01/11/2013
I thought I would get the word out there, specially because I am sure you are all out skating right now...NOT!
So here it goes.
There are two local young and very motivated individuals behind this dream still. Brock and Jair, if anyone out there knows this cats they know that they have a RIDICULOUS amount of drive and determination.
You can think of this period as a hiatus for them.
The WPSP model was so flawless as far as business plan, and savvy as far as we did all we could, that we were able to stay afloat for 6 month. Given the first 2 months only operating as a community center and after that we were officially a park for 4 more months until our doors were closed for us.
All this during the Summer time on about $3,500.00 give or take, $1,200.00 of that was insurance that is still working and will be until July of next year.
Yeah! thats right, 4 months of indoor park/ Legal wall/ Dance Center/Screen Printing Shop/Music Venue and the friendliest environment kids could have skated on for $2,300. In other words nothing!
All you had to do was show up with $3 and we would let you skate all day most of the time. We understood you were broke, because we were broke!
This was not some capital adventurist or some huge corporation that did not care. This was ran by people who had the same struggles you are facing right now with the rain. People whose plan was to get funding for everyone to be able to skate a good indoor park for about 0.75¢ per day.
Forget about it tho bruh and pass that pipe this way... Right? Or the bottle? Whichever is closest,watch out with them needless tho cutty! (I wish I was joking about this last part but I heard conversations like this one last year. It is what drove me to try so hard).
Here is what we offered you:
A fully functional park: Not the best park for that matter, but good enough for everyone who skated there to have fun. The atmosphere was always welcoming and friendly and personally that has always been a huge part of skating for me.
You can’t go pro if no one likes you because your a Dick! Most of the time is your friends who keep you afloat. The only two pro decks I have ever owned where a Jhon Cardiel(Antihero) and a Matt Rodrigues (Frontline) both people I know personally and was planing and hoping to get involved in the project as well as Brandon Biebel (Girl) and Apollo Cutts (DGK)
2 Amazing! Art shows: the Black light and Underground Unity shows (the entire stage was a piece of art! literally). Besides the shows being sick! We offered graffiti offenders the opportunity to “clean up their act” as one city employee puts it, by doing what they loved to do. They almost cried when I told them I wanted them to do a piece. I personally signed of 36hr of community service to several different individuals that were in trouble for following their heart in the direction of their dreams. Art is not a crime and if the city had legal walls people would go there! But who cares about them, their bums anyways! Well.. We very much did. That scene was the biggest supporter period.
We were in the process of establishing sypher’s for all the Bboys, but the people heading the break scene in portland where also way too fresh! to put forth the little effort we asked of them. For the exception of the Rhythm Bandits Crew and Jose Tajon from Defcon5.
We gave the opportunity to 7 different Local Music Artist to get their name out. Through concerts on budgets of no more than $60.00 money that the volunteers personally contributed most of the time, myself included. 3 shows and 7 live performances having no problems, but some people don’t have an ounce of integrity and sometimes blow it for everyone( What up Phill! you and I share all the responsibility of the outcome of the last event. Me as a leader and you as a so called “volunteer” here is our moment to shine, have at it).
Oh yeah, we had 2 skate contest but we were not “Rad” enough for the skate scene so I almost forgot them. Moving on.
1 SMX contests which I left to the end because in all reality it cost us quite a bit in both publicity and hater emails and messages. I am way proud of this one! No one and I mean NO ONE can say we were not fully inclusive. Not the local company who publicly advocate for scooters to be banned from parks calling young scooter riders monstrosities, not the oh! so! awesome local skaters everyone knows and does not like, not the 31 year old men trapped in 11 year old maturity levels, “not nobody!” as Kat williams would say.
Hate all you like,skaters are notorious for that and it shows immaturity and lack of your own understanding of stratification and how much a victim of it you are.
Do you all like that new park over in Beaverton?(not TRON)
Oh wait... its wet, because they.. Like... Didn't cover it, again!
I know about city employees who get hired at ridiculous wages just so that the city can hire an advisory, and a counselour for them at almost twice the cost... Scratching my head over here give me a sec... Like really? you got hired and then someone else got hired to show you how to do your job? TRUE STORY! Pay your taxes suckas. Or this one non profit org that keeps a room full of the latest technology locked up so no one can steal it, or use it! Because they do not have a system to make it accessible to the community! (laugh all you can, because once you do your research and see how rampant this is, that laughter will turn to anger).
We were not, are not, and will never be the enemy of the west side underground community or any marginalized group. We are on another level watching you guys fight yourselves within the scene and then watching the city cheap (literally) shoot you guys after you have consumed all your energy hating on each other. My applause for your resiliency I would have quit skating a long time ago. I did.
It seriously affected me that much to see the scene act that way.
So there is that... And what are you going to do about it? if they (Jair and Brock) get it going again, how much would you pay to have a safe and most importantly dry! environment to skate? would you pay lets say $3? or would you rather spend the money on bann scooter stickers! You don’t want me to guess. It would make you sad and the last thing I want do is add to how depressed this weather makes people.
Have fun out there, or not.
JT
