now, ive been involved in and a part of the 'punk rock' scene in various cities for god knows how long, and yeah, most people associate skateboarding with punk rock and underground music in general. and i understand what you are trying to say with your corporatization aspect of your post, but i think you are missing the mark. a lot of big name deck, hardware, and wheel companies are built and based around hip hop lovers and built from the ground up in the same DIY spirit as the others have been. if you ever get the chance, check out some of the guys on the "Shorty's" team. or better yet, Kareem Campell's company "City Star's." he happens to be black and *gasp* probably listens to 'black' rap. also, "Ghetto Child" wheels are an urban company with connections to hip hop culture. dont try to make this a race issue or make things divisive. people who truly love skating do it because it makes them feel good. they dont give 2 tugs of a dead dog's hoo-haw what the other kid listens to. skating is skating. leave it at that and leave your self righteousness at the door.
tell that to Panama, Nicaragua, Cuba, Guatemala, Grenada, Columbia, East Timor, Palestine, Serbia, Afghanistan, Haiti, Somalia, Iraq, Vietnam, Cambodia, Laos and a few others that have slipped form my mind. I'm sure they will be very sympathetic and understanding to your "the U.S. only has the largest military budget on Earth, because it wants to *save* lives, not destroy them" argument. Read some history my friend. And I don't mean history written by the State Department either. Put in a few Freedom of Information Act requests for declassified NSA and CIA documents fromt he 60's. They'll help open your eyes a little. Cheers!
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now, ive been involved in and a part of the 'punk rock' scene in various cities for god knows how long, and yeah, most people associate skateboarding with punk rock and underground music in general. and i understand what you are trying to say with your corporatization aspect of your post, but i think you are missing the mark. a lot of big name deck, hardware, and wheel companies are built and based around hip hop lovers and built from the ground up in the same DIY spirit as the others have been. if you ever get the chance, check out some of the guys on the "Shorty's" team. or better yet, Kareem Campell's company "City Star's." he happens to be black and *gasp* probably listens to 'black' rap. also, "Ghetto Child" wheels are an urban company with connections to hip hop culture. dont try to make this a race issue or make things divisive. people who truly love skating do it because it makes them feel good. they dont give 2 tugs of a dead dog's hoo-haw what the other kid listens to. skating is skating. leave it at that and leave your self righteousness at the door.
tell that to Panama, Nicaragua, Cuba, Guatemala, Grenada, Columbia, East Timor, Palestine, Serbia, Afghanistan, Haiti, Somalia, Iraq, Vietnam, Cambodia, Laos and a few others that have slipped form my mind. I'm sure they will be very sympathetic and understanding to your "the U.S. only has the largest military budget on Earth, because it wants to *save* lives, not destroy them" argument. Read some history my friend. And I don't mean history written by the State Department either. Put in a few Freedom of Information Act requests for declassified NSA and CIA documents fromt he 60's. They'll help open your eyes a little.
Cheers!