ISSUE No.1
04 This is Cuba Skate
10 23yG Skate Team
14 El Patinodromo Skatepark
16 Skate Spots
18 2014 Recap & 2015 Initiatives
23 Thanks
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Cuba Skate is a nonprofit initiative based in Washington, D.C. Started in 2010, Cuba Skate’s aim is to support and grow skateboarding in Cuba by providing access to materials that are otherwise unavailable on the island. In doing so, Cuba Skate hopes to foster a constructive environment for Cuban youth that will have a positive impact on the greater community. Cuba Skate not only expands the future for these skaters, but also builds diplomacy through skateboarding. 5
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MISSION
The Cuba Skate mission is threefold: bring skateboarding materials to the Cuban youth, renovate local skateparks, and create self-sufficiency for a group of skaters that rely tremendously on outside help. Through two-way cultural exchanges, we hope to connect Cubans with the international skate community.
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auren and I started Cuba Skate right after I graduated from Michigan and she was going into her senior year. Through a Michigan study abroad opportunity at Casa de las Americas in Havana, we had just experienced three of the most incredible months of our lives. We met a group of kids, and their families, who were really amazing people. Our time in Cuba inspired us to give back in a meaningful way, and as we have developed and progressed with Cuba Skate over the years, that element of family has been the most crucial ingredient. When we travel back to Havana, we always have a home to call our own. People consider us their American sister and brother, and these connections have truly been the fire keeping our movement ablaze. There are a multitude of stories I’d love to share, but essential to each is the sense of community. In Cuba, many people don’t have a variety of items because of the lack of resources and access, but sharing comes almost second nature. Sharing is manifested strongly through skate culture. Skateboarding is an extreme and fierce activity, and boards, shoes, and wheels are always breaking. However, these kids, in large part due to their innate Cuban resourcefulness, will share whatever they have to compensate for whatever someone else does not. These simple acts of kindness motivated Lauren and me to reach out to so many of you, skate companies and family friends, to get involved. We must all acknowledge what
it is we have such easy access to, and find it within ourselves to give back to communities in need. In four years, we have traveled to the island many times, almost two or three times a year. We have delivered more than 100 pairs of shoes, 200 complete boards, and so much more. Most importantly, we have developed meaningful relationships with Cubans, Americans, and folks from all over the world who are building diplomacy through skateboarding. I personally want to thank each and every one of you, skaters, donors, and friends, for engaging in our cause and supporting our efforts.
Hasta La Patineta Siempre! Until Skateboarding Forever!
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SKATE TEAM A group of Cuba’s best skaters pride themselves on representing the intersection and local skate plaza, 23yG. This park falls on the crossroads of 23yG, the principal intersection of Vedado, Havana’s downtown municipal. “Parque G” is famous for it’s blend of unique peoples and lifestyles. Calle 23 and Calle G have developed into a renowned spot for all Cubans, and especially its skaters. This downtown Havana hangout gave life to Cuban skateboarding in the 1980s, and to this day serves as the stomping grounds for local and international skaters. Skaters from all parts of the island consider themselves as part of 23yG, veinte-tres-y-G.
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EL PATINODROMO SKATEPARK
El Patinodromo is a Havana skatepark where Cuban youths congregate to skate and hang out. Unfortunately, the park is currently in extreme disrepair and its condition continues to worsen. A mixture of brutal heat in the summer and severe downpours during the rainy season have created cracks, puddles, and weeds throughout the park, while the metal ramps deteriorate daily. Nonetheless, this park is a mecca for young skaters, BMXers, and other extreme sports athletes. We are currently meeting with park directors in Havana to develop a renovation plan that will begin in 2015. Throughout the year, we will be meeting with international skatepark specialists to construct a professional level skatepark. Because of the US embargo on Cuba and the tense political climate between our two countries, we have to solicit permission from the State Department to make such an investment. In Cuba, we have been given the greenlight from park and government officials to embark on this effort. We have had the pleasure of working with Georgetown University’s Law Clinic throughout the year, in collaboration with Foley & Lardner LLP, and they have been a tremendous support in pursuing the necessary permissions.
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SKATE SKATE There are a number of epic skate spots in Havana. We have also had the privilege of seeing firsthand the skate scenes in San Antonio de los Baños, Matanzas, and Varadero, where there are even more amazing spots to be skated. San Antonio de los Baños is a small town approximately one hour outside of Havana. The skatepark sits between the train tracks and the local river, bordering the old lodging house for the train conductors. The space has been allotted by the local government as a skatepark, and the town’s skaters have constructed various obstacles, creating a safe and respectable environment for the skaters to skate.
Matanzas, Monumento de los Presidentes, La Timba, San Antonio de los Baños, Parque John Lennon, El Capitolio, and La Ciudad Deportiva
SPOTS
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014 was an incredible journey for Cuba Skate and the growth of skateboarding in Cuba; We made several trips to the island to bring gear donated by a number of skate companies, we hosted Art on Deck events in Washington, D.C. and Miami to raise money and awareness for the project, and we were featured in a series of online and print publications, including ESPN the Magazine and NBC. In 2015 we will continue pushing forward on a number of initiatives, most importantly, the Havana Skatepark renovation. In just over a month, we will travel to Havana with staff from California Skateparks, a worldrenowned indoor and outdoor skatepark construction firm. We plan to meet with local officials and begin drawing up blueprints for the renovation of El Patinodromo Skatepark. In March, through a collaboration with Burlington College’s Woodworking and Cuba Study Abroad Programs, we will facilitate a pilot program to begin building skate decks in Cuba. This effort will dramatically increase self-sustainability for the island’s skaters, and diminish the sole reliance on foreign aid.
ART ON DECK We have hosted four Art on Deck events from 2012-2014, with many more to come later in the year and throughout 2015. Art on Deck is a unique nonprofit benefit in the form of an art exhibition. The gallery features custom, hand-painted skate decks, all of them up for silent auction. Over 50 artists from D.C., Los Angeles, Miami and New York, along with a few creatives from Latin America, have contributed over 150 decks with their own interpretation of Cuban flavor. We have hosted these art and skateboard galleries twice in DC, once in Miami, with an upcoming event in Miami for the Art Basel show. Casa de las Americas, a well established home to Cuban and international works of arts, hosted the event for us in Havana in July, 2014. We showcased magnificent skate decks, live music and art, and enjoyed a flat-bar skate session in front of MSNBC, Telemundo, and local newscasters! Our upcoming Art on Deck event will feature 15 skate decks from Indie184, Cope2, and Raymond Adrian for a special Art Basel collaboration at TKS Skate and Surf shop.
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CUBAN VISITORS During our 2014 trips to the island, we facilitated a cultural exchange between Cuban and American and international artists, photographers, and skaters. We brought New York City graffiti couple, Indie184 and Cope2--who have contributed greatly to our Art on Deck efforts-and also a number of skaters, surfers, and even chefs! In February, Walker Ryan and Michael Mackrodt paid us a visit during their stay in Havana. The two journeyed across the island as part of a Red Bull short film, entitled Cuban Fidelity. We also met two extraordinary chefs-surfers-graffiti artists, and skaters, Cozy and Jo of Salt & Silver. They began their Latin/South America tour in Havana, and are journeying through the South American continent in search of waves and good food. We really enjoyed getting to know them and showing them some of our favorite spots in Cuba.
RECENT PRESS NBC Cuba’s Hardcore Skaters Get Some “Lift”
ESPN Uprising: Havana’s Action Sports Are Driven Only by Passion
Fusion Cuba Skate: Bringing Skate Culture to the Island
Good Magazine Good 100: Meet Miles Jackson, Skating for Change
THANKS None of our successes could be possible without the kindness of so many people. We are grateful to the professional skaters who have engaged with us, the companies who have generously given us products for the Cuban skaters, the artists who have contributed their wonderful work using skateboards as their canvases, the legal team for helping us further our efforts through skateboarding diplomacy, and the countless family and friends who have done anything and everything to support our cause!
Vern Laird and Bones Bearings Fred van Schie and FvS Media Nick Sacks and Sector 9 Damon Thorley and Deluxe Distribution Launch Board Shop Streets Skatepark
The AP Havana skaters defy scarcity to keep on rolling
Bustin Boards Sofia Maldonado The Gruber Family Georgetown University Law Center and Foley & Lardner LLP Tyrone Romero and LRG Skate Walker Ryan, Karl Watson and Organika Skateboards Felix Arguelles and AMMO Art Under Pressure Skate & Graffiti Shop Mo端se Bastidas and Monika Brunner of the Mo端se Movement
Photographs courtesy of... Lauren Bradley of Cuba Skate Julian Moura Busquets of VEEDRO Films & Cuba Skate Thomas Kosikowsk and Johannes Riffelmacher of Salt & Silver Ka Shim, Freelance Photographer for Cuba Skate
Design: Oliver Munday 23
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