Paddle outs for Black Lives (Part 1, Global)

Paddle out in Hawai’i // Photo by @YoshiTanaka1

Words from professional Surfer, Nique Miller

“I believe the paddle outs we had here in Hawaii (3 so far) have impacted the surf community here in a really positive way. It has shined a light on racism—the deaths and unfair treatment of so many black people. We not only talked about this in the paddle out, but we also shared a moment of silence for 9 min, the same amount of time that George Floyd had suffered. This is really huge because for the first time we are celebrating and talking about black lives in the surf community. I think as well many people have now realized even within the surf community we need to really start diversifying and having much more inclusion of people of color within surf culture.”

Interview with Rhonda Harper, global paddle out organizer and Founder of Black Girls Surf

Rhonda Harper, Founder of Black Girls Surf, organized paddle outs worldwide with the help and facilitation of local communities getting involved. We asked her to share more about her experience and journey with organizing. Please see the second Sea Together stories feature “Paddle outs for Solidarity in Surf - Australians…” to see other paddle outs organized through Black Girls Surf.

How were you inspired to organize the paddle outs and what are some considerations and care you took into play for thinking about how you wanted the paddle outs to be?

The very first paddle out I was involved in was with the California mermaid photography group. I was tagged into a participation to go out with them to paddle out. Being an African American woman, I wanted to know who it was, what the intent was, and know the details before I share the flyer. I know sometimes people do vanity projects and I am skeptical on non-black people holding events supporting black lives matter. I talked with the organizer, Anthony. I told him the history of tower 20 and it added a layer. After I was okay and decided to support with my team, I told him to let me know and we shared it on my platform, Black Girls Surf.

Once you get that momentum, and you feel that energy that you are doing something right. I am here in Senegal. I was getting energy and momentum in my inbox. It showed a solitary that I had not seen before. So I said, let’s keep this moving and do a world wide paddle out.

I contacted my nonprofit friends, the ones that mold and shape the next generation, to see if it was okay. I was seeing if we could get enough people to influence the future generations. I asked Jessi Miley Dyer, City Surf Project, as many people as I knew. I thought maybe there would be 4 at the most to participate. But when we initially put up the flyer with the 5 original locations, people immediately said, “Can we? can we? can we? i’m over here in this country, can we move there”. And I said, yes we can.

Have you heard any impactful stories of how people have responded to the paddle outs?

The first story that I want to share occurred a month ago—a girl emailed me and she wanted to join Black Girls Surf and she had a surfboard, but it was beat up. She wanted me to help her to get donations. I said yeah, let me get some of my people. One of my Facebook friends, John O'Conner, offered to give her a brand new surfboard. She lives in Florida and couldn’t get a group of people to paddle out with her. She decided to paddle out by herself. It was beautiful.

A man named Shawn said he missed the Rhode Island one, but he had gone out that morning to paddle out for George, Breonna, Iman, and Andrew. He sent me a graphic with a board and a black fist and a white fist. At the same time, I was seeing these people talking about sizes of a protest, and claiming that their protest is bigger than someone else's. I was horrified and disgusted at the same time. Because it only takes one person. The ugliness going on in the world right now can all be a little bit easier if we join in solidarity. Solidarity in surf needs to happen.

How is this a pivotal time? How can we respond to this time? How have the paddle outs impacted your vision?

BGS was started out of the inequity in surfing. My vision was to unite the surf industry.

Everyone saw George died. Everyone saw that. We can all agree that was wrong. Take this moment. Celebrate his life. Breonna Taylor. Andrew Washington. If you can get behind those, you can get behind anything in the world. Did I expect a turnout? not quite. This is a time we need to all unite and hold hands. The superficial things should come last.

I’ve been in civil rights my whole life. My parents were both prison reform. My mother was one of the first black investigators; she was president of an organization for business and professional women. I've learned from them to be cautious of what happens next. After this paddle out, what are we going to do? Are we going to stop moving? Stop Talking? People reach out to me still and ask me if they can do more paddle outs. I say, of course. It needs to keep being stated.

The real work comes from panels and discussions. There is racial bias and need for it to change. And not just have fluff pieces like one black person a year and you think you accomplished something. No. Surfer Magazine hasn’t called me. Stab magazine hasn’t called me. This is a huge thing.

The story has grasped people in a way that no other story has grabbed people’s attention. We all have to be aware and empathic to it and want it to change. If you attended this paddle out, your agreement is that you are going to make a change. You are going to stand by when we need it. You are going to do things to change the world the way it is.

How do you take care of your mental health as an organizer?

I got on a boat early yesterday morning. The seas are always rough. I hadn’t gotten to see Senegal cause I’ve been constantly working. So I said I need to get on the water and decompress. So I knew getting on the boat was the best thing for me. I’m driving and my friend is getting sick. I’m worried about my friend. There was an overwhelming feeling of pressure on my chest. So I reached down over the side of the boat so I just could touch the water and be grounded. We sped fast like Miami Vice to get her back to shore. I felt every bump on that boat ride. The water, the splashes. I felt better. I felt calmer.

I say for every organizer, there’s a lot of stress that goes into it. You wanna make sure you get it right and say the right things. I know when you haven’t had enough sleep you say things you don’t wanna say and do things you don’t wanna do cause you're just exhausted. But take some time out. At the height of this, I was so stressed out and one of my friends was on IG and doing a two minute breathing session. I took two minutes out of my time to do that with her. People don’t ask you, how are you doing? She did. And if I was going to be okay. I said, yes I am going to be okay. I’m in another country.

So when I say this was impactful. yes it was. But here’s the thing. It only takes one person. It doesn't take a bunch of people to organize. You don’t need a band to do a protest. You just do it. Hopefully you just go in the water and you pray or say your words. Or you give it up. However it is you need to be spiritual.

Get involved. Do something. Get some sleep. Drink a lot of water. Feel water, drink water. Water is everything for me. That's all you need to do. And you have to have hope.

communityBrianna OrtegaJune 13, 2020community, CommunityComment