6 year of Butter Roll
A think piece by Roller Skater & founder of Orbit Collective, Saige B.
Also, a recent Butter Roll Skate Shop investor. #ClubButterRoll
Happy 6th B-Day Butter Roll: A full-circle moment.
Let's reminisce for a second.
September 5, 2020- The day an intentional Butter Roll Skate/Dance/Vibe Pop-Up in Bushwick went down, just a block from BR Founder, Amz's childhood home. With the neighborhood being heavily gentrified over the years, this Pop-Up intended to serve as a reminder that Black and POC culture was still alive and well. A reminder that we’re still here amidst the hell that's been the COVID-19 Pandemic. With the success of BR’s Last Thursdays series at LeFrak Center at Lakeside in Prospect Park, SPR/SUM 2019, we were are all itching for its return in 2020. The anticipation was THIQUE but we quickly realized it just wasn’t happening this year… until it… kinda did.
The quarantine had what seems like 99% of the population turn to rollerskating as an outlet to combat the anxiety of being cooped up indoors. Rollerskating swept the internet, and in turn the nation, as a safe ( I use the term ’safe' loosely and mostly referring to social distancing safety) and fun physical activity you could do alone inside your home. Or, outdoors if you were lucky enough to have access to wide open spaces like a garage, parking lot, or EMPTY basketball and tennis courts to practice. Needless to say the pandemic brought forth a new generation of skaters, mostly self-taught or receiving virtual guidance via Zoom from the folks at Skaterobics.
The months leading up to this moment had been trying, filled with grief and significant unforeseeable life changes. Many of us lost loved ones or knew folks who did. Those of us who didn't, held our loved ones a bit tighter as a result. This pandemic put a ton of things in perspective and forced us to reevaluate what truly mattered in life-- finding what brings you joy and fills your heart space so that you can help fill the cups of those who are still figuring it out or are unable to for whatever reason.
With all their shiny new moves, skaters were ready to come together to move and groove collectively. To connect. To release. To celebrate the joys in their lives, both small and large.
*Cue the Skate/Dance/Vibe Pop-Up* A Summer wrap-up, or more like a farewell to the "Summer" that never happened.
We were finally OUTSIIIDDDEEE! It felt surreal, almost overwhelming, but in the best way. The juxtaposition of finally seeing so many of the familiar faces that I missed all these months alongside meeting a bunch of new folks for the first time IRL was so delightful. I had only previously seen them via a phone screen on Instagram, documenting their rollerskate journeys so to see them in the flesh was like a dream come true.
For me personally, this Butter Roll Skate/Dance/Vibe Pop-Up was the first time in 6 months that I had felt inspired or safe enough to put my skates back on and be amongst my skate community again. And, I haven't taken them off since.
May 15, 2021- Happy 6th B-Day Butter Roll + Congratulations!
We gathered back at the same schoolyard park, P.S. /I.S. 384 Frances E. Carter, to celebrate BR’s 6th Birthday and a successful community capital campaign for the upcoming Butter Roll Skate Shop/Boutique/ThirdSpace. You could hear the sounds of music BUMPIN almost as soon as you stepped out of the Wilson Avenue train station. I let my ears lead me back to the park that resurrected my skate journey, no Google Maps necessary. Familiar faces started to trickle in shortly after I had my skates on and it was nothing but warm greetings and (masked) hugs. Many of those new skaters from the last Pop-Up were now good friends of mine. We've since skated together on several occasions during The Orbit Collective's RVLVRs, or linkups. We've learned so much from one another, always encouraging each other to keep going and keep trying new moves. A few short months ago, they were just getting their bearings struggling to pivot from front to back and now they're onto toe spins and one foot tricks.
For a lot of skaters, the 2020 Skate/Dance/Vibe was their first real skate event. They were shy and nervous to perform the moves they've been drilling in private in front of everybody, for the world to see. This time around they were the ones welcoming newer skaters with a smile and encouragement and showing off for the cameras. A full-circle moment, indeed.
To witness so many of my friends' skate journeys unfold, and so many more that are just now beginning really fills up my cup. I love to see it. So much so, that this time around, even though I had my skates on, I just sat back and soaked up the vibes. I allowed myself to be a spectator for once and I'm so glad I did. I was able to witness from a second hand perspective the unadulterated Black & POC J-O-Y that I'm usually too busy exuding on skates. I'm talking full belly laughs and squeals of F-U-N. Waists were wining up to di chunes dem, booties were twerking and smiles were turned up from ear to ear, all while skates were rollin. At one point, I specifically remember making a comment aloud about how there were nothing but womxn and femme-presenting folks on the skate floor and how sweet that was. I don't doubt that a space without cis-heterosexual men, if even for just an hour, contributed to that tangible freedom of expression. These skaters felt free enough to show up fully in their bodies with no concerns of being sexualized by the male gaze or touched inappropriately, without consent. They came to skate and do hoodrat shit with their frands and that's what they did, chile. That divine feminine energy was just *chef's kiss*.
Exclusively Black & POC skate spaces for Queers, Gender Non-Conforming, Trans folks + Womxn is exactly the type of intentional skate spaces The Orbit Collective aims to create. It's candid moments like these at Butter Roll events that serve as a possibility model of what that could look like on a larger scale. The Orbit Collective currently host RVLVRs, or meetups, that vary from dance skating at parks to street skating through the city and some skate park sessions all on rollerskates. We took a break last year with pandemic but there's more to come this Spring/Summer 2021.
As with most Butter Roll events, the music is a mixed bag of goodies and varied from Classic Soul, R&B, and House bops to Reggaeton, Bachata, Merengue, Salsa, and PALO. Yes, Palo, an Afro-Dominican drum-heavy spiritual genre of music played during ceremonies to summon our ancestors to dance with us. And babyyy, I swear to you the ancestors came out to play. Every single body was in motion giving it all they had. I'm almost positive some generational curses were lifted that day. It was everything I didn't know I needed but fully deserved. I never would've dreamt of a reality where I would be on skates gyrating to Palo a to' lo que da (top speed) joined by fellow skaters who may not have totally understood the lyrics but absolutely caught a spiritual vibe and rode the wave. Part of the beauty of the African diaspora is knowing what's up without really having to say much. Something about those drums tap in to a frequency beyond this earthly plane.
As an afro-latinx, my full self felt seen that day. Butter Roll made that happen. I exist in a few interesting intersections: racially Black and culturally Latinx, Queer, Non-binary Femme. It's refreshing to have a space where I can tap in to my multiple identities in one place and feel embraced. It's no secret that Black Skate culture runs deep and traditionally skate music revolves around Funk, Disco, House, R&B etc. Butter Roll challenges that with love and proposes the question, "Why not skate to Dembow?" I will say there was something very unique about perreando sola on skates.
I'm a firm believer in abundance. As the saying goes, "Different strokes for different folks." That being said, multiple things can coexist under an umbrella and provide quality contributions to the culture without any one taking away from the others. I may be biased but at least on this side of the skate world I see womxn and femmes doing their thing, moving intentionally and creating meaningful skate + skate-related spaces. Amy "Amz" Collado sought to highlight, celebrate & center Black & Brown NYC culture. Creating a social enterprise focused on intentional & creative collaboration, innovation & wellness through rollerskating, the arts and social justice. She named it Butter Roll.
I wanted to see exclusively Black & POC queer, trans, gender non-conforming folks and womxn skate spaces so I, Saige B, founded The Orbit Collective. Ronnie sought to bring together an intergenerational collective of black skaters and has nurtured a wonderful community of womxn known as All That Melanin N Skates. Tanya Dean sought to demonstrate that anyone can become a skater with enough practice and guidance and is on a mission to create as many skaters as she can, both virtually and in person, through her Skaterobics Team.
Rochelle Pollard sought to connect skaters across the nation with info on upcoming skate parties, the whereabouts of your fave skate DJs and educate the history and on-going expansion of roller skating nationally so she founded the Sk8 Info Network. Jocelyn Marie Goode has a vision and a mission to document, preserve, educate and present the contributions African-Americans have made, and continue to make, to the sport by creating African-American Rollerskate Museum. As well as recently created the 1st Annual NYC Roller Skate Week in partnership with Showfields and sponsored by Butter Roll, Moonlight Roller & Momentum Advisors March 2021.
Let us all serve as possibility models. Something tells me this is just the tip of the plethora of possibilities that skate life and skate culture can offer. Skating itself offers so much to people: therapy, exercise, meditation, safe-space, community, fun etc. If it finds you, embrace it. And welcome to the club. Whatever your reason for skating, I'm glad to share this space with you and look forward to plenty more moments together. Our skate community is expanding in so many different directions beyond just skating. And I'm here for all of it. Stay tuned for the journey, ya'll.
And remember #PracticeMakesProgress
Saige aka Yung Moonlight