a small piece of something more complex. 

While changing a society will take time, the skate community can take a more active role in this change by making our spaces more welcoming for neurodivergent people. 

SAY WHOSE TURN IT IS IN A RUN/LINEUP. 

There is a great deal of nonverbal language that occurs at a skate spot. If someone is a newcomer, regardless of neurotype, they may not understand all the eye contact, head nods, and pointing that goes into figuring out who’s turn it is to skate an obstacle. 

Many autistic people, myself included, have difficulty processing body language and facial cues, so the message you are trying to send with eye contact and a head nod might go right by us. Instead, try communicating verbally (and politely) whose turn it is. 

PLEASE TURN DOWN THE MUSIC. 

What may seem like a normal volume to neurotypical people can go from distracting to debilitating for autistic people and others with a sensitivity to sound. One solution to this would be, as has been done already at many movie theatres and restaurants, to set aside time when the music will be set (or capped) at a lower volume, or to simply turn it down the whole time. 

“One thing I have done at skate events in the past is create a "quiet room," quiet being relative... but we set aside our back room for anyone who needs to step away from the bright lights and loud noises of the skatepark,” says AJ Waters, founder/owner of Stronger Skatepark. 

“We set it up with some bean bag chairs, and bottles of water back there for anyone who needs them. Skateboarding is a very loud sport and it's really hard to minimize the sound, so having headphones and ear plugs available is a nice option as well.”

DO NOT STARE AT PEOPLE WHEN THEY STIM.

Short for self-stimulatory behavior, a stim is any repetitive movement used by an autistic person to either calm themselves down, build up focus or energy for a particular task, or express a strong emotion such as excitement or distress. This can include things flapping hands, rocking back and forth, leg bouncing, or hair twirling. 

Many autistic people attempt to “mask,” or hide, their autsitic traits in order to blend in better with neurotypical society. I regularly limit my stims when I am out in public to what I feel will go unnoticed by most neurotypical people. 

Masking can have an adverse effect on the person’s mental health, especially when it comes to stimming. Not doing so when we need to can lead to dysregulation and a build up of stress in the body. Autistic people need to know that in any space, whether that be at the store or the skatepark, we can stim without fear of getting odd looks from strangers in order to function at our best and truly be ourselves.

BE MINDFUL.

“I think the biggest thing I would want skaters to be aware of is the way they are taking up space. So many people at the skatepark skate super aggressively, and honestly most of the time skating that way is fine, but the way they stand on the deck, the way they jump at every opening to take a run, the way they yell when they are upset, etc... all these behaviors make the skatepark a super unwelcoming place to all sorts of people including neurodiverse people, who are more likely to experience anxiety,” AJ informs.

“So many skaters (especially men who have been skating a long time) just have no idea how their behavior, body language, skating style, etc. affect everyone around them.” AJ makes an excellent point that “by making skateparks more inclusive to beginners, queer people, women, etc, we are also making the skatepark more welcoming to neurodiverse folks.” Some of the work has already begun but these more established practices can be expanded slightly to help make skate spaces more welcoming for neurodivergent people. 

BE INTENTIONAL WITH YOUR LANGUAGE

I often see posts for skate meetups that say something like “all abilities welcome.” However, for a long time this phrasing confused me. I couldn’t figure out if it means “all ability levels welcome,” as I have also seen it written, or if it is meant to imply that you are welcome whether you are able bodied or disabled.

If it is meant to also passively imply that disabled people are welcome, then why not instead take a more active approach and change it to something like “All Abilities and Disabilities Welcome”? 

Of course, when inviting disabled people to an event or space, it is important that their accommodations be met. It is my hope that this article can be a small piece in that larger conversation that includes the work already being done in adaptive skateboarding and the wider disability rights movement within our community. 

On the reverse side, be aware of harmful language being used by others. “There is also still a lot of homophobia and transphobia in the skate community, and there is a huge overlap between neurodiverse people and queer people.” says AJ, “So going to a skatepark and hearing gay used an insult can make many neurodiverse folks feel unsafe.”

NAME AND PRONOUN CIRCLES. 

This small activity that is being used more frequently in skating can go a long way in helping a community that has long been stigmatized by society. People who have dissociative identity disorder (formally known as multiple personality disorder), OSDD 1a, or OSDD 1b may have one or two alters that enjoy skating. 

It can help people with these disorders be their authentic selves and feel comfortable even entering a space if they are simply asked in the beginning their name and pronouns or the name and pronouns of someone else who may switch in later. It is completely understandable if someone doesn’t feel comfortable sharing that information, but if they do then the least we can do is use the right name and pronouns— just as we would for anyone else. 

What I often hear is how important that sense of belonging is to so many in the skate community; How important it is to their mental health. In the previous piece I wrote with Quell, I spoke about feeling a small portion of this through watching other queer and trans skaters online, yet I feel a barrier between myself and other skaters I meet in real life due of a lack of understanding about neurodiversity in skating. For myself and countless others, neurodiversity and mental health do not exist in separation, but rather they compound one another. Exponentially.

What I am suggesting here is more than just some recommendations for some events. Many neurodivergent people don’t have anywhere else to go— don’t want to be anywhere else— and if skateboarding claims to be for all of those that society rejects, then I say prove it. Prove it to us that we belong here too. 

When it comes to building a community in skateboarding, we have a lot to learn from the directors of froSkate. Founded by Karlie Thorton, froSkate is a Womyn and POC–centered skate crew based in Chicago. It took less than an hour for me to be fully convinced that Karlie and her Co-Coordinator, L.Brew are the key to the future of skateboarding. While issues of racism in this country have come front and center this year, froSkate has not missed a beat when it comes to continually pushing and developing the visibility around people of color in skateboarding. Their voice demonstrates that authenticity is key in building a foundation of any initiative. As companies search for the answer to diversity in skateboarding–froSkate has rightfully taken up the conversation.

This article and photos appear in full exclusively in Quell Skateboarding Issue 006 – Buy a copy here.

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Where are you from? How did you start skateboarding? What inspired you to keep going? 

KARLIE THORTON: I’m from St. Louis, I started skating last year towards April 2019. I was always inspired by skateboarding and I had friends that skated, of course we all did. I would go to the indoor skate park and watch them skate but that was as far as it got. It wasn’t until I met OJ, my co worker and he introduced me to Tiffany Johnson. They pushed me to start skating, pushed me on a skateboard and really got me into it. I owe a lot to them. That’s really similarly how I started, and then started again. 

L.BREW: I am also from St. Louis and I started skating five years ago. I had a friend who did and I thought he looked super dope and thought I wanted to do that too My older friend gave me their board and I taught myself. He would take me to the skate parks now and again but I didn’t know how to do anything so I would hang out in the parking lot. I moved here and met froSkate and that’s really what helped me develop because I was with a community. I really love it and it’s just only gotten better since I found my people. 

So when was froSkate started? 

KT: froSkate was started a month after I started skating. The guys that would invite me to their nights were pro level skaters which was amazing to see but I felt like I was in their way. I’m trying to learn how to push and they’re doing the craziest shit...I wanted to learn with people who look like me and are on a similar level. I started to reach out to homies who were interested and we started to skate. People would hit us up and it got bigger and bigger so I made a separate Instagram for skating because it would be easier to post. 

Then we did events, weekly meetups and just hang out beyond the skate park. That’s really what established it to what it is today. 

What is the more typical froSkate programming?

 KT: It’s a lot more sketch now that COVID is here. We don’t have many actual meetups this year. If we did have one, it’s rare maybe once every other month. Now, everyone’s required to wear a mask, keep a distance. Or we’re having a civil engagement like outreach or the protest. We do have a group chat with the core froSkate members where we go skate random days together on a more intimate level but that’s what it’s looking like right now.

Obviously Karlie, you were mentioning in the beginning of froSkate, the community was built through your Instagram. How has your community changed between now and then?

KT: In the beginning, we started with three people. One of our members tweeted about us and it went viral. After a couple of months we basically would take over the whole skate park with like 30-40 people at the meetups. We had a meetup a couple months ago that we announced the day of and we had 40 people show up. We’re having a meeting next Monday so we’ll probably have maybe 60 people. Since the protest - we had a turnout of a couple thousand people. Our online presence in one month jumped from 4K to 10K. 

I think it’s so important everything you guys are doing. One of the things that drives us at Quell is visibility and obviously if you don’t see someone that looks like you or is doing what you’re doing– you’re less inclined to go after it. 

Why do you feel like it’s important that organizations like froSkate exist? 

KT: Representation really does matter. Kind of like you mentioned before, not seeing yourself can discourage you from doing it in the first place. Probably why I didn’t pick up skating in the first place. It’s just so important for people to go into skate parks and be a body in that way. I’m loving the other small groups that are popping up and other meetups in turn because it’s inspiring people to pick it up. 

LB: Representation is a huge part. One of the biggest things that got me into skating is that I didn’t see people who looked like me and I tend to be drawn to situations and spaces where I feel like someone has to start that work. At the point we are now, I feel like we have created this image so that there are younger people who look like us who can see us and know they can have that. I didn’t have that, I didn’t see Black and brown female skaters growing up what so ever. I think froSkate has done a lot of work in making that representation visible so that younger generations have people to look up to. 

Totally, and I think it’s paying off. I know obviously you, L.Brew, found froSkate after the fact. What drove you to go to froSkate events as someone who wasn’t initially part of the organization?

LB: I moved here about three years ago and I was skating around the city myself. I think the most important thing about froSkate was that there was space made so that we could all congregate. We were all over the city but we never came across each other. My brother actually just randomly sent me their Instagram and was like, “Yo have you seen this? There’s a Black girl skate crew here.” I DM’d them and went to the next meetup. It was kind of nerve wrecking for me at first because I’m a shy person. I showed up and was like ‘Damn, all of y’all have been here the whole time?’. That was massively important to me. I really feel like it filled this hole, I don’t want to be too dramatic but I found people who looked like me, had the same interests as me, that was just something I haven’t had until froSkate. 

That’s so incredible. Were you usually going to the same park that the meetups were or was it more random? 

LB: I never went to skate parks before froSkate. I very much was a street skater and high key a big part was where I could find that I could be unseen. Every time people would see me on a board they would say something. There was this one guy, I was stopped at a red light and he asked me what I was doing. I said what are you talking about? And he’s like I’ve never seen a vw girl on a skateboard. It was very hard for me to feel like I could be seen without being judged. 

Yeah I mean even as a beginner, it’s so difficult to show up to a skate park even if you don’t know people. To you Karlie, we both started our organizations as beginner skateboarders and know how important it is to make that space comfortable for all levels of skateboarders. How does froSkate create that space? 

KT: We get SO many DM’s about being beginners. Everyone will teach you. I think since the beginning, a lot of us are just very nice people and we’re able to relate on a whole other level to beginners anyway. 

Do you feel as women, that comes more naturally? 

KT: YES. That definitely does help. I feel like your community is very parallel to ours in which beginners help beginners. Everyone is willing to step in and communicate. 

It feels like there’s a deep want for everyone to succeed in and out of skateboarding, but skateboarding is always the catalyst. 

KT: You get that support from us but also froSkate has helped me realize that everyone else at the skate park wants to help you succeed and not judge you for being a beginner. They think it’s so dope you’re just pushing or trying to ollie. You just realize all the fear was in your head...unless you’re at a douchey skate park. Somehow fourteen-year-olds are the meanest people alive. 

I wanted to talk to you guys about a couple of your quotes that I see pop up a lot in your feed and posters. One of them being: “Falling is easier when it’s with friends.”, That’s such an uplifting message of community. What does community mean to you? 

LB: The falling aspect is 100% is having a community that’s there to support you. I think one of the biggest things is that people are scared to fall or how they’ll look. No matter what level you’re at you’re going to fall– if you just started or you’re Tony Hawk. It’s just the aspect that having a community who you trust with the addition of people who look like you who can help you stand up when you need to. 

KT: Just like L.Brew said, it’s just like support and having the community there to push you to be your best self. Beyond the skate park and skateboarding we are there for each other and push each other to use our skills in the best way we can. If you’re a DJ...okay how about you DJ one of our events. Just like L.Brew, oh you’re a writer...write our emails and now you’re our Co-coordinator. 

I couldn’t agree more. It’s really powerful and seems so organic to talk to you guys about this community you’re building. The power of the community that you’ve put together through skateboarding is so strong. I wanted to ask from another vantage point, how can white skaters support the development of communities of Black and brown people in skateboarding? 

KT: I think definitely through supporting us. Buying our merch when it drops. Rocking our stuff. People have asked me if I’m white and I wear a Black skaters matter merch or support your crew. That’s helping us. In certain areas we do need white allies, so it’s also being there for us. Making space for us at the skate park. If you see someone getting harassed and you in your soul feel like that doesn’t sit right that is not sitting right with the person experiencing it and sometimes they can’t speak up for themselves so it’s using yourself to be that body if they want you to speak up for them...but ask permission first. If we ask, teach us. Be yourself and friendly but just don’t be racist. Include us, invite us into your spaces. 

Chicago has become such an epicenter for the protests against police brutality sparked from the tragedies of George Floyd, Ahmaud Arbery and Breonna Taylor. What does the Black Lives Matter movement mean to you?

KT: Well I think that as Black people the movement is very personal to us. It was all sparked at a very important age for both of us. I was 12 when Treyvon Martin was murdered. There is the addition of being from St. Louis living so close to Ferguson where Mike Brown was killed...you can’t really ignore that. I don’t know if there’s any person in St. Louis who doesn’t remember that. 

LB: It’s a hard question for me to answer because it’s something we deal with all day every day and our ancestors have dealt with for a long time. I’m happy that we’re finally uprising and that people are finally “waking up”. I’m happy to see that we’re fighting back and not being so comfortable and thawe’re being educated on what’s going on. We’re trying to dead bad habits and generational trauma. We’re dissecting and changing things. I love that but there’s a large part of me that feels it’s performative and that angers me. We’ve been telling you for years that this has been happening. 

First of all, thank you both for sharing that. I know it’s really important to make this space to actually hear what people of color have to say about these things. I have my own platform through Quell and we have the ability to step back and actually listen and learn how to be better allies, people, skaters. The power that you guys wield is amazing. I wanted to talk more about the protest too. You mentioned earlier thousands of people showed up. How did you start organizing that and what drove actually planning a protest? 

KT: I have always been involved in social justice issues. I have attended quite a few protests that were led by Black Lives Matter Chi, Black Abolitionist network and other organizations. I was able to witness what a protest should look like and learn from them. I really wanted to make sure that months down from when everything popped off that people continue to protest. We saw there was a rolling protest in Pittsburgh and I was like oh I guess we could but I want it to be intentional. 

LB: I feel like a big aspect of my desire is person but also just caring for people and wanting to do whatever I can to make a difference. I have always been very adamant about jumping in to do whatever I can do to help. I used to get in trouble for being at protests super late. I remember the day before I was supposed to leave for college moving to Chicago I was at a protest. When everything was happening she was like ‘you better not go’ and so when Karlie mentioned planning one I was like I don’t have to go to one, I’ll just plan one. 

KT: We’re also both very passionate about defunding the police and the abolishment of the prison system. Especially the defunding of the Chicago police... which is 40% of the budget. They defund schools, they receive $5 million dollars a day. Some programs only receive 1 million a day. We’re huge on defunding the police and reinvesting the money on community health programs and CPAP...like if you’re in a domestic violence situation and someone in the community is better equipped. We’re also obviously big on making sure Black lives, and Black trans lives are represented and funded. 

100% agree. We don’t need to put ourselves in these situations where you could have mental health professionals being the responders. Elijah McCain is the perfect example. There are certain jobs people should have, and certain jobs that should be replaced.

LB: It’s the simple fact that if we’re looking to lower crime, investing in the police department isn’t going to do that. It’s investing in health care, schools, businesses, housing, recreational, food. Stuff that matters. 

KT: To bring it back to skateboarding, we could use that money to aide in bringing skate parks to the South and West sides [of Chicago] as an outlet. 

I do think though what you mentioned before it is so important to plan things correctly and intentionally. It’s important as an ally to think about the situations you’re putting people of color in when organizing events. What would your advice be to white skaters when they witness racism in their community? 

KT: Call it out right then and there. White people don’t listen to people of color like they listen to their own kind. Having conversations, challenging people. Before you do any of that, educate yourself. A simple Google search will lead you to so many resources. There are so many resources online. Don’t ask people of color to educate you. That’s asking the person you traumatized to give you therapy. Sometimes as a person of color you can’t say how you feel...it might be your boss or whatever. Just think, would you want someone to do this to you?

LB: People always tend for the one person of color to speak for the whole community. 

KT: It’s also incorrect. Talking to me five years ago, I would have said so many wrong things. We all have different experiences and the Black experience is not synonymous with everyone. Also, we can’t speak for everybody. It’s important to do your own education. 

Even having this conversation, listening is so important and it’s great to not assume you’re not the smartest person in the room or the best ally in the world.  Changing the subject– all these initiatives you have whether it be protests, watching a movie, everything you guys do really builds this community and it’s so ingrained in your DNA. What are you looking to do in the future with FroSkate? 

LB: Our drive comes with naturally wanting to hang out beyond the skate park and be a family. We love each other. We have people who want to support us who don’t skateboard or are white-cis men. We want to create those spaces where we are supported. We just want to do fun cool things and I am not sure about too many other POC skate crews so there aren’t really rules or boundaries to what we have to do. We make up the rules as we go. We’re going to be having a mural project that we’re painting on the South side. We’re hoping to have an even there, pop up skate park. 

KT: We want to go to Japan, we’re all taking Japanese classes. We’re trying to get a legitimate indoor space and skate parks on the South and west side. We’re about to do a zoom discussion with a bunch of other skateboarders who are BIPOC, queer and trans and talk about how we can stay a community and make skateboarding better overall. 

That’s really incredible. I think hopefully people read how you’re developing such an open dialogue because it really seems like the key. 

KT: That’s one thing I love about skateboarders. People argue about skateboarding always being inclusive which in some ways it is true. It doesn’t matter what you look like but we are very familiar with fighting back to rules and rule breakers. We push societal norms and cheer people on. There are a lot of people who are open minded and who are actually down to figure out how and when and where they can make skateboarding and the world better. 

How can anyone reading support froSkate? 

KT: We have said before, monetarily that helps. We’ve met so many people who have talents and connections that if you feel like you can help us, send us an email with specifically what you can do to help us grow. If you can connect us to someone who can help us get one step closer to a goal we’re trying to reach... connections are more valuable than money. 

LB: Support. Sharing with the world that we are here. Educating people on ways skateboarding hasn’t been inclusive and people who have been excluded. Letting the world know we need and deserve to be seen. 

KT: Highlight us. I want to see more parts of Black skaters on major publications. We follow a really good amount of amazing skaters that there’s no reason your feed should be white cis, white cis, white cis. If your feed doesn’t look diverse, you’re the issue. 

 Even showing skaters of different levels is encouraging. 

KT: Oh that’s a big point. Diversity of levels. A lot of people get so upset about ollieing. It’s hard for me to not get discouraged because I have been trying for a year. Sometimes I see people jumping down the craziest stuff and I’m like ugh what is the point, not really but. 

LB: That’s 100% where representation comes in too. We’re out here developing. It’s not about the intensity on board or how long you’ve been skating for. 

There’s proximity, community, resources, accessibility. Everything is full circle. Funding, accessibility. Lastly, what would you say to someone who wants to start skateboarding? 

KT: Do it. Try to be consistent. The biggest thing for me is that I am a quick learner but skating is the one thing for me that has taken ages to learn. 100% of the time you’re not going to get something in one day but tracking your progress is huge. It takes months to even start to feel comfortable or even start having fun.

 LB: Try to invite friends even if they’re not interested in skating to just come and hang out. Sometimes they’ll start to skate with you. Maybe post on social media or like in Betty print out flyers and have a meetup. Don’t take it too seriously. Skateboarding is about having fun. I’m not trying to go pro. That’s fine too. We’re trying to dead poser culture. If you push on a skateboard, you’re a skateboarder. 

KT: It’s mad important to drop all that shit. Everyone starts somewhere. It’s never too late. 

We’ve mentioned this adage time and time again: When you see someone who looks like you, doing something you want to do it gives you that wave of acceptance to go for your goals. Black Girls Skate is more than an Instagram. They’re re-defining representation and access in the skate space. Whether it’s traditional skateboarding or ice skating, their feed is full of inspiration. We sat down with DJ Gooden and Nicole Humphrey to learn more.

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What inspired you both to first start skating?

DJ Gooden: Rocketpower, I loved it when I was younger and I bugged my mom when I was eight to get me a skateboard. A landlord came over one day and came outside and taught me how to ride it like it was nothing. I wanted to be that cool since I saw that.

Nicole: I started cruising about five years ago and was introduced to an ex partner who was excited about it and bought me a skateboard. For the tour we did, I got an actual skateboard and picked up a couple months ago.

Aside from seeing the guy skate, how else did you start progressing? Were you watching videos or going to skateparks?

DJ: Okay so for childhood it was skating around riding for transportation. Recently, I moved to LA and when I lived out there I would get advice from others at the park. I was watching videos and noticing people had different equipment than I had. So then I started to get the right equipment for the skating I wanted to get into for riding bowls.

I wanted to create a place where we could celebrate ourselves

How did Black Girls Skate form?

DJ: Right before I left LA there was a really nice community out in LA who skated– not a lot of people who looked like me but still very friendly and inspirational. When I was looking up what I needed for bowls, I came across Samarria Brevard and was like wow why did it take me so long to stumble upon these professionals. So I started to question, ‘where is the equity in this?’ and I wanted to create a place where we could celebrate ourselves.

I started a social media where I could highlight all these Black and Brown skaters and then earlier I asked Nicole if she wanted to hop on the team. Nicole joined in and it’s snowballed from there.

That’s so awesome. So what are some of the things you guys do with the platform and in person?

DJ: We have Skaters Speak which is a 30 minute conversation where we have skaters to talk about some of the nuances they face in the skate world as well as some of the stuff that they bring to skate to have a positive experience. We also have our care box initiative which is an activation for certain skaters of different levels. It may be a token of appreciation or something they need.

How did the Skaters Speak panel get started? 

Nicole: It started three or four months ago. The idea was to build the audience around the platform we have. We were beginning to organize with our seventeen ambassadors and thought it would be cool to create a dialogue between them and some of the other folks that follow our account. What put the fire to it was getting a Reebok representative to activate a campaign around us all about legacy and we were able to use that platform to provide a budget to get guests on and have a conversation. Once our ambassadors got excited about it, we started to plan how often to do it. 

With the tour, we’re back to once a month but it lives on IG live as a 30 minute conversation series. We want to grow it into its own series in physical form in a panel with skaters all around the world.

Being able to hear from your ambassadors and speak in your own words is such a powerful step that is missing when you’re just reading an Instagram caption or something like that. How do you pick ambassadors? What does that look like?

Nicole: We launched our ambassadors through an open call on our social media platform. We didn’t know initially what we would do but we wanted to add to our service. Our goal was to pick fifteen and we got over fourty applications. We settled on seventeen out of all the applicants. The ideas were content based but when we started to connect monthly, things started to get really heavy around the world. So we just started to have check-ins and see how everyone was doing and feeling. Some folks were skating, some weren’t. Specifically because we didn’t know how safe everything was. We have an ambassador in the UK, France, all around the world. The goal is to have them to continue our programming.

That’s so cool, I can totally empathize with not understanding where to go next in this environment. I think there are a lot of eyes right now on the Black and Brown community of skating so it’s really cool to have so many perspectives through your platform. What kind of things are in your ambassador boxes? How did you create that idea?

Nicole: DJ wanted to do a meetup for our one year anniversary. Of course with the pandemic we thought more about what we could do now since we couldn’t come together. We thought a lot about the virtual events and we started to think about the educational component: How could we send you gear and have an online event where we teach you how to assemble it? Long story short, that was too much to manage and make it fair to distribute. 

The world started to open back up this Summer a little and with that, we felt comfortable to define our own safe social distance practice to distribute these boxes. We didn’t feel like a meetup was safe but we wanted to figure out where to pass these out. Additionally, every supplier was so backed up and it was really difficult to figure out what to offer up. So we thought about PPE and other types of accessories that go with skateboarding. 

We really wanted to focus on a wearable, something to inspire you to skate, a Thrasher magazine “Black Skaters Issue”, a face mask. It was a combination of things but it was an idea to create a continuous care box program. We could ship out these accessories and hardware or equipment.

I think that’s such a great idea. The whole root is accessibility and to your point, it’s more difficult to send it out. I’d love to see how that progresses. Specifically this time it was in a tour setting. What was the inception of that?

Nicole: So basically once we decided that we could have a safe way to give stuff away, we started to arrange pop-up events to create a moment in these cities. We were able to drive and use our ambassador crew in various cities to partner with a shop or community group and then name a skate park to take over for some hours. So quickly in New York for example, we did our event at KCDC and they also donated things and let us use their space. We made it collaborative but we had a goal of 100 boxes to give out.

So aside from NY where did you go?

DJ: Atlanta, New York, Philly, Dayton, Chicago

Obviously you picked them surrounding your ambassadors, was that mainly because you were driving or how did those cities stand out?

DJ: I live in Atlanta and Nicole lives in Chicago so those were easy. Then the other cities we had a big ambassador presence. We also did an event with Proper Gnar in Ohio.

What are some of the things you guys are working on for the future?

Nicole: We’re digging in internally. We were able to reflect from the tour on our strengths and areas of opportunities. For the next 4-6 months we’re going to update our roles and our budgets. We can set ourselves up for annual success. We are in the process of the software and hardware side of development. We want to launch products and merch.

We’re also re-defining our ambassador program to bring new ones on. We want to be able to duplicate our programming all around the world.

That’s so important and the fact you can define that is really powerful. When you build that foundation you can action it and it’ll build from there. The boxes are so unique, especially in the women's space as well.

How can people not necessarily in the skate community get involved or support BGS?

DJ: Comments, likes, shares, reviews are so helpful. Financial contributions and networking help. Reaching into our DM’s are ways to reach out and support us whether you're a skater or not. Our needs, wants and goals are evolving so we’re in the process of defining what that looks like too.

We wanted to share all skate styles, not just skateboarding as well. A skateboarder could pick up rollerblades, you never know what is inspirational to them.

There are so many different accounts that are coming to terms with the fact they’re not diverse. You’re obviously doing this from a place that is not performative but impactful or uplifting. What do you look to post on Instagram?

DJ: I look for anything that amplifies someone or is inspirational. 

Nicole: We wanted to share all skate styles, not just skateboarding as well. A skateboarder could pick up rollerblades, you never know what is inspirational to them.

I really liked that it’s the definition of skate. Obviously our content surrounds skateboarding but the breadth of everything you post is so cool. How does that translate to the boxes you produce?

DJ: That was some of the obstacles we initially ran into with the sizes of wheels because some wheels go towards certain skaters. As we define our program we can better organize which box goes to which skater.

Why do you feel like it’s important that groups or pages like BGS exist?

DJ: For me, I felt a need for a place to amplify and celebrate ourselves and our accomplishments. A lot of times minority groups go unnoticed. I think it’s very important to let our peers and people outside our communities know these things are happening. I want the younger generation to see that and see people who look like them are doing this and they could do it too and even greater. 

All photos by Ruby Storey

The Berrics FINALLY held a ‘Womens’ Battle at the Berrics. After following the contest online, Ruby stopped by for us to check out the final round.

Check out the photos below

The commentators for the evening: Alex White and Vanessa Torres

First up: Alexis Sablone vs. Jenn Soto to claim the spot of Candy Jacobs, who unfortunately couldn’t compete.

All smiles around here

Round 2: Monica Torres vs. Leo Baker

Leo consistent with the huge pop and great style.

Monica has her game face on- as she moves into the final round.

Samarria gave it her all in Round 2 against Alexis Sablone

But unfortunately got knocked out. Still stoked, even when she doesn’t get a make.

and for the final round: Alexis Sablone vs. Monica Torres

Great games to everyone who made it to the finals - congrats Monica!