Africans Are Taking Surfing Back
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Loading... - Kumi Mintah
- 09 Aug 2022
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For so long, Black and African communities have been made to believe that the water was our enemy, often citing the traumatic history of African slaves drowning at sea during the Atlantic Slave Trade. But, what certain people with certain agendas failed to add was the fact that the slaves had such a powerful understanding of the ocean that slave owners began to torture them into fearing the thought of it.
The sight of canoes and surf canoes along West Africa’s coastlines give evidence of the innovative ways coastal communities broke through their harsh waters to fish, communicate and trade.
Today we associate surfing with beach-sand-colored hair; long white limbs combing through the water; and thick, tattooed bodies standing tall above the waves. But, before Brad was “rad” and learned how to hang loose while on holiday in Maui, African surfers were crashing through waves. There is a long history of African surfers that can be traced to as early as 1640.
And now African American surfers are educating and empowering themselves as they step further into their own identities and self-expression.
One person is Ethiopian-American award-winning creative director and surfer David Mesfin. After being adopted by an American family, Mesfin found his solace and future in the reflection of the Florida waters. His learning of the thousand-year-old connection he has to the sport inspired him to create a documentary detailing the history and present-day existence of Black surfers. Read More...
