Toronto skateboard community to skate in solidarity with Black Lives Matter
A Black Lives Matter "skate for solidarity" peaceful skateboard protest will be happening in Toronto on Juneteenth.
Juneteenth (which takes place June 19, also known as Freedom Day or Jubilee Day) commemorates the freeing of all previously enslaved people in Texas in 1865.
The skate-in will take place at Underpass Skate Park, and is being spearheaded by Oldowan Blackboard, a Black skateboard collective put together bystreetwear company Oldowan, and Toronto Skate Stop.
Kush Diet, Impact Skate Club, Adrift, Monstra, Toronto Skateboard Community, Christie Pits Skateboard Park and Toronto Skate Stop also helped organize.
"With the Current climate and the need for more Safe spaces for Black Youth Across the GTA, we have decided to launch Oldowan Blackboarders Collective. This page is to highlight black skateboarders, share information and future collaborations within the community," reads the caption of an Oldowan Blackboard Instagram post.
"In the coming Months we hope to create opportunities with Local parks for Black Youth to Meet, Skateboard, Learn and Empower one another. Alongside we aim to the Launch our Sponsorship Program for Black Skateboarders."
Organizers are looking for support in the form of sponsorship for skate gear and offers of time and space in skate parks, and they're also looking for Black skateboarders who would like to teach or be sponsored. They're also using 50 per cent of profits from the Oldowan streetwear company for sponsorship for Black skateboarders.
The Juneteenth event has a GoFundMe with a goal of $500 attached to it, and donations will go back to Oldowan Blackboard as well as to Black Lives Matter and 42 Rides. The peaceful skate protest starts at 4 p.m.
