Skateboarding Subculture Surprises with Zoë Corwin and Neftalie Williams

This week we’re joined by two USC colleagues, Zoë Corwin of the Pullias Center for Higher Education and Annenberg’s Neftalie Williams, who share some of what they’ve found studying skateboarding culture and its impact on youth. Spoiler alert: the impact is overwhelmingly positive! From literally creating safer spaces for Black youth to fostering wide-ranging skills like problem-solving, media creation and diplomacy, to the integral roles of skateshops and skateparks in their communities, Zoë and Neftalie talk us through their study, why it matters, and how it links to other theories and disciplines. Along the way, we learn a bit about skating culture in LA and abroad and how that’s been impacted by the COVID pandemic, and discuss the tension that exists between skating and university spaces (USC specifically), and how that could be viewed differently as a way to invite neighborhood youth into privileged academic communities. 

Visit the episode page for the full transcript of this conversation!

Here are some of the references from this episode, for those who want to dig a little deeper:

Gibson Mariposa Skatepark in El Monte
Photo Tour
Video Skate-through

USC Pullias Center Skateboarding Study
Tony Hawk Foundation (now called The Skatepark Project)
What is a Critical Race Theory framework?
Diplomacy through Skateboarding

City of Skate – Minneapolis
Enchantment Skate Shop – Gallup, NM
The Garage Board Shop – East LA

Scholar Cathy J. Cohen

Sand in LA’s Venice Beach Skatepark
LA-area skateparks reopening
Skateboarding the USC Ledges (video)

AOC's Twitch stream

University of Colorado-Boulder Energy Skate Park simulation teaches Physics
Skateboarding high school in skate-friendly Malmö, Sweden
Learning to Skateboard in a Warzone (if You’re a Girl) – Skateistan

Skateism magazine
Samarria Brevard
Skate to the Polls movement

Henry’s Comic Shops:
Million Year Picnic – Cambridge, MA
Comics Factory – Pasadena, CA

James Paul Gee – Affinity Spaces

Van Jones on the Politics of Joy

Forsyth County, GA:
Racial cleansing of 1912
Blood at the Root: A Racial Cleansing in America
March for Racial Tolerance 1987
Oprah Winfrey show in Forsyth County

Video

Music:
“In Time” by Dylan Emmett and “Spaceship” by Lesion X.
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In Time (Instrumental) by Dylan Emmet  https://soundcloud.com/dylanemmet
Spaceship by Lesion X https://soundcloud.com/lesionxbeats
Creative Commons — Attribution 3.0 Unported — CC BY 3.0
Free Download / Stream: https://bit.ly/in-time-instrumental
Free Download / Stream: https://bit.ly/lesion-x-spaceship
Music promoted by Audio Library https://youtu.be/AzYoVrMLa1Q
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Music:
“In Time” by Dylan Emmett and “Spaceship” by Lesion X.
In Time (Instrumental) by Dylan Emmet  https://soundcloud.com/dylanemmet
Spaceship by Lesion X https://soundcloud.com/lesionxbeats
Creative Commons — Attribution 3.0 Unported — CC BY 3.0
Free Download / Stream: https://bit.ly/in-time-instrumental
Free Download / Stream: https://bit.ly/lesion-x-spaceship
Music promoted by Audio Library https://youtu.be/AzYoVrMLa1Q
––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––