Musings on Dance, Food, Geek Stuff
DigitalSF.org is an online archive from the San Francisco Public Library that includes a treasure trove of photos back to the earliest days of photography. I did quick search for skating pictures and uncovered these gems, many of which are in the public domain.
On August 15, I had the pleasure of attending the annual skate formal at the Santa Cruz Museum of Art and History. As a museum nerd, getting to roller skate inside of an entire museum has long been on my bucket list! Particularly with dope music provided by DJ Tsu Ali! What made it extra…
I only recently discovered this music video that came out two years ago that features footage of Panther Skate Plaza, including a couple of shots of me. Or more precisely, my skates. Oh and me doing a drop split. The song is “Gravity” by Oakland based R&B musician Xay V. I love the vibe of…
A short video I made on the process of learning a new skill. I made this inspired by a session focused on executing the “power slide” on inline skates.
This is Jersey style rhythm skating, at the legendary Branch Brook roller rink in Newark, New Jersey. I was there on a regular Sunday adult night, and I’m still processing what I witnessed. Here’s why Jersey style is so ridiculous. First off, the music. Jersey is typically skated to house music. That’s fast tempo, four…
The story of Eroseanna Robinson, a bad ass Black skate activist in the 1950s. It was another young African American woman who would take the most blows from the skaters intent on keeping Skateland [a segregated rink in Cleveland, Ohio] white. Eroseanna (Sis) Robinson was a young staff member at a Cleveland community center in…
I just started reading Race, Riots, and Roller Coasters: The Struggle over Segregated Recreation in America by Victoria W. Wolcott (2012). It’s about how the fight for Black people to be able to access public spaces was not just about lunch counters and busses , but also amusement parks, pools, roller rinks, and other recreation…
From the US Library of Congress.
Unknown who the other subject is of what film this was for. And of course I had to make a meme of this…
These photos of Black folks skating at the Savoy Ballroom in Chicago from 1941 are just priceless. Look at how dressed up folks are! And love how joyful and silly everyone is. Oh and apparently photobombing was always a thing? Photographer: Russell Lee, 1903-1986 Source: Library of Congress