Why
Librarians Should Care About Skateboarders:
A
Personal Outreach Project
By
Matt
Allison
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| Mesa Public library in NM has a skatepark! |
After
Hurricane Sandy until the summer of 2015 the Peninsula Library served the
Rockaway Beach community out of temporary spaces. As my staff and I waited for
a fully operational library to reopen we had time to plan. I got attached to
the community. Along with the overall
rebuilding I enjoyed seeing the surf community build a temporary skate park. I
moved nearby in 2014. I got approved at work to have a special skateboard and
surf collection. I got the green light to try programming. We reopened in
September 2015. Making a connection to the skateboarding and surfing scene has
been more difficult than I anticipated. At
work my pet project is to connect public libraries and skateboarders. For my
area it’s logical to add surfing. This article will not focus on Storm Sandy or
my own local library. I opened this way
for some background. I have a twofold problem with connecting skateboarding and
libraries. I need to outreach and give skateboarders reasons to use their local
library. Secondly I need to prove to librarians that skateboarders are a
legitimate demographic to be aware of. The purpose of this article is to
educate librarians on the unique concerns of the estimated ten million
skateboarders in the United States and more worldwide.
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| Contemporary skateboarding is diverse and international |
Since
this is for the Lowrider Librarian blog I’ll start with diversity in skateboarding.
Anyone who identifies himself or herself as a skateboarder did so by choice. No
one was born a skateboarder. This is an important difference compared to
racial, gender, and sexual identity. However some choices in life alter how one
lives. Making the lifestyle choice to
skateboard is the reason that skateboarders from all backgrounds have a strong
bond. Modern day skateboarding started
with the invention of the urethane wheel in the 1970’s. This happened after the
civil rights movement. There is no historical moment compared to Jackie
Robinson breaking the color barrier in baseball. However skateboard humor and
culture can be racist. Just google search the popular skate magazine ‘Big
Brother,’ from the 1990’s to see examples of racist humor.
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| Racism sucks |
I
started skateboarding in a suburb of Baltimore in 1988. Quickly my parents were
supportive. Shortly after I started my parents took me to a skateboard contest
to watch. They set up obstacles around a
basketball court. The contest angered my
dad. He thought a black skater did well and got a low score. There is no way to verify if my dad observed correctly,
but it’s not impossible. In the early 1990’s hip-hop changed American culture
and skateboarding. The baggy-pants era in skateboarding directly ripped off the
hip-hop scene. In 1992 my family moved to Toledo Ohio. On a visit to Baltimore I remember a skater I
didn’t know well say something racist. The guy had a small skateboard
sponsor. He told us how a known black
pro from California asked him to stay at his place. Then the guy bragged, “I
told him no, there is no way I’m going to let a N---- stay at my house.”
Hearing this back then made no sense to me. For one thing he could skate with a
pro, secondly he could have a place to stay in California, and thirdly the guy
could have gotten a legitimate sponsor developing that friendship. In Toledo, NYC,
and most places I’ve skated I’ve observed skateboarders of all races use the
N-word. Perhaps the teens are imitating hip-hop or movies, but adults say it
too.
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| DGK |
Rolling
Stone did a article and interview with pro skater Stevie Williams. If anyone reading this has access to the
August 9th, 2007 issue or full-text it’s worth reading. Stevie Williams is an African American
skateboarder from Philadelphia who helped develop tech street skating. In the
early 1990’s the popularity of skating dropped. Those left progressed the
sport. The 1990’s skaters made it an urban activity. This revolutionized the
sport and led to lasting popularity from the mid-nineties onward. Stevie
Williams in that article states he got shit from kids at school for doing a
white sport, and he got shit from the skateboarders for being black. Today his
company DGK is a popular brand in skateboarding. The acronym stands for ‘Dirty
Ghetto Kids.’ An older skate crew called Stevie Williams and his friends that
dismissively at the famous Love Park spot in Philadelphia.
Years
of marketing teen boys, and being under the mainstream censorship radar meant
skateboard advertising went for shock value. There are also problems of subtler
racism in the skateboard industry. In skateboard videos a black skater most
likely will have a hip-hop or a soul song accompany his part. For Hispanic skaters it’s a Spanish song. I’m
not sure if that is stereotyping or an acceptable nod to their backgrounds. I
know that in these skate videos the music is sometimes not the choice of the
individual riders.
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| Judy Oyama Winchester skatepark, 1979 |
Skateboarding
has a lot of gender and LGBQT issues that would piss off many working
professionals including librarians. I’ll start with gender since the majority
of librarians are women. There is a non-profit called Skateistan, and they are
making a difference. I’m glad some skateboarders
are now starting creative non-profits.
Skateistan is a school in Afghanistan that gives children an education
while teaching them to skateboard. Most are street kids without schooling in
that societal structure. The Afghanistan location was successful enough that
Skateistan has expanded to Cambodia and South Africa.
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| They are changing the world |
In
Afghanistan girls are not allowed to ride bicycles, but once Skateistan started
the local authorities decided girls could skateboard. As a result half of the students there are girls.
This is a revolutionary statistic, and could point to a bright future for
skateboarding. In the United States, and most first world countries
skateboarding is a male dominated sport. One reason is the subculture. For too
long the targeted audience was the American teenage male, and it shows. The
rough politically incorrect humor targets male teens just like hip-hop music
does. I imagine it’s grating for a girl
or woman to be surrounded by the misogynistic humor in skateboarding. Female
skaters frequently get vibed out at crowded skates packed with males. My guess
the percentage of the sport participation is still over ninety percent male. The skate industry should be more inclusive of
all genders. Jenkem Magazine did an interview with Vanessa Torres, a pro
skateboarder and she discusses these issues. She now skates for a small company
called Meow Skates that is owned by a woman, and all the riders are female. In
my opinion skateboarding will continue to be misogynistic and sexist until
enough girls and women participate to change the game. People think of football
as being sexist, but not so much for soccer.
The
second reason for the gender problem in skateboarding is our society’s gender
roles. Skateboarding is considered a rough activity. Some idiots think full
pads should be enforced to have the right to step on a skateboard. The majority
of skateboarders beg their parents for their first skateboard. I prefer that to
kids getting forced into it. Choosing to
be a skateboarder is part of the experience. I imagine girls have trouble getting that
first skateboard because parents would rather their girls do other sports.
In
1988 in our new neighborhood, there was a skateboarding craze. One of my
sisters broke her rib early on and may have had parental pressure to stop. Within two years in one accident I rolled
over two fingernails that came off, and learning kickflips I got five stitches
in my left eyebrow. I don’t remember parental pressure to quit. At my elementary and middle school I was in
special ed classes. Maybe my parents didn’t mind me doing something I enjoyed. In
my old neighborhood the crew of boys skated and the girls did other things.
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| Tim Von Werne: Gay Skater |
Now
on to homophobia, and skateboarding has it like most male dominated activities.
I’d like to think it’s mostly kids an teens imitating hip-hop and movies, but
many adult skateboarders use derogatory language. Homophobic humor is part of skateboard
culture. I’m a fan of the Berrics game of S.K.A.T.E. The game is a knock off of
H.O.R.S.E in basketball and opponents get a letter if they miss a trick the
competitor lands. On the pro level the difficulty and consistency is
intense. Watching the Berrics though I’m
amazed how grown adults feel it’s okay to use homophobic humor in the interview
segments. I’m against censorship, but the skateboarding world needs to learn differences
with others are okay and homophobic humor is outdated.
There
are documented incidents in skateboarding history of pros fighting gay men. Today
that is considered a hate crime. Growing up skating I talked the same as the
others in my group. I used inappropriate humor in an effort to fit in. Moving
to Toledo in 1992 I was fortunate enough to go to a progressive private high
school. When I used inappropriate humor
in that school I was corrected. Over the
next four years on weekends my middle sister and I would visit our eldest
sister at Oberlin College. She had a gay friend who became the first gay friend
I had. I remember him telling me when he tried to get into skateboarding he
stopped quickly. He felt that group of skaters he encountered were horrible
people. I remember thinking over his experience back then. Today at skate parks
when I hear homophobic slurs or humor by kids or teenagers I tend to ignore it.
I’m there to skate and not to be an
authority figure. Young people need to have those thought changing conversations
themselves. Their outlook may change during their college-aged years,
especially if they go to college.
One
reason being a librarian is good for me is I’ve had gay and lesbian colleagues.
Many I respect for the work they do. This
has expanded my life experience. I was diagnosed with mental illness at age
seventeen, Afterwards I focused on my education. I took a step away from skateboarding
and did not skate much in my twenties.
I’m fortunate I got a college education and the reason for that is my
family support. I remember my mom helping me with my papers and assignments
during my undergrad years. Other
skateboarders, even my age, have a different life story. For those skaters that
did not go to college or that don’t work in a liberal field may not have had friendships
with gay people. Today, skateboarding is important to me. I’m not going to
develop friendships and possibly partnerships with New York City skaters if I
argue with them every time they say something politically correct or what most
librarians deem offensive. What I can do is not use hateful humor myself.
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| Andy Roy (pro skater) on drugs |
One
important thing librarians need to know about skateboarders is their use of
drugs. Christian Hosoi was a top pro in the 1980’s, and in the 1990s spent five
years in prison for smuggling large quantities of meth on an airplane. Amazingly,
today he skates at a pro level. In his
memoir he states drugs are the ‘open secret’ of skateboarding. There is another
memoir called Dreamseller by Brandon
Novak, who showed a lot of promise at a young age but chose heroin over
skateboarding. In the introduction to that memoir Tony Hawk wrote that a fall
from drugs is so frequent with skateboarders it has become an industry cliché. A lot of kids and adolescents can skate well.
Then some hormones kick in, and they go wild. Some become burnt out before they
can legally drink. One of my friends,
Ian, in a conversation said, “you can’t tame skateboarding, it’s always going
to be a roller coaster.”
Today
more adults are skateboarding than ever before.
In my opinion people over 21 can do whatever the fuck they want as long
as they don’t harm others. Perhaps I drink
more alcohol and consume more marijuana than I should. Recent research suggests
the fully developed human brain reacts better to Marijuana than a developing
brain. If Marijuana triggers mental illness, it’s more likely to do so to
teenagers as opposed to adults. And there are more reasons teenagers should
wait to use drugs.
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| Positive mentorship is powerful! |
I believe that adult
skateboarders and the skateboard industry should make more of an effort to
mentor the teenagers in our sport. One of my friends, Julian, put it well, “if you
go to skateparks enough and see the same kids you feel like their
grandparent.” Basically older skaters want the young skaters to do well.
Skateboarding is a time consuming activity and becomes an obsession. Young talented
skateboarders don’t get special treatment from their schools. Skateboarders
of a young age who are good, skate with people of all ages in their region. Kids
that play school sports usually play with kids their own age. That has
advantages in many ways, but not when it comes to drugs. Many teenage skaters unnecessarily go through
pressures their older skate friends are facing. In 1994 when I was seventeen I
had a psychotic episode. I had another one when I was eighteen, and the last
one when I was twenty. As a result I was
diagnosed with a type of schizophrenia.
Too much weed at a young age was a factor in what I went through. And
skateboarding is very much the reason I partook so much at that age. Vice did a
documentary on a promising British skateboarder Paul Alexander. He was better
than I ever was, and I’m fortunate I respond well to medication. I got shivers
watching the documentary on this skater because of my own experience. I’m
sharing this because I realize that’s why I care. Most people are able to separate
hobbies from work. I feel with my librarian career going well I can make a
difference in the skateboarding world through my work. I just don’t know how.
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| Artwork by Gonz |
The
unique lifestyle of skateboarding does have positive attributes. A lot of talented artists, musicians, and
entrepreneurs were skateboarders first. In New York City I’ve met a lot of
self-supporting independent working professionals who skateboard. All of the
skateboarders I’ve met in New York City in the last seven years have been
amazing, and I feel part of something. I don’t know how much I can expect from
my work pet project. One thing I ask librarians is if you see someone walk into
your library holding a skateboard with some attitude, and maybe a hoodie on to
realize his or her life is more complex than one may assume.
**********
Interview with woman skate pro
Venessa Torres:
Here is a documentary of Paul
Alexander, a talented skater who became mentally ill
This is a popular series on Vice called
Epicly Latrd, they interview a lot of skateboarders, and try to get he real
story. This may be disturbing to some,
but it’s happened to others even if the Antwaun Dixon story is an extreme
example of it. On youtube this has a lot of views.
On a good note, here is one of
Stevie Williams part, he is a success story and owns one of the most popular
skate brands out there, called DGK.
If you are interested in getting involved in library programming and skateboarding, then please join our FB group: https://www.facebook.com/groups/832831213425673/?__mref=message_bubble
