Whiteness tells us our story through the lens of our oppressor?
What does this do to truth, validity, information and the construction of knowledge?
Issues related to Information/Library Science, Culture, Politics, Communication, History, Whiteness, Equity, Diversity, Inclusion, CritLib, Philosophy, Analysis, Reviews
Monday, May 9, 2016
Sunday, April 24, 2016
Embedded #Whiteness: A Legacy of Brutality
[This is the last installment of a three part series on Whiteness.]
This colonial system was created for and by Europeans for the benefit of Europeans. Everything was in relation to the European--this is a hallmark of the concept of Whiteness--that everything is judged in relation to Whiteness and not something else.
Whiteness is embedded in the fabric of everyday life in the US |
The use of patrols to capture runaway slaves was
one of the precursors of formal police forces, especially in the South.
Slave patrols were organized groups of three to
six white men who enforced discipline upon black slaves during the antebellum
U.S. southern states.
The police are still seen by many people to be racial enforcers, they are seen as the colonial strong arm in black and brown neighborhoods--they are most often occupiers--not public servants.
Mistreatment, beatings, rapes, robbing, bribe demands
and other behavior is expected by many communities of color when they encounter
the police.
African Americans have never been accepted as White.
They have been ostracized from the American Way of life for
the most part.
They are colonized subjects within the colony.
Segregation, lack of educational resources, lack of opportunities
are all hallmarks of being Black in the US.
It behooves those who don’t want these hallmarks to adhere to
Whiteness as much as possible. We see this exemplified in too many POC
who have achieved ‘success’ in this society.
This is a screenshot I took from an article on Slate.
What is the implicit message here?
How does it relate to the previous image?
South Bronx 1970’s/slaves quarters, Colbert Co. AL |
Things don’t change much in a society based on Whiteness.
Please think about these images for a moment.
Baltimore or Saskatoon |
Contemporary racial disparity based on Whiteness in
Baltimore on the left.
Contemporary racial disparity based on Whiteness in Saskatoon on
the right.
Please think about these images for a moment.
This is how Black and brown kids are often treated at school.
Our kids are ‘over disciplined’ from an early age--sometimes from
preschool on…
Even after Brown Versus Education schools are still segregated.
Black and Brown schools are patrolled by police and brutality
occurs often to students of color.
This can take the form of detentions, or suspensions or other
academic marginalization ‘consequences.’
Or it can take the form of violence. As in the case above
(Spring Valley HS in SC), or as seen in several other recent videos of police
officers brutalizing students of color.
This cop was fired.
Schools should be a place where everyone is welcome.
Schools should and must be supportive of people.
Schools should be accepting, edifying and challenging for ALL
students.
Schools need to have disciplinary actions that are non-violent.
Schools should not hold up Whiteness as an ideal of education.
Adheres to and believes in Whiteness. |
One other thing about Whiteness is that it can
be adhered to by non-white people.
Many people of color and those who purport to
want to help people of color adhere to the system of Whiteness that the
educational system upholds, supports and requires of POC who want to succeed.
I say that this is why we have made little to
no progress in equity, diversity and inclusion in our school systems and our
society.
Embedded Whiteness |
The brutalities that were used to enforce the
racial hierarchies of yesterday are still with us today.They used to come in
the form of lynchings--back in the days of Jim Crow....
Now they come in the forms of Police shootings
of unarmed African Americans and Latinos in far greater numbers than Whites.
They come in vigilante shootings of unarmed
African Americans, for example--the shooting of Trayvon Martin.
So,
what does this have to do with Education?
Please
think about these questions:
· How do you see
Whiteness relating to Education?
· Can you think of some
examples of Whiteness in Education that you have seen?
· How can we mitigate
Whiteness in Education?
· Should we mitigate
Whiteness in Education?
· How does Whiteness
impact Educational Technology?
·
Does Whiteness come in between the truth and investigators?
Sunday, April 3, 2016
Ghazals for Foley...
What is a Ghazal?
I
had no idea (other than it is a poetic form from the middle east) until I read
the introduction to this wonderful work. I didn't look it up because I
was enthralled with the content of this beatific book! I didn't know James Foley, but my friend Yago Cura was his good
friend. Hinchas press (Yago Cura publisher) just recently published a
book of Poetry entitled Ghazals for Foley. This is a striking collection
of poems written by people to James Foley posthumously. The book also
includes a short story written by Foley that is utterly fascinating, intriguing
and beautiful. I feel like I got to know Jim Foley via these poems and
his short story. The intensity of a life so well lived is reason for a
celebration.
The
poems vary in quality according to my taste, but there are some really striking
and personal words here. They are all beautiful and in deeply
personal. The poets range from well-known writers, to other war correspondents,
to writing teachers and students of James Foley.
I've
got a bad Sufi feeling, Jim.
That
road-those trees-
The
light shifting in the Mountains-
Don't go, Jim.
Please-don't
go.
It
was a Thursday,
And
you were on your way home.
Jim,
I have a bad Sufi feeling.
Bad
Sufi Feeling by Claire Morgana Gillis
Even
if you aren't much of a poetry fan, the emotion of these poems is striking and
hits home.
Through
these poems I learned that James Foley was a Journalist, a Friend, A Lover, a
Student, A Teacher, an artist and a great American among many other things.
What
does it mean to be American?
What
does it mean to be human?
What
did it mean to be James Foley?
This
works gives you just a bit of an insight into this brave soul.
These
poems are ALL full of love for humanity and for James Foley.
This
collection is describes the real man, not the man who was used to manipulate
world hatred against Islam. It seems like every political, religious and
other faction wanted to use James Foley’s death for his or her own
benefit. This work helps mitigate that in my mind. It
humanizes and reclaims Mr. Foley for his friends, his family and for people,
like me, who didn't even know him.
James Foley: Writer |
The
short story at the end of this book was the best thing about it for me. I
had never really read anything by Mr. Foley and his work does not fail to
impress. The story is artistic in the sense that it touches on human
emotions like love, loneliness, fear, adventure and respect. It also
gives one a snapshot into what life is like in a "green zone."
I often wonder what people do in such places, what people think while
behind these walls and how they interact with locals. This story
satisfies and piques many of my curiosities. I don't know many people
who have been to the wars in the Middle East, and have not asked those who have
what it was like.
I
was going to write more about this book, but you will get much more from it by
ordering it and reading it here:
12.95
ISBN: 978-0-9845398-7-1
Sunday, March 13, 2016
Slavery (a Tool of Colonialism) and Whiteness: a Legacy of Brutality
Part 2 of a 3 part series on Whiteness and colonialism.
[This post is in no way meant to be an exhaustive historical analysis of Slavery and Whiteness. It is meant to introduce the topic and is meant as a tool for discussion. Time limitations prohibit me from writing more extensively on this topic. Thank you for reading.]
Most often POC who break the rules of the White supremacist stratified society are vilified by their own kind. Bill Cosby's attack against Hip-hop is a good example of this kind of house slave attack against those who don't adhere to the rules of the racist society they are forced to deal with everyday. The society that treats them like criminals--even in preschool and elementary school. POC are criminalized in the world of Whiteness. Anyone who is not white is suspect. The darker the person, the more suspect they are. This not only holds with Black people--this is how all POC are looked upon by the general White society and those who uphold this society's views.
The rules of copyright for instance--the White rules of copyright prohibit the free production of art that characterized early Hip-hop. Hip-hop has adapted, but this attack and resultant change in Hip-hop music production is a good example of an attack by Whiteness on culture created by POC. The educational system is full of rules and regulations and punishments that make it nearly impossible for many POC to succeed academically--which is directly related to economic success and "criminality." Capitalist gangster rap also reinforces Whiteness. This type of music reinforces the myths of Whiteness: self-made men, rugged individualism, self-defense against POC and that money is the meaning of life. These myths serve to keep POC divided, self-loathing and sexist to the extreme. Whiteness is embedded in almost every aspect of US culture. It co-opts cultural creations like hip-hop, rock n roll, jazz and anything else it encounters.
Up until very recently, not looking away from a White person, or staring a White person in the eye was grounds for lynching in the south. This is a form of brutality that enforces Whiteness physically. There are, however so many forces that are just as brutal that are not physical. For instance, teachers charging that a student is upsetting the class with their behavior, that they are combative and do not obey the rules, that they are a bad student. The student I am speaking of here is in preschool. This is the beginning of the prison to pipeline route of the New Jim Crow (which seeks to disenfranchise by imposing criminality on POC and poor White people). Where a White student might be looked at as inquisitive, free thinking, or rambunctious, a POC student is most often looked at as a troublemaker, a rebel or a delinquent. What am I talking about--this is STILL grounds for lynching--not just in the south, but nationwide.
[This post is in no way meant to be an exhaustive historical analysis of Slavery and Whiteness. It is meant to introduce the topic and is meant as a tool for discussion. Time limitations prohibit me from writing more extensively on this topic. Thank you for reading.]
Plan of the Slaver Vigilante. Image source: http://goo.gl/BTYfpC |
"...northern European settlers and traders, such as the English and Dutch, had less prior exposure to sub-Saharan Africans, or to Mediterranean slavery systems. Their laws for establishing chattel slavery formed primarily in the context of the New World, with a heightened economic incentive to secure slavery for plantation agriculture through rigid racial hierarchies." http://ldhi.library.cofc.edu/exhibits/show/africanpassageslowcountryadapt/sectionii_introduction/contrasting_beginnings_of_slavSlavery and Whiteness
Slavery and Whiteness go together like snow and skiing. They have always been with us--since the Europeans came to the US and created the notion of Whiteness--that the world was created for the benefit of White people and their allies. Whiteness helped form the world of slavery in the Americas, slavery formed the basis for the economies of the America, Whiteness and remnants of slavery are embedded in the world and the economies birthed in American slavery.
Strict systematic racial hierarchies were created and brutally enforced. And by brutally enforced I mean whipping, torture, dismemberment, rape, burning alive, family separation, and other forms of intimidation and force were used to maintain the racist social structure created by Slavery and maintained by Jim Crow and now the New Jim Crow.
1. 1525 First slave voyage direct from Africa to the Americas
2. 1560 Continuous slave trade from Brazil begins
3. 1641 Sugar exports from Eastern Caribbean begin
4. 1655 English capture Jamaica
5. 1695 Gold discovered in Minas Gerais (Brazil)
6. 1697 French obtain St Domingue in Treaty of Rywsick
7. 1756 Seven years war begins
8. 1776 American Revolutionary War begins
9. 1789 Bourbon reforms open Spanish colonial ports to slaves
10. 1791 St Domingue revolution begins
11. 1808 Abolition of British and US slave trades takes effect
12. 1830 Anglo-Brazilian anti-slave trade treaty
13. 1850 Brazil suppresses slave trade
14. 1886 Last reported transatlantic slave voyage arrives in Brasil
Strict systematic racial hierarchies were created and brutally enforced. And by brutally enforced I mean whipping, torture, dismemberment, rape, burning alive, family separation, and other forms of intimidation and force were used to maintain the racist social structure created by Slavery and maintained by Jim Crow and now the New Jim Crow.
Slave auction advertisement |
Vast numbers of slaves were imported to the Americas as merchandise
In the US, slave owners often treated lighter colored slaves better. This privilege and other social, educational and economic privileges based on color and an adherence to the standards of Whiteness are still in full effect today and are embedded in ALL us organizational structures. Those who reinforce the standards, values and systems of Whiteness are rewarded. These concepts apply to all people of color, not just black people. The darker the adherent, the more valuable they are to the system. This is another example where the individual example becomes equated with the systemic examples. There is a constant logical error when one does this and it leads to false conclusions. "But professor X is Black. so racism can't be that bad!" Or some such nonsense will be spouted by adherents to this logical error.
"In his controversial study of the black bourgeoisie, E. Franklin Frazier (195 7a) argued that mulattoes, blacks with white progenitors, led a more privileged existence when compared with their "pure black" counterparts. During slavery, these fair-skinned blacks were at times emancipated by their white fathers. After slavery, their kinship ties to whites gave them an advantage over other blacks in obtaining education, higher-status occupations, and property. Because "the majority of prominent Negroes, who were themselves mulattoes, married mulattoes" (Frazier 1957a, p. 257), light-complexioned blacks passed advantages on to their light children. This process of advantage maintenance by mulattoes lasted well into the 20th century (Landry 1987). So one's position in the community ultimately reflected the amounts of "white blood" in his or her ancestry, and patterns of stratification in the black community included considerations of skin tone."Keith, V. M., & Herring, C. (1991). Skin tone and stratification in the Black community. American journal of sociology, 760-778.
Don't be fooled--brutality was the order of the day. |
Privilege based on skin color also
carried over to the Black community after slavery. Whites and oftentimes
other Blacks treated lighter skinned blacks than their darker counterparts. Those who adhered to the system of Whiteness were rewarded, as much as their status allowed them to be rewarded, those that didn't were lynched, or imprisoned or otherwise excluded from mainstream (White) society. Not only did this impact the former slave populations, but it impacted Indigenous and Latino and other people of color. Those who were lighter skinned and who looked White received greater privileges and were more readily accepted. This pattern is repeated in contemporary society via the New Jim Crow. Those POC who don't adhere to Whiteness are disenfranchised and ostracized from mainstream US society. Alexander, M. (2012). The new Jim Crow: Mass incarceration in the age of colorblindness. The New Press. These people can be killed or beaten at any time as we have witnessed day in and day out.
"...the dominant white society had historically extended social and economic privileges, not available to darker blacks, to light-skinned blacks. Over successive generations these advantages had been cumulative so that the most successful blacks were disproportionately lighter in complexion. " Keith, V. M., & Herring, C. (1991). Skin tone and stratification in the Black community. American journal of sociology, 760-778.
Attorney General Loretta Lynch |
Privilege and Whiteness
Whiteness is often championed by POC in defense of their positions in a culture that benefits those who adhere with Whiteness. This can be conscious or unconscious on the part of said POC. POC in leadership positions often behave in puzzling manners to the general population POC. They believe in the concepts of Whiteness unconsciously (in most cases)--that they got to where they are because THEY deserve it--that if other POC worked as hard as them that they would advance as well--that Whiteness is not the problem..."In defining whiteness, we want to start by saying that we do not directly equate whiteness with white skin. Indeed, people of color sometimes perpetuate whiteness because they may receive benefits if they serve as role models of color perpetuating whiteness (Delgado, 2009). Yet, any benefits received by people of color are always exceeded by those received by whites in alignment with Bell’s Critical Race Theory (CRT) of interest convergence (1980). " Nishi, N. W., Matias, C. E., Montoya, R., & Sarcedo, G. L. (2016). Whiteness FAQ: Responses and Tools for Confronting College Classroom Questions.Journal of Critical Thought and Praxis, 5(1), 4.
Hypocrite Bill Cosby |
"For example, social actors were involved in constructing laws, rules, and regulations that created structured social relations during Slavery, Reconstruction, Jim Crow and the Civil Rights eras. Both black and white people, both enslaved and free people understood the racial rules that ordered their day-to-day routines in everyday life. Across time and space, racial routines in social interaction became institutionalized practices that ensured social distance and geographical separation between black and white population groups. The duality of structure concept suggests that, “people in interaction use the rules and resources that constitute social structure in their day-to-day routines in contexts of co-presence, and in so doing, they reproduce these rules and resources of structure." Guess, T. J. (2006). The social construction of whiteness: Racism by intent, racism by consequence. Critical Sociology, 32(4), 649-673.
Paul's Boutique could not be made today. |
Hip-hop has been used and abused to reinforce Whiteness |
Mike Brown, contemporary lynching |
Whiteness has rules that must be maintained. These rules have everything to do with slavery.
As a person of color, one may not:
Be arrested
Question any sort of systematic abuse
Be poor
Dress Casually
Think for themselves
Disbelieve in Whiteness and the rules of Whiteness
Be confident around White people
Be a thinker, academic, nor other type of philosopher
Be a practitioner of self-defense
Describe Whiteness in detail to White people
As a person of color, one may not:
Be arrested
Question any sort of systematic abuse
Be poor
Dress Casually
Think for themselves
Disbelieve in Whiteness and the rules of Whiteness
Be confident around White people
Be a thinker, academic, nor other type of philosopher
Be a practitioner of self-defense
Describe Whiteness in detail to White people
Friday, March 11, 2016
Why Librarians Should Care About Skateboarders: A Personal Outreach Project
Why
Librarians Should Care About Skateboarders:
A
Personal Outreach Project
By
Matt
Allison
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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
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