As children, we all played. We learned through play, we relaxed through play and we widened our social circles through play. Seems simple enough, right? As skateboarders, we continue that willingness and eagerness to play in public spaces through to adult life. As a culture, this makes us unique among adults. As skateboarders, we understand and value the importance of play into adulthood. Your skateboard is a toy. The best toy ever, but a toy nonetheless. For many, there are barriers to play, and therefore barriers to skateboarding, which need to be examined in order to be overcome: class, accessibility of facilities, gender, gatekeeping, the privatisation of public spaces and, in some extreme cases, international conflict.
Enter British-Palestinian skateboarder Dani Abulhawa, a senior lecturer at Sheffield Hallam University and self-styled 'Skateboarding Academic'. Dani, along with being possibly the most accomplished person we've ever met (she made our meagre achievements seem...crap?) is also one of the nicest skateboarders we've had the pleasure of chatting to. She's really lived an incredible life in and out of skateboarding; building skateparks in the occupied territories of Palestine, arguing with neckbeards on the sidewalk forums, being hassled by police in the name of academic research, lobbying local councils to improve skateboarding facilities for beginners, authoring academic books about gender and skateboarding...she's done it all! With ferocious, well-read passion, she makes an incredible argument for the democratisation of skateboarding. After all, what is skateboarding if not a pure-form of self expression?
Check out Dani's book here, or listen to the whole pod and find out how to get it for free! :
https://www.amazon.co.uk/Skateboarding-Femininity-Space-making-Expressive-Performance/dp/0367457598/ref=sr_1_1?dchild=1&keywords=skateboarding+and+femininity&qid=1623437399&sr=8-1
Donate to, buy from, or offer your time to Skatepal, the charity that builds skateparks in the occupied Palestinian territories:
https://www.skatepal.co.uk/
Check out Skate Manchester - the non-profit group fighting to maker Manchester a skate-friendly city:
https://www.skatepal.co.uk/
