Skates, Blades and Hot Tracks: Roller Culture in the Bay Area

Roller culture in the bay area has lived many lives – from the roller discos of the 1970s, to the inline skate competitions of the 2000s and a quad-skating revival fueled by TikTok and the Covid-19 pandemic. It’s tangled up with other cultural movements, including the Bay Area’s underground music scene. And improvised roller parties – from Golden Gate Park to Panther Skate Plaza – are building on a legacy of Black and Latino communities originally excluded from formal skate spaces. We’ll talk with San Francisco’s “godfather of skate,” a roller dance teacher with five decades of skating experience and a former professional rollerblader.

Guests:

Azikiwee Anderson, former professional inline skater; co-founder, I Match Your Trick Association; owner, Rize Up bakery

David Miles Jr., owner, Church of 8 Wheels

Richard Humphrey, teaches roller dance classes; former Golden Roller

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