 commitment to antiracism in skateboarding an update from the working group commitment to antiracism in skateboarding an update from the working group rubymateja mon 1172022 1135 mon 1172022 1200 posted by the goodpush team working group members from a dozen skateboardingbased organizations have been meeting virtually since mid2020 to address the systemic oppression prevalent in skateboarding and to push the conversation forward towards meaningful action  antiracism goodpush partners community engagement as the black lives matter protests in 2020 grew to the largest in us history the movement accelerated conversations on race and privilege that could no longer be ignored with nonprofit organizations worldwide becoming active in the movement for advancing racial justice we thought it was important to address the work that needs to be done within skateboarding the commitment to antiracism in skateboarding was officially launched on the may 25 2021 one year after george floyd s tragic murder the commitment was created by the goodpush alliance together with working group members  from a dozen skateboardingbased organizations who have been meeting virtually since mid2020 to address the systemic oppression prevalent in skateboarding in order to push the conversation forward towards meaningful action the impact so far since its launch the commitment now has more than 840 signatories including 250 social skateboarding projects brands and skate shops from over 50 countries so far six national governing bodies for skateboarding representing skating in the olympics have signed on as well from brazil the uk us canada bangladesh and germany we are amazed to see how widely the commitment has already been shared and the conversations it has prompted we can t wait to share our exciting plans for the upcoming year since its launch the commitment now has more than 840 signatories including 250 social skateboarding projects brands and skate shops from over 50 countries logos of commitment signatories the importance of antiracism action when it comes to race none of us are immune to having biases the first step is to recognize that and to do the work necessary for everyone to feel welcome antiracism action goes beyond simply not being racist it challenges socially constructed and institutionalized oppression and demands fundamental changes the goodpush alliance community has had discussions and webinars on how racism plays out in personal interactions in organizations and in the wider skateboarding and aid sector this can be in apparent ways like the lack of representation of people of color in highlevel nonprofit or skate industry jobs as well as daytoday microaggressions that skaters of color face when they re out skating though the nonprofit sector invests time and resources into the promotion of social equity it has been largely and rightly criticized for pervasive whiteness and perpetuating racial hierarchies nonprofits should not just advocate but manifest internally the drive for social change through antiracism action because of its renegade history skateboarding is the perfect vehicle for pushing past conventions and power constructs to make meaningful social change talia kaufman working group member the purpose of the working group the main objective of the pushing against racism working group is to create an antiracist culture in the skate community worldwide this means supporting each other in the work of challenging systemic racism that may appear at our skateparks in the media in our organizational structures in skate programs that we run and in the wider skateboard industry we invited all of the commitment signatories to our first online meetup in july in which 50 people attended sharing their own experiences questions and focal areas for action such as skate infrastructure ethics antiracism curriculum for skate projects and the intersectionality of accessibility in skating ie ability gender race photo credits surf ghana in september our session on pushing against racism at the online goodpush summit was the most well attended out of all nine summit sessions with the guest speakers all highlighting the need for representation of skaters of color at all levels of the community industry as well as financial support in december 2021 we held our 2nd signatory meet up on skateboarding and racism in the global south  45 attendees joined in to listen to our guest speakers from south africa and afghanistan and to share their own experiences and suggestions for overcoming barriers to making skateboarding more accessible and equitable what s next  for more info or to sign the commitment go to antiracismgoodpushorg  you ll also find resources and next steps to help you act on the commitment in your own contexts and communities we really want to encourage you to get involved in this important movement by signing the commitment going through the resources and sharing this initiative within your circles in the coming months we also plan to launch the pushing against racism fund an initiative to support antiracism action within skateboarding stay tuned for more details  