Woke up this morning hoping to catch the sunrise as a salute to this day. Tilted my heavy head and, the second I lifted my eyelids, my eyes drowned in a sea of blue, pink, and purple shades crowned by gold flickers, somehow bringing a nostalgia of something that does not yet belong to the past.
But ‘tis not the time to reminisce yet, for there is much to enjoy still — and I need a recap of yesterday just as much as you lads.
RAISE visibility, accountability, and hell
That’s the message with which April Jones woke us up. As you might have guessed, I absolutely didn’t make it to the yoga session nor to the visit (this one’s a confession — I’m definitely ashamed), even though I probably should’ve… but I finally went skating!
April gave a much-needed, energetic talk about DIY spots — what they represent, why and how to fight for them. Because it is a fight: one that requires passion, determination, and organisation, but also one that revolves around such core values of community and skateboarding that it is more than worth it.
Make Life Skate Life illustrated the necessity of having a place to build and cement those core values that enable a community to take shape and grow. They presented the documentary film Barika Rising, following their project in a refugee camp near Sulaymaniyah (Iraq), where they built the first concrete skatepark inside a refugee camp.
Knowing that very few refugees actually get to go home and remain stuck in camps — deprived of civil rights and perspectives — and observing first-hand how boredom can easily lead to destruction, implementing something permanent and giving it the means to exist by itself is about giving tools to imagine and rebuild a community.
As you might have noticed, this notion of skateparks, DIY spots, and — more generally speaking — skate spaces as community bases just keeps coming back. It is at the roots of many skate projects. And as much as we might take it for granted (depending on where you live and come from), those places are still very much endangered in many parts of the world.
Speaking of taking things for granted, there are also people going above and beyond — inspiring others to engage to the fullest. I’d heartfully like to salute Rafael Murolo and Murilo Romão for their mission Saving Vale or #salveovale.
I cannot decently call this a project — it is a rescue mission, a life-changing engagement, and a cultural milestone. We have much to learn from their commitment and humility. Huge respect, guys.
Lastly (and I know this is getting a bit long), I’d like to say a few words about the Tokyo Tactical Skateurbanism panel, led by Kai Kagitani and Takahiro Yamazaki.
If Japanese skating has always been ahead in one way or another, it feels like it’s become even more obvious in recent years. Most of us can name at least one Japanese skater, and I haven’t met a single European who hasn’t told me they wanted to go to Japan.
And yet, people don’t quite realise the cultural specificities — and how much they affect everything: public space consideration (from both skaters and civilians), how people interact, move, and navigate through it; even private space management and communication.
So, for someone to try and shift all this through a calculated, thoughtful process is — to say the least — fascinating to see and learn about. It pushes us to take a conscious look at our own culture and its specificities: what makes France French, England British, Ireland Irish… and the list goes on.
In conclusion
Take care of your culture. Engage in it. Give as much as you can. Be selfless from time to time, and I promise it’ll do you some good.
Paule Cosmao