We Skate Too: froSkate
Photo by @thesedaysmag
It’s more than a collective -- it’s a community.
It’s more than skateboarding -- it’s social change.
Those simple, empowering phrases were a repeated declaration while conversing with the leaders of froSkate. I was dumbfounded to find the life-changing collective only came to fruition three years ago
Yet, froSkate, the Chicago-based Black womyn-owned collective, has revolutionized a new breed of BIPOC skaters who are brave, confident, and ready to produce drastic changes that ripple far beyond the streets of Chi-town.
What started as a group chat of like-minded folks looking to skate morphed into something much more: a movement centered around femme, TQGNC, and BIPOC skaters to exist in.
The heart of froSkate is composed of two unique souls—Karlie Thornton (she/her), 24, and L Brew (they/them), 22. The pair are from St. Louis, Missouri, and struggled to find a community that felt like home. Eventually, Brew and Thornton found themselves in the city of Chicago, embarking on new ventures for work or school and curious about the culture of skateboarding.
Although both had their own origin stories of how boards came into their lives, it was similar in the way both craved for a space to have Black women come together. Thus, Thornton built the foundations of froSkate in less than a month of her starting as a skateboarder. Brew, already skating for a few years, found an Instagram post their brother happened to share that promoted an all-Black female skate crew; the rest was history.
You can currently find both leaders managing bi-weekly meetups in the city, revolutionizing the culture of skateboarding, bringing thousands of people together, and spreading love through the power of unity. In addition, protests such as No Breaks allowed folks from all different walks of life to meet and ride in solidarity for Black lives in July of this year. Long story short, it cemented the core values of what makes froSkate one of the most versatile skate groups of our generation.
I had the pleasure to chat with Brew and L on the humble beginnings of froSkate, the power of inclusivity, and why making a difference in skateboarding, activism, and global justice is needed to foster a new class of BIPOC skaters today.
Photo by @aoctaviusw
What’s the backstory of you two getting into skating that led to the creation of froSkate?
Karlie: I always tell people that I fell in love with skateboarding when I was in middle school. There were these pockets of skater dudes that I was friends with that I would just watch at this indoor skate park in the St. Louis Mills Mall. They had some crazy obstacles so I would just go after school.
But there were never any girls skating at that park or even around the city, so I never imagined that I thought would be for me.
Growing up in my family, I never thought to mention it to them because I knew how they would react. They raised me to be a “proper girly girl” or someone who doesn't get hurt. One day I just finally went to this skate shop called Wilson Yards Skate Shop but I didn’t know anyone who skated in Chicago. I didn’t really know what to do or where to skate even though I could have simply looked up skate parks next door.
It wasn’t until 2019 in February where I was working at this independent music label where I met my boyfriend and he would invite me out to House of Vans some nights to skate but it was kind of uncomfortable because I was the only beginner and the only girl. There would be some girls once in a while which was cool, but no Black girls. Literally less than a month after I started to learn how to skate I created froSkate.
L: I started when I was 16. I saw a friend of mine skate for like two seconds while I was sitting on my porch waiting for him and he cruised up hella fast and just looked so cool. I remember thinking Damn, I wish I could look that cool but I can't because I'm a girl or whatever. But then I was like Okay, fuck that I'm just going to learn. My sister's boyfriend at the time was a skater but he hadn't in a while so he gave me his old hand me down so I started out on this rinky-dink tiny skateboard.
I initially just wanted to learn how to push but then two years later I was really good at cruising and I wanted to start hopping over stuff so I started learning how to ollie. But I never went to skate parks, I strictly skated the streets because the few times I had been to the parks it was really awkward and I didn't have anybody to go with me. I just stuck to the streets and I didn't start going to the skate parks until I got with froSkate. For three years before that, I was just practicing my ollies then I met froSkate and I started developing so fast because I had people to challenge or teach me new things. I was finally in the parks so I could work on ramps and different obstacles.
I feel as though my skating career actually blossomed when I finally had people to skate with.
I know when FroSkate began, it started as a product of, “You know what, screw it, let’s do this.” I think that in itself is inspiring, given most folks feel intimidated to join the game in their mid-twenties without any skateboarding knowledge beforehand. So, what was the catalyst to finally do it?
Karlie: I think that's just my attitude about life. Oftentimes, I have a lot of ideas in my head, and it's very important for me that if I have an idea that's repeating in my mind and I know that there are different ways that I can help make it actually happen, then I'll just jump on it and just do it. Even if everything doesn't really make sense at the time, I just think that it would be fun to do. But with froSkate, it was just natural.
I was skating with like three or four people, and then people just kept hitting me up and hitting my friends up who just wanted to skate with our group of friends. Then our group chat just got bigger and bigger. I didn’t want everyone to have my phone number because I was starting to not know everyone, so I just thought what if we made an organized Instagram? I took the liberty to make an Instagram, and I just made these simple flyers that had a bit of information like, let’s meet up this day or a certain time, we'll see who just pulls up. Then it just naturally became something bigger off of that and that's because the community really needed something like that.
Chicago hadn't had any type of space for women, and queer skaters, especially centering the BIPOC community as well.
And if you go to the skate park or even if you're trying to find skaters that were like you in the city, it was just so difficult because you just didn't know anyone. The city was yearning for some type of organized situation like froSkate to happen.
I think the core values of froSkate are what make it so unique in its own right. Most non-traditional skaters have trouble finding their pockets of people, and especially in cities that don’t have the resources to do so. So what was the overall goal or mission statement when froSkate was just beginning?
Karlie: Our mission statement was pretty simple. It was just to create a space that centered at the time around Black and people of color. We wanted to prioritize BIPOC people, but with a huge center in Black people, especially femmes, queer folks, and mainly just non-traditional skaters. You usually see at a skatepark, white men and even in some cases Black men as well. We are thankful for them for getting a good representation of our community through skateboarding since day one, but you don't really see Black women as much or even at all. It’s just not comparable.
So that was our mission, and it's morphed and developed into more things as we evolved more into who we are. Like who we are with community-oriented aspects of things. Thanks to donations, we've provided folks with skateboards, shoes, and Uber rides to meet-ups or things they may need. We try to help the community with getting into skating; as well as our platform has increased, so now we're able to increase accessibility and increase visibility for our communities beyond Chicago and worldwide.
But some people, since day one, have taken our mission the wrong way. You know, we've been called exclusionary to the white community which number one, not true because we center the community and we welcome all. Number two, what's the problem if we did want to include just BIPOC folks? White folks have space everywhere. The world is your oyster because you just like to make the space for yourselves. So let us have this one.
I know froSkate has been big on not only being a collective, but a voice for change in the community over the years.
L: Karlie and I both kind of come from social justice backgrounds, and I think as Black women in general, that's something we can't really shy away from. So it kind of ties into everything we do in different types of ways. But with the platform we gained last summer, I think we thought: why wouldn't we speak out about these things?
There also had been a skateboard protest that happened in Pennsylvania, where a ton of people were asking us to do so we couldn't shy away from that either. But just being Black women in general and having this platform, we knew that we had a responsibility to educate and to make more things happen beyond skateboarding in general. So it was an honor of course to have all these people asking us to do these things and trusting us with that responsibility. But being a part of the BIPOC community, we knew we couldn't really be silent.
What have been some of your favorite memories or moments so far with froSkate, or while being a part of the community in general?
L: My first one is finding froSkate. That was very genuinely life-changing for me. I was able to make a real solid group of healthy friends. And obviously, meeting Karlie was super important for me. The two are definitely when I first joined, and the No Brakes protest was definitely the best.
When Karlie and I were planning that protest, we weren't really thinking about the broad scheme of things. We were just trying to make sure it was getting done and safely. It was like the day after that I woke up and thought, wow, what just happened? The fact that we brought out thousands of people, and just looking back at the pictures, was just such a beautiful moment.
We also would go to these protests or celebrations in Milwaukee called Black Is Beautiful rides, and we would just skate for about 15 miles with a ton of other folks. That’s just always been super fun. People I've met, opportunities I've had, friends I've made, it's literally all been so life-changing. So all of it.
Karlie: I had to calculate all of the events we have done recently, and in two years since 2019, we’ve hosted over 70 events. When you mention what’s our favorite moment, there are quite literally so many! That 70 includes our meet-ups, which is definitely a huge part of stable joy for us, because that's where we began and what we have been doing pretty consistently. Those meet-ups are awesome because that's where we meet our community; that's where we meet the non-traditional skaters; that's where everyone shows up and find friends.
It's just very well known that if you come to a froSkate meet-up, you're definitely going to leave having two or three more friends than you had before.
Also, our protest No Breaks was just crazy. I’ve helped produce larger events but nothing for my own thing. In it, you’re stressed about the safety of everyone when it comes to police or threats, and it was just making sure it all ran smoothly. But once it was done, we were able to digest everything that happened — and it was one of the biggest moments in Chicago skateboarding history to date.
What do you hope to see for the future of froSkate? Better yet, what does the future for non-traditional skaters look like for you? Or, if you could give one piece of advice for anyone feeling timid to get in the game, what would it be?
L: I always tell people to believe in themselves — and I know that's way easier said than done, but confidence in yourself directly correlates with your confidence on the board and getting comfortable taking up space. I think that is super important.
Even if it's without us, I always want to remind people even if you're not at a meet-up, make sure you're still skating, make sure you're still getting out there, and not give up. Skating, to me, is one of the hardest things in the world to develop and to keep up with. I always tell folks no matter how hard it gets, keep learning.
I also think about the younger generation a lot. I was just out in California with my family, and I have two younger cousins who are both Black girls and also skate. So experiencing them develop their love for skating and starting early and being able to tell them those things now, I feel like it's super important.
So I envision this younger generation of BIPOC, femme, trans, and non-gender conforming folks coming up and having this representation that we didn't get to see.
Being able to inspire them and when they're older just seeing them all in the Olympics or X Games if they want, or just even being in the parks. That’s all.
