![\"Skaters](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/1785253031_877_.jpeg\")
<\/p>\nUnder a sunny July sky at Liberty Station, about 50 people wobble, whirl and groove on roller skates to neo soul remixes.<\/p>\n
Stacie Watkins cheers them on, wearing a jersey that says \u201cBlack Skate SD.\u201d<\/p>\n
Watkins started roller-skating during the 2020 COVID pandemic.<\/p>\n
\u201cI was in a really toxic relationship, so I wanted to, you know, heal from childhood trauma. So one of the things I went back to was roller skating, because I used to do it as a young child,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n
Watkins wanted private lessons, but couldn\u2019t find a Black instructor. She said that was important for her because roller-skating culture is Black culture.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Skaters participate in free lessons at a Black Skate San Diego roll at Liberty Station on Tuesday, July 21, 2026.<\/p>\n
Roller skating rinks began dotting the American landscape during the middle of the 20th Century, and by the 1960s it was a cultural phenomenon. But Black people were often banned from the rinks. When they were allowed in, it was typically for Black-only \u201cRhythm Nights\u201d or \u201cSoul Nights.\u201d<\/p>\n
This racism forced them out of buildings and onto the streets, where they developed their own culture and styles of skating: \u201cNY\/NJ style\u201d with its house music influences, intricate footwork and figure-eight formations; the smooth slides and transitions of \u201cDetroit Style\u201d; the swagger and bounce of \u201cAtlanta Style\u201d; the competitive rhythms of \u201cCleveland Freestyle\u201d and \u201cJam Style,\u201d and \u201cJB style\u201d out of Chicago.<\/p>\n
\u201cYou can think about James Brown and how he moved, how he slided all over the floor, the jazz movements,\u201d Watkins explained.<\/p>\n
Roller-skating even played a part in the historic March on Washington in August 1963. A 27-year-old named Ledger Smith skated 700 miles from Chicago to the nation’s capital wearing a sash that read: \u201cFreedom.\u201d A contingent with the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People drove behind him with spare skates, protecting him through the 10-day journey.<\/p>\n
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/1785253032_184_.jpeg\")
<\/p>\n
Carrying a placard telling of his mission, Ledger Smith, 27, starts down Michigan Ave. in Chicago on a roller skating journey to Washington, D.C., Aug. 17, 1963. He hopes to skate the 685 miles to the capital by Aug. 27 to join the civil rights march there on Aug. 28. Smith was followed by an automobile carrying friends of the NAACP, and spare skates.<\/p>\n
Watkins wanted to continue this legacy, so she became the Black instructor she couldn\u2019t find. She started Black Skate San Diego in 2021 with just three skaters in Southeastern San Diego’s Lomita Park. <\/p>\n
She said they have faced pushback, especially to the name. One Facebook commenter asked: \u201cWhy isn\u2019t there a White Skate San Diego?\u201d Another person warned her if she kept the name, nobody would support her.<\/p>\n
\u201cBlack Skate San Diego can kind of offend a lot of people, because when you hear the word \u2018Black,\u2019 you think, \u2018Oh, OK. Like, we’re not invited. We can’t come,\u2019\u201d she said.<\/p>\n
Though Black skate culture was birthed from rejection from white spaces, this group isn\u2019t returning that discrimination. At Black Skate San Diego, the circling mass of skaters is a kaleidoscope of skin colors, ages and abilities.<\/p>\n
Access is part of their mission. They teach for free, and have spare gear on hand for anyone who can\u2019t afford it.<\/p>\n
The group flourished \u2014 the three skaters grew to about 50. They formed an LLC in 2025.<\/p>\n
Watkins\u2019 next goal is to invest in flooring for a pop-up skating rink.<\/p>\n
“So we can pull up in, you know, the inner city of Black people to pull up wherever we want to and just show people those moves, show people our culture,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n