(please credit accordingly if sharing on social media - we are all in this together - thanks!)
Skaters all over the country are banning together to help protest police brutality and support Black Lives Matter by taking to the streets and City Hall. We've been part of two protests now and this one in downtown on Sunday, June 21 in downtown Los Angeles, which was also Go Skateboarding day, had great energy, awesome speakers and a complete mix of longboarders and street skaters all with something to say and sharing their support for George Floyd, Breonna Taylor, Trayvon Martin and so many other Black lives that have been lost way too soon. ❤
The Skate Witches started as a way to create connections in a niche skate scene and became something more. Tired of not seeing skaters they identified with represented in mainstream skate magazines and films, the founders decided to make their own media instead.
Through a unique blend of skateboarding, art, humor, and DIY ethos, The Skate Witches are creating the world they want to see.
Music Credits:
'Boring Angel' by Oneohtrix Point Never, courtesy of Warp Records:
More info on The Skate Witches and the Workshop Series (photography, videography & writing) they have in collaboration with Vans, that you can get involved with - just CLICK HERE
Event Will Serve as the Last Olympic Qualifying Event in The U.S. Before the Tokyo Summer Games
The Adventure Sports Network (ASN) and MTN DEWⓇ announced today that its annual summer Dew Tour skateboard competition and festival, will now be held in May 2021, in light of the postponement of the Tokyo Summer Games and safety regulations and guidelines concerning the COVID-19 pandemic.
“As a global company, MTN DEW and PepsiCo see the health and safety of our staff and fans as our first priority,” commented Nicole Portwood, MTN DEW VP of Marketing. “With this in mind, we want to be sure we’re taking the necessary steps to help protect our communities around the world, and this includes postponing large-scale events such as the Dew Tour. As tough as this decision is, it’s the right thing to do and gives us even more to look forward to in 2021. We’ll drop in together soon.”
In June 2019, Dew Tour served as the first global Olympic qualifying event in the U.S. for men’s and women’s skateboard street and park competitions. In May 2021, Dew Tour will continue as an Olympic qualifying event, in partnership with World Skate, serving as the last qualifier for park events in the U.S. before the Tokyo Games. The exact dates are forthcoming.
“Postponing the Dew Tour Long Beach weekend until 2021 is the best decision to ensure the safety of our athletes, fans, partners, vendors and staff during these unprecedented times,” explained Courtney Gresik, Dew Tour VP and General Manager. “The Dew Tour remains committed to the progression of skateboarding, furthering awareness and appreciation of the sport as we lead up to the 2021 Olympic Games. We look forward to our return to Long Beach in 2021 for a weekend packed with fun, excitement and Olympic-level competition that our fans have come to expect from our events.”
A documentary from directors Parisa Urquhart and Ling Lee – showcased earlier this year at the Glasgow Film Festival - is to be screened on BBC Scotland. It has been made via the Right Here project, which is backed by BBC Scotland in conjunction with the Scottish Documentary Institute and Screen Scotland, to help emerging directors, and reflects the rich diversity of Scottish identity.
Long Live Livi is about three young skate girls and their bid to reinvigorate legendary Livingston skatepark. Livingston ‘Livi’ Skatepark is world-legendary among skaters. In the 1980s and ‘90s, Livi was thriving and attracting the best pro-skaters but forty years on the surfaces have deteriorated and become dangerous.
This documentary follows the story of three local
ambitious skate girls known as The Snagglerats. With the help of their
mums and old school skaters, the Snagglerats discover Livi’s unique
history shown using amazing 8mm archive footage, old skate magazines and
photos. There is also an unexpected chat with international skate
legend Tony Hawk. He fondly reminisces about his visit to legendary Livi
and says of the time: “Scotland had one of the few skate scenes in
Europe”.
As well as documenting their bid to restore the skatepark, the film demonstrates how the Snagglerats are also on a mission to get more girls into the sport. “We inspire girls to skate” says Snagglerat Poppie and she wants them to skate at Livi.
Long Live Livi airs on BBC Scotland (channel 108) on Thursday 11th June at 8.30pm and will be available on BBC iPlayer:
Costa Mesa, CALIF. (June 11, 2020) – Vans’ long-running original content series, Loveletters to Skateboarding is about the love communities around the world have for skateboarding: a common bond shared regardless of race, religion, and sexual orientation. The 11th season of Loveletters is a testament to this, premiering worldwide today with a 6-part series dedicated to the voices of the LGBTQ+ skate community.
Cher Strauberry and Jeff Grosso
Exploring topics of identity, acceptance, allyship and more, this season of Loveletters to Skateboarding uplifts the shared journeys of a vast community of skaters who have found solace and connection through skateboarding. With stories from well-known skaters such as Brian Anderson, Leo Baker, Breanna Geering and Cher Strauberry, to members of the Unity crew, Skate Witches, and locals from around the world, Loveletters highlights the diverse yet often unheard perspectives of an emerging skate community.
The Unity Crew
Messages of unity and equality must always be championed. The origins of the Pride Movement can be traced to formative voices from the black queer and trans community, who took pivotal action for their rights in the late ’60s. In honor of Pride Month, and in addition to using our collective voice to elevate these impactful stories, Vans is making a donation of $50,000 to the GSA Network, an organization working to unite trans and queer youth for racial and gender justice.
Elissa Steamer and Jeff Grosso
Vans’ Loveletters to LGBTQ+ was filmed earlier this year, before the passing of legendary skater and host Jeff Grosso, who was a champion for inclusive skateboarding. These episodes were undoubtedly the ones he was most proud of in the 11 years of the show. Jeff confessed, “I was taught at a young age to speak this way. I have been part of the problem, but I am trying to change…the last thing I want to do is make someone feel uncomfortable or make them not feel safe, especially when it comes to skateboarding.” Vans, alongside Jeff, believe all voices of the LGBTQ+ community deserve to be heard. In our Vans family, there is no place for hatred or bigotry, and it is our mission to welcome everyone into the creative community of skateboarding.
Watch Jeff Grosso’s Loveletters to Skateboarding now at YouTube.com/Vans and stay tuned for new episodes every Thursday.
Hopefully, you've been following along for all six episodes of the new HBO show BETTY. I'm sure everyone is bummed that Season 1 is over, but the great news is Season 2 is in the works with a release date of May 2021.
Yeah, it's a long time to wait, but we are stoked to hear that all the original cast members are slated to come back and we can't wait!
If you haven't caught Season 1 - watch the trailer below and spend some time on HBO catching up - you'll love this show!
I'm not sure how we missed this one - but Soccer Mommy has a new song, CIRCLE THE DRAIN and the music video was directed by Atiba Jefferson and pro skateboarder Nicole Hause is in it! Lots of fun skating in a waterpark in Palm Springs - give it a watch!
Director: Atiba Jefferson
DP: Ty Evans
Editor: Cleigh Reed
1st AD: Farand Heydari
Gaffer: Kevin Denning
Key Grip: Ivan Gatz
Art Department: Frankie Palombo
PA: Leo Roberts
Skaters: Sean Malto, Jake Anderson, Curren Caples, Nicole Hause
Location: Palm Springs Surf Club
This past week has left us feeling angry, hurt, and saddened about the underlying issues of our society, especially when it comes to abuse to the Black community via the police force. Protests are continuing in cities nationwide in the memory of George Floyd and so many others, to demand change. We know a lot of you have participated - which we love and we hope you will continue to do so wherever you can - this fight is not over until radical change happens in this country.
Make sure you also get registered to vote, study the candidates in every position, and vote! We can not express how important this is, your voice needs to be heard from the local level all the way up to the White House.
We posted links on our previous piece on where you can donate to organizations like Black Lives Matter, ACLU, Unicorn Riot, NAACP, and more - we hope you will spend some time checking them out and donating if you can.
During this time, we've decided to also educate ourselves on how we all can help each other right here in skateboarding.
To start, we'd like to acknowledge and recognize our Black Female Skate Community by promoting Female Black-Owned skateboard movements and businesses.
We’ve put together a list of people, brands and movements we know and love, as well as suggestions from you guys.
Whether you chose to follow on Instagram, order a product, or donate time/funds to a movement - we encourage you to explore this list and support these women - not just today, but every day.
Skateboarding has been predominately white males for decades - our aim has been to see more women skateboarding and now we need to take it even further and be specific about helping to encourage and amplify the voices of color in our own community.
Are we missing some of your favorite people, brands, or movements?
Let us know by contacting us via our Instagram page @girlisnota4letterword Make send you send us a DM - we read them!!
PROPER GNAR has been on the scene for five years now. They are based out of Dayton, Ohio but the owner and artist, Latosha, can and will ship everywhere via their online site which is chock full of skate decks with her own powerful graphics, apparel, stickers, and more. "I felt that women don't get the same amount of pay or sponsorships, and I wanted to create that change," says Latosha.
The brand got its start because Latosha is super into fashion, and is also an illustration artist, so she combined those assets with her love with skateboarding (15 years worth) and Proper Gnar was born.
To provide an understanding of how things are starting to change in skateboarding Latosha had this to share:
"I just want to say how proud I am of the skate community and how far it has all come. I was initially nervous about posting and sharing some things because the last time I did I got some negative, racist feedback. This time around the support has been overwhelming, and I really appreciate that.
When I first started skating Elissa Steamer was the only woman skater I knew. When I’d go to the park, guys would not only question my gender skating but also my color. Now there are so many of us out there and I love to see it."
Skateboarder and model, BRIANA KING has been encouraging girls to get together and skate with her at various skateparks for a couple of years now and says "I don't see that stopping anytime soon!".
Growing up in the Boyle Heights area of Los Angeles, and later traveling the world as a model she strives to make sure people around her feel welcome and comfortable - even when they are the "new kid" at one of her skate clinics. She continually holds female and queer skate sessions where she teaches girls to skate and encourages them to stick with it by providing a support system of other girls right in their own neighborhood to skate with in the future.
Photo of Briana by Kris Evans
Past skate clinics have taken place in Boyle Heights, Seattle, Lincoln Heights, and El Sereno.
Stay tuned to Briana's Website for updates on upcoming skate clinics in 2020.
And make sure you check out the video below to see how rad these sessions are!
Quinne with Blk Girl Grip
BLK GIRL GRIP is the brainchild of Aziza -who started painting grip tape five years ago with her own designs. Why paint grip tape you might ask?
Aziza said, "I can't remember the last time I had blank grip - if I am going to be looking down at my board, at least make it cute, right?"
Every single piece she designs is one of a kind and a work of art. If you are lucky enough to catch her at a skate event you can see what she has available and buy it right there, otherwise hit her up on her Instagram @blkgirlgrip - but please remember, like most female-owned businesses we are writing about, she is a one-woman show so be patient when showing your support!
BABES BRIGADE, run by the raddest girl around, Stephanie Battieste, has been on a mission since 2015 to get girls and women in Toronto on skateboards no matter what! From meetups, lessons, parties, and group sessions this is one of the most fun women/girls skate groups we have ever met!
After spending countless years skating at her local skate parks, usually, as the only female, Stephanie began to start seeing more and more girls skating.
Photo Girl is NOT a 4 Letter Word
Steph wanted to find a way for them to connect. After a little brainstorming, she decided social media platforms such as FB and IG would be the best way to do so. She then created weekly meetups just for women to skate together. It very quickly became a support group and safe space for women, on and off the board.
And we should also mention that for the over 21 ladies, Babes Brigade has its own signature beer from Prince Eddy's Brewing called the Haze Brigade - how rad is that?
We suggest you buy her board to support because pro-female skaters are rare, as are people of color in skateboarding. Plus every sale helps Samarria fund her dream of heading to the Olympics for Women's Street skateboarding.
MS. RPRSNTD, where do we even start? Their founder, Adrienne is a force to be reckoned with on so many levels. The goal of MS. RPRSNTD is to provide girls in marginalized communities with access to skateboarding, but the movement goes far beyond that.
How about a skate related multi-media art show (Girl Gang at Space 15 Twenty) or an Instagram that shines a light on women of color in skateboarding, add creating skateboard decks with the word Feminist on them and you know that Adrienne is seriously doing it all.
MS. RPRSNTD is coming back this year all grown up as a full-fledged Non-Profit, so we can't wait to see what happens next! Make sure you stay tuned on their Instagram @msrprsntd
THE SKATE KITCHEN, this diverse group of young female skateboarders has been the talk of NYC and beyond for years now. They skate hard, and they don't take any shit from the guys. The group is diverse and the women of color to follow on Instagram include skaters MoonBear, Dede Lovelace and Ajani Russell.
Collectively they have a movie out about their group, "The Skate Kitchen" which can be viewed on Amazon Prime, and now they star in a popular TV Series titled BETTY currently showing on HBO.
We want you to know that just like you, we are angry and saddened by the death of George Floyd and also all the other instances of police brutality that happen daily in this country. 🖤
Today we participated in a protest held in Manhattan Beach and listened to a Black speaker from our former high school talk about the fact that he never really felt 100% accepted in this small beach town. And why he was leading this protest and speaking out. His words were powerful and gave us pause.
Today we want to let you know that we plan on making sure we spend more time actively elevating and encouraging girls and women of color on all our platforms. We need to encourage the next generation and make sure women’s skateboarding is as diverse as it can possibly be.
We are putting together a list of Black female-owned skate movements and businesses with links to each on our website and will also announce financial donations we will be making directly to those movements/causes. ✨
If you have favorites that you feel we should know about - please let us know on our Instagram page
Please make sure you speak out even if you feel you aren’t doing it 100% right. Because Injustice is injustice and it needs to STOP.
Also, please consider donating to the following impactful causes:
We had the opportunity to photograph and document for LOS ANGELENO Magazine what some Los Angeles skaters were doing while the skateparks were closed during this pandemic. Skaters were forced to take things back to DIY with ramps in their yards, skating in closed parking garages, or even inside the house on hardwood floors.
Photo Ian Logan for GN4LW x Flower Child Restaurants
Photo Julie Daniels
Name: Zoe Herishen Nickname: ZoZo Status: AM - Skates Bowl / Transition, working on street skating Home: Northern NJ Age: 13
Favorite Skate Spot: Chelsea Piers, NYC and Ocean City skatepark in NJ Favorite Trick: BS Air Favorite Music: AJR Favorite Food: Sushi Sponsors: Girl is NOT a 4 Letter Word, O'Neill, Bustin Boards, Killer 187 Pads, Sun Bum, Heritage Surf Shop, Kala Ukulele & Triple 8 Helmets. Contest Results - 2018:
1st place in bowl & street at the Chip Miller Surf/Skate Fest.
15th place in bowl at Exposure Skate Contest
11th place in Vert at Exposure Skate Contest
Passions:
In addition to surfing and skating, Zoe is passionate about music. She plays the ukulele, guitar, piano & sings. She performs on the boardwalk at the Jersey Shore in the summer. She is very involved with the Center for Food Action in NJ and organizes various food drives throughout the year. In school, Zoe is on the Student Council and is involved in STEM club. She is actually a huge math geek!
Zoe was featured in the Vans x Opening Ceremony Natalie Westling signature shoe campaign, as well as in style articles for New York's Culture Trip. Zoe is also featured in promo ads for Triple 8 helmets, and in a campaign for Girl is NOT a 4 Letter Word x Flower Child Restaurants.This past year Zoe was featured in a Revlon commercial, Unicef Kid Power campaign, Under Armour "She Plays We Win" campaign, Google Pixel 3 Commercial featuring singer JBalvin. Zoe can also be seen in JBalvin's recent music video "No Es Justo" as well as the band Duck School Band in their video for their song "Radio".
Zoe can currently be seen in the new "Let's Fly" video for the Philadelphia Eagles 2019 Kickoff Video.
In 2020 Zoe can be seen skateboarding in the new HBO TV Series BETTY.
Nickname: Minna Minna Chicken Dinna Status: PRO Skater - Team USA Skateboarder ~ Women's Park Home: Petaluma, CA Age: 15 Favorite Skate Spot: CA Training Facility Favorite Trick: Big backside airs! Favorite Music: Gorillaz Favorite Food: Mangoes & coconuts Sponsors: Girl is NOT a 4 Letter Word, HyperX, Santa Cruz Skateboards, Independent Trucks, Bones Wheels, Vans, Merge4 Socks, Mob Grip, 187 Killer Pads, Sonoma Old School Skate Shop
Facts About Minna: Turned pro at age 11 in 2017. Minna is the youngest female to be asked to compete at X-Games qualifiers (Boise, Idaho 2017). The youngest female competitor at Vans Girls Combi and made finals (2018). Minna competed in the World Championships in Nanjing, China qualifying 2nd and making the semi-finals (2018). She also won the Mystic Cup in Prague (2018).
Minna is the youngest member of Team USA Skateboarding.
Minna won the 2021 USA Nationals in Women's Park at age 15
Minna has been featured in: Forbes, Sports Illustrated, The Players Tribune, Vogue, The Washington Post, New York Times Magazine, Sports International Magazine, Argus Courier Newspaper, East Bay Express Newspaper, and a 10 page feature in Girls Who Ride Magazine on "Young Rippers".
Minna also has a part in the all-female skate film "Quit Your Day Job". She has filmed a spot with GN4LW for both LIFETIME TV as well as a promo for Flower Child Restaurant.
Minna is featured in the all-girls skateboarding book, "It's Not About Pretty".
In 2019 Minna was named as one of the"30 inspiring individuals under 30 in Sonoma County."
We are excited to see our fourteen-year-old team rider, Minna Stess featured on the front page of the sports section of the Washington Post today! Minna is gearing up for the 2020 Olympics (which will now be held in 2021) and figuring out how to train through a pandemic. She's also on the USA National Team for Women's Park Skateboarding.
And Vans just announced that dual-threat in surfing and skateboarding, Bella Kenworthy is now on their team! It's been a long time coming - Bella has been shredding since forever. Big congrats to Bella!!
Watch Jenn Soto & Mariah Duran skate through LA, Miami, and Spain with special guests Samantha Narvaez and Heitor Da Silva.
Juggling contests, filming, sponsor obligations, and more contests; Jenn and Mariah took a trip to Miami to skate and hit the reset button. What was originally an escape with friends for a change of scenery and mindset ended up turning into the kickoff point for the feature you see here.
“Jenn & Mariah” is a celebration with the homies.
Directed & Edited by: Tyler Smolinski
Filmed by: Tyler Smolinski & Justin Albert
Song: "Can I Get a Witness" by Dday One, "Inner Passage" by Dday One
World Skate has provided an update on the qualification process for the postponed Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games.
Over the last two weeks National Federations, Athletes and Team Managers
from around the globe have attended online meetings designed to provide
updated information on the Olympic Qualification process for
skateboarding, answer questions and invite discussion. World Skate
has been working hard these past months on the path forward to the
Olympics and while it’s too early to know many answers, the information
in these meetings has been intended as a point of reference for how
we’ll navigate these difficult and uncertain times.
The original qualification schedule was thrown into disarray after the coronavirus pandemic forced the rescheduling of Tokyo 2020 to July 23 to August 8, 2021, and stopped numerous qualifiers taking place.
World Skate has spent March and April reviewing the qualification rules and has extended season two, the current Olympic qualification period, to June 29, 2021.
The best four results during this time will count towards qualification.
These proposals must still be approved by the International Olympic Committee Executive Board before they are implemented.
There will be no change to event tiering, the points system, points already acquired or the quota system.
World Skate also set out guidelines for the resumption of competition.
For a country to host an event, there must be no ongoing outbreak of coronavirus in the location and no travel bans in place.
Training time has also been guaranteed, with World Skate promising that there will be a minimum of two months between the new calendar announcement and the first event.
The number of events in the season will depend on when competition can be resumed, but there will be a two-week break between each event of the same discipline.
World Skate left open the possibility of having World Championships in both 2020 and 2021.
The World Skate SLS World Championship of Street Skateboarding in London had been due to take place from May 19 to 24, while the World Skate World Championship of Park Skateboarding in Nanjing was scheduled for May 26 to 31. Both were postponed.
Skateboarding is due to make its debut on the Olympic program at Tokyo 2020.
More updates on the new qualification process are expected soon.
Our good friend and fellow '70s skateboarder, Judi Oyama, founder of Badass Skate Mom created this awesome template so you can make your own mask (complete with inner pockets for your filter) out of your favorite fabric or tee shirts.
Judi spent hours at the beginning of the pandemic fine-tuning the results until she got it just right, and having family and local friends test-drive her designs. Judi has been sewing for years - even making skate shorts for skater friends back in the day so you know this template is skater-legit!
Now that all stores and indoor establishments require you to wear a face-covering - why not make your own and show your own personality?
LIFEAID was nice enough to create a downloadable printout for Judi's masks, and you can find it directly via this LINK.
We can't wait to see what you create with Judi's face mask template! Post on Instagram and tag #Girlisnota4letterword and #Badassskatemom for the opportunity of having your pics shared by us.
It is extremely exciting to be able to say that Adidas Originals has joined forces with female skateboarders Jenn Soto and Mariah Duran to introduce the new Superstar ADV silhouette.
Celebrating the classic sneaker’s 50th anniversary, the designs feature details taking inspiration from each athlete’s roots.
The white iteration, created by Duran, arrives in all-white and is accentuated with an aqua mint green insole. The skater’s signature is placed along with the three stripes on the sides, as well as the heel tab. Custom cactus embroidery and star perforations are added to the design as a nod to Duran’s hometown, New Mexico.
Meanwhile, Soto delivers an all-black colorway that is contrasted with reflective material on the stripes and heel tab. New York City‘s skyline is illustrated on the insole to represent her hometown in New Jersey, while a stamp of her “Fly Past The Moon” tattoo sits at the heel.
Both sneakers, crafted with premium leather, are finished off with an
Adiprene molded sock liner for added comfort, as well as a rubber
outsole for grip.
The Superstar ADV styles by Jenn Soto and Mariah Duran are slated to drop on May 9 for $100 USD at Adidas.com/skateboarding
Check out this Adidas video featuring Jenn as well. We love how Jenn is the focus even though there are so many prominent Adidas athletes also featured. Very cool!
Pretty sweet to be just 14 years old and be featured in FORBES, but this is just one of the long list of accomplishments Minna Stess has racked up at such a young age. Being the youngest member of Team USA Women's Park Skateboarding is another.
Read the entire article on FORBES to find out more about this amazing young skater!
