Do you ever feel like life has got you down … well, some people we met today literally had that happen to them recently, but in their case it was by a cop’s hands.
To start day four off, we first had to return the Jefferson’s lake house key. To do so, we would be visiting the Jefferson’s at their farm in Pyatt, AR – a small town with a population of just over 200 people. Each farm is wide and vast. The Jefferson’s farm is 200 acres big, my gosh, their property rolled on forever. Mr. Jefferson took us around the farm in his truck and showed us their cows and bulls. BJ, their dog, came following along by running alongside the vehicle, running up to the cows, jumping in small ponds of water and mud, and having tons of fun in the whole experience. BJ is one of the coolest, most down to earth Jack Russell Terriers I have ever hung out with.
After the farm, we were off to Little Rock, AR to skate Riverview Skatepark.
When we got there, there were two chill skaters hitting the park – Josh and Ish. We started kickin’ it with them. They laid down some good insight about the local skate scene.
A little while later, the guys and girl that were involved in the National Go Skateboarding Day incident in Hot Springs, AR rolled up deep in a mini van. It was awesome to see all of them piling out of the van to come hit the skate scene at this park. They drove some 50 to 60 miles to come out to Little Rock so that they could skate a park. You see in Hot Springs, AR there is a city ordinance against skateboarding, meaning it is banned in the city. I guess their mayor is not like Don West and their people aren’t supportive of the sport like the people in Diamond City.
For those of you unfamiliar with National Go Skateboarding day, it is a day for all skateboarders to go skateboarding in their town as a way to show support for the sport. This past year, some 3,000 skaters hit the streets of Chicago, and thousands more went out in other parts of the country. In Little Rock, Imperial skate shop owner Aaron Grimes coordinated an event with some 100 to 150 skaters and all of them skated down a main road in Little Rock to show their support for skateboarding. He got radio stations involved and got some good coverage of the event.
At the park, I hung out for a bit with Robbie Brindley, a cool guy, and one of the main guys in the video of the incident. He shared some good insight with me about the event, which we look forward in capturing the story in our documentary. Thanks for the perspective Robbie. The whole event brings two questions into my head – how can skateboarders and a community coexist to bring value to both parties, and is the reaction of law enforcement towards skateboarders justified?
An answer to the first question was well addressed when I met the people in Diamond City. The mayor, Don West, saw skateboarding as a great outlet for kids and a positive sport that a person can become involved in. Also, Ethel, a shopkeeper in the town, sees the sport as an art form and would give kids $1 off their pizza if they skated outside her shop. Wow, I’m sure a lot of skaters would love to have that experience where they live.
As for the second question, this one’s been puzzling me for a while. This one cop in Hot Springs, AR choked three of Robbie’s friends in the whole incident. OK, so there is a city ordinance against the sport, so if you skate there, you can be arrested. I got it, now that’s on the table. However, does that crime justify choking minors and leaving kids who have been handcuffed unattended? I could justify that reaction in my head if a criminal had stolen money from a store, or was carrying a gun, or had committed a violent crime, but I can’t justify it if someone was to J walk across the street, drive over the speed limit, or skateboard in Hot Springs, AR. In my experience with skateboarding, I’ve seen cops make 9 year old kids cry by verbally assaulting them with threats of jail time and explanations of how the child’s activity is a criminal offense. These are kids! Even though a child may not have a strong political voice that can be well articulated in political circles, they are to be respected too. Perhaps this video starts to bring to light to the public what goes on in the skateboarding community, and the moments of injustice that occur.
At the park, I met this guy named Colt who is sponsored by a local skate shop called Imperial. Colt invited us over to hang out at the shop and meet the shop’s owner, Aaron Grimes. So off we were to the shop.
Aaron’s a chill guy who has set up a great atmosphere for the local skaters at his skate shop. In the back of the Imperial shop is a nice indoor mini half pipe, which Colt and Matt were hitting up. Aaron provided some good insight into the sport from a shop owner’s perspective. He was also showing me video of this guy named Dewayne who lives in Kansas City and who skates for their other Imperial skateshop. Dewayne’s got some sick tricks and has some well known back-footed tricks in his repertoire. I showed Aaron another back-footed possibility – the 180 Guflip … perhaps Dewayne would want to add it to list of tricks. Aaron and his crew are really cool people and I look forward to hitting up their other shop in Kansas City. Yeah, Aaron, that’d be cool to meet up with Dillon, Dewayne and other people in the skate community and Kansas City. Thanks again for everything man!
