Black Girls Surf Breaks Stereotypes and Provides Access for Professional Competition – Opinion

Since my move to Orange County, I’m a beach girl now. Although I never thought it would happen, there’s something so peaceful and centering about living near the Pacific Ocean. Although I still prefer the beach, I’m learning to appreciate the healing powers of water.

The history of America revolves around beaches and Blacks. Before this month ends I will do some exploration about the Bruce’s Beach controversy and the mess still unraveling from this 80-year-old land grab. Growing up in Chicago, I knew all too well about the segregation of some beaches. That is one reason why I didn’t frequent them much growing up. Blacks are denied access to certain recreation options due to access and cost, much like gun control policies. Earl Woods provided access to his young son, and what resulted is the legendary Tiger Woods, who has made a once “whites only” sport accessible to future generations of all races.

Carl Brashear, Master Chief Petty officer, busted stereotypical views about what a Navy diver ought to look like and what disabled Navy divers could do. Arthur Ashe was the same in tennis. He helped Richard Williams guide his daughters Serena, Venus and Martina to Wimbledon glory. They have made it easier for all future generations to access these young women.

Black Girls Surf now offers competitive surfing as well as confidence-building programs for young girls.

They are the feature of this week’s Feel Good Friday.

Black Girls Surf, a camp that redefines surfing in Senegal is called Black Girls Surf.

The girls have had to overcome resistance from their family and male-dominated surf industry. But the girls aren’t willing to give up their dreams of going pro. pic.twitter.com/6uB36Rg0RV

— Unreported World (@UnreportedWorld) November 19, 2021

The sight of Black girls isn’t common in surf competitions, popular surf media or even casual lineups. For example, among the top 20 female surfers in the World Surf League’s 2019 rankings, there’s only a few women without blond hair, and few women of color.

Rhonda Harper, who learned to surf while a teenager on O‘ahu, founded the international cohort of surf camps called Black Girls Surf. If you look at the list of participants for typical surf contests, she says, “the one key person missing for any Black girl that’s watching is a Black girl.”

“If you can’t see it, you can’t be it.”

Rhonda Harper (founder of Black Girls Surf and Inkwell Surf and Skate Club) joins us for this month’s edition. Listen to her tale about how she began the quest for black representation in surfing. Listen now: https://t.co/9kvoDYMHYb pic.twitter.com/yGRhoH2lQH

— Good Tidings Foundation (@goodtidingsSF) November 2, 2021

Harper’s fascinating story is one she shares on the Good Tidings Foundation podcast. It is a short recording, lasting less than thirty minutes. I highly recommend it.

In the last few years, activism has been seen as an outlet for Woke ideology, and as a refuge for race grifters. The truth is that this could not have been further from the truth. Although I am an activist, I also use other tools than making people feel bad about themselves or their race. Rhonda Harper embodies this same type of activism by embodying the proverb, “Each one, teach one.” Harper uses her experience and knowledge to open up a new world of surfing to Black girls, and to expand the worlds of Black girls who already surf and train them for competition.

How can Black girls not get into surfing? Harper boils it down to a lack of two things: “access and role models.”

My conversations with four Black women who are involved in surfing revealed the same challenges. Bailey says that because there are not already large numbers of Black surfers, surfing is “not something that really pops in our mind to go and try and do.”

This article was originally published in 2020. Black Girls Surf exploded in just two years. Harper founded Black Girls Surf in 2014. She looked for surf schools in West Africa to help students and found future surfer Khadjou Samuelbe. Harper started surf camps internationally and nationally from there: Los Angeles and San Francisco.

In this documentary Harper and Sambe are both featured. The World is changing because of women surfing. It’s less than 15 minutes, and gives a window into not just the importance of representation, but the importance of being the access point that opens up doors of opportunity that someone might not otherwise have had, or that expands someone else’s worldview.