My homie BRIAN DEKA PAUW is one of those brothers in the vanguard of post-Blackness. He has never let living and learning in Bedford-Stuyvesant deter him from the things that he wanted to do with his life. He’s fortunate that he doesn’t have the social borders that most people in America have. Not just the kids growng up in the ‘hood, but everybody in America who can’t see past race or class when they look at other people.
Brian is a avid snowboarder. So much so that he has formed a not-for-profit organisation geared to bringing kids from the center city out of their environment into the great outdoors for them to learn recreational activities, but mostly for them to realize that borders they thought encircled them do not exist. It will be a yeoman’s effort but it will have to start somewhere.
It started over a week ago with the first big snowstorm of the ’09 winter. Brian grabbed up his board and boogied over to Fort Greene Park to shred the hill in front of the veteran’s memorial statue. Fort Greene Park exists in an interesting socio-political-economic vortex. One side of the park along DeKalb Avenue fronts some of Brooklyn’s most expensive real estate, while the Myrtle Avenue side fronts Walt Whitman projects.
The lines of park ownership reflect the color of the new fallen snow. Little ghetto kids can play in the park but they had better keep the noise down. And definitely don’t start forming any crowds. When Brian took the opportunity to instruct some of the youngsters who were curiously enthralled by he and his friends snowboard antics is when the NYC Parks Rangers swooped in and used their authority to ruin what could have been the removal of ther borders in these kids minds.
I’m sad and embarrassed that these Parks Department employees abused their authority in this instance. The vibe was such that their presence was not only unnecessary but also somewhat questionable. You can never really tell what thoughts exist in a man’s mind, but you can certainly tell when he is lying and when he is being honest and upright.
The truth is that the NYC Parks Department DOES allow snowboarding in NYC Parks. Remember the Red Bull Snowscrapers exhibition that we highlighted here at this site? That was in an NYC park. Albeit NYC was paid handsomely to use their property by Red Bull. At the end of the day these parks belong to us. All of us. Especially those who can’t afford to drive into the Catskills to a resort or even hop the bus to Bear Mountain for that matter.
Support my friend Brian and his Hoods To Woods movement.
FREE THE PARKS, AND THE KIDS WILL FOLLOW.
BLKOPS-122009-loRes from jsjcreative on Vimeo.
DP stay exposing haters. This is a dope concept. I wish the man well in his endeavor.
Great shit, major kudos to Brian and as for the parks dept police… There might be ways to redress this fuckery– get this out to the ‘neighborhood’ blogs and press; it’s like when NYPD retards try to shut people down for photography in the subway, which is 1000% legal, or like when I was on Beaver Place in 212 taking pix and some MTA rent-a-cop (not even real transit police) started hassling me because 2 B’way was right there.
Oh okay, I see this is up on Brownstoner too, with unusually intelligent comments–
http://www.brownstoner.com/brownstoner/archives/2009/12/snowboarding_on.php
Keep shredding, B!
It’d be great to get Rockaway and other BK/Queens kids into the surfing scene out there too– maybe someone’s already on it?
The first 2:30 of this video made me smile, the rest pissed me the hell off. I’m not even in NY and I want to sign a petition. Hoods to Woods is a GREAT idea. Snowboarding terrifies me, but I want to be down for the cause.
Great Endeavour! Dont let the forces of evil stop u! Maybe we can get Puffy or one of them cats to join the cause! Find the Black Skii/Snowboard Clubs in your area through http://www.nbs.org & ask them to join your cause since most of the clubs have similar missions!
I wish you nothing but success!
Peace & Blessings
http://lala.com/zqRI
Hear it First!
Word life the hood is a trap. Flaming Hot Cheetos and Quarter Water is a meal, schools suck, kids getting beat up for no reason (c) Derrion, dads aint around. For a brother to take kids out of those environs and get them smelling the fresh air on a snowboard, and the for rental cops to shut that ish down, that shows that the establishment is trying to keep people trapped like rats. But why do the white kids get skate parks? Industry shady and need to be taken ova (c) the camel (no cigarettes). I hope this brother brings this concept to every hood. Except souf central – they don’t get no snow at all. West side stay losing (c) the game.
One time we were at branchbrook park in jersey…
twisted off of private stock… playing soccer with some central american dudes..
cop car came out of NOWHERE and the cops got out and started yelling at everybody…..
I know what time it is……I contacted parks dept., the area paper, the local precinct and asked what rule we were violating….
a year later…..big signs all over the park with the rules about which areas you can play soccer in and the procedure to get a permit….
fuckin hate cops……. even when you never break a law and follow the rules they find a way to fuck with you….
Lmfao at needing a permit to play soccer in a parkkk in amerikkka – yeah, I’m sure that rule applies to white kids! But bring out a jamaican and maybe a few mexicans – let alone some a-rabs – and all of the sudden it’s a violation. Racism still alive, they just be concealin’ it (c) yeezy.
Word is bond why do you think they call the hood housing “PROJECTS”.
I have a lot of homies over there on Utica Ave. Shouts to the Boys & Girls HS alumni.
In OR all it takes is 40 min. to go snowboarding, an hour to go to the beach, go home to the country, a half hour to go to the city.
Fukking WAAAAYYYY better than Marcy PJ’s.
If my $ was long like that I would propose a “Hood 2 Hood” jumpoff 2 fold. For the boarders, the best get to leave the hood and come over here to Mt. Hood, where the powder(no coke) is usually year ’round. For the streets, take 4 for 4 and switch the environment. Plenty of youngin’s over here are interested to see the PJ’s of NY.
I would try to get Zoo York to sponsor(Queens made). Their gear is large over here. And the food here is F. R. E. S. H. McD’s is meth-head food.
@ Slumbilical
Mt. Shasta, CA is a train ride away. And I’ve seen Su-woo’s there…
@slum & $yk
We went to the snow, about 2 years ago with some family members church. Imagine a charter bus full of Black folks pulling up a ski resort for the day. We got treated like we were famous. Sometimes, being the only Black folk is a good thing. Hell, I’m in my 30’s & that was my first time seeing snow.
God bless dudes efforts to expand horizons, because the worst imprisonment is the one in our minds. & unfortunately, we usually don’t have a lot of control over that one.
^^Oh yeah, the importance of that is that I live in “South Central”. Although, we don’t call it that, anymore. Too cliche. It’s just the ‘hood. Or, “south L.A.” when bad shit happens…
^^^ Grands I was the only Black in town @ Shasta! Well until I went to be bar and 2 Su-woo’s were present. 4 of the dudes I met there are actually coming to my house 2nite for my New Years “Chicken N Skrimp” shingdig.
Yes I have been preparing over 300 buffalo wings and different versions of shrimp for the festivities while commenting.
We HAVE to expand our horizons. We have stories to tell.
OK I’m ready to hit the shower and get my party on. I’m the DD so only food & water 2nite.
60 wings per flavor:
Blancaneaux(Francis Ford Coppola’s hot sauce)
Honey BBQ
Fried
Baked
Orange sauce
Skrimps broiled or fried
5 of everything gets bagged and taken to the bums in the streets. They gotta eat too.
My dudes in NY stay safe. I know how it goes out there. Especially them $100 parties with no one there…
All my other dudes LEAVE THE WHIP HOME. THEY ARE OUT IN FULL FORCE TONITE!!!
CHAMPAGNE WISHES AND BIG BOOTY B*TCHES
HAPPY MMX
Wow even in LA hoods the kids snowboard. That shit is amazing.
*sheds thug tears in heaven*
*is neither a thug, nor in heaven*
CHUCH.
At sycotic, the high rise housing projects in chicago actually were a project on some twisted sicko science project shit. Arguably the biggest failed experiment in the history of large cities. We will be feeling the after-effects for years to come.
Slumbeezie
You have to keep in mind, L.A., regardless of what the movies show, is hella diverse. We got confused Black kids, ghettocentric White boys, mexican niggas, heterosexual gays, homosexual straight dudes, gangs that claim beaches, skateboarders how can’t ollie & have never seen ‘Gleaming The Cube’, it even snows in Malibu on occasion.
Gang bangers taking a snow day-between drive by’s-isn’t really that unusual.
thats some nonsense about sleddings not illegal but snowboarding is. I might have just kept riding and said i was riding a “sled’ standing up or something. props to that guy though
I do agree with all the concepts you have introduced for your post. Th;21#8y&7ere very convincing and will certainly work. Nonetheless, the posts are too brief for beginners. Could you please extend them a bit from subsequent time? Thanks for the post.
Esau with the stoppage.