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PHILLY’S SKATE SHAWTY CREW
Rana Joukhai rolls up the rock to fakie. PHOTO: Marina Perez
Parisha Blount flips out at a private warehouse

Who is your crew for? 

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Our crew is for femme, non-binary, and beginner skaters in Philadelphia. We wanna be inclusive of everyone because that’s what we’re all about.  We mostly think of ourselves as a means for people in those groups to have a safe space to skate at any level, to be able to meet-up and make friends.

 

City or region: 

Philadelphia

 

What do you do?  

We primarily host meetups right now. We want everyone to not only feel safe when skating, but to also feel more comfortable so they can really enjoy it.  We think the best way for minority groups within skating to feel a sense of community is to create it with other people they can be comfortable around.

 

Where do you meet? 

Paines Park is the spot! It’s a great park for meet-ups.  It’s big, there’s room for all different levels of skating, and the vibes of the people who skate there regularly are always so good. We’ve done meet-ups at other places but that’s our fav for sure.

 

How did you start?  

We started when we all became friends. We were all skating together more and more, and a friend of a friend asked to shoot us for a mag they were a part of at Drexel. We did a small interview for the shoot and were like damn! — we’ve been blessed to find friends and to finally feel comfortable in a male dominated space. We could be doing this all while making it possible for other people like us. We just wanna have fun and bring everyone together.

 

Can you share a story or favorite moment from a meetup? 

We really just love meeting people, like, you get to talk to someone you’ve been DMing for a few weeks and then getting to meet them and hear how much they appreciate the space we’re holding for them is really just so awesome and what it’s all about. We’ve all just continued to make more friends and have more people to skate with and it’s a beautiful thing.

 

How can people get involved/support you? 

Being an ally to women, beginners, and minorities in the skate community is the biggest way to support us because that’s pretty much our only goal. Come out to our events, show love in person and through Instagram. To give us support is to give the ENTIRE skate community support. Spreading love, getting hyped for everyone’s victories. We have big dreams for stuff we wanna do within the Philly skate community.

 

Where can people find you online? 

Instagram for now! @skate.shawty  Check out some highlights from Shawty  meet-ups here

 

Anything else you want us to know? 

Shout out skate community in Philadelphia. Skating is intimidating when you’re starting and we’re out to make it enjoyable for everyone, and be there for those who may be nervous at first. The skate community in Philly is just love for the most part. We’ve gotten nothing but good vibes from people and it’s really all just thanks to everyone we surround ourselves with all the time. We love Philly!

The Skate Shawty Crew hangs out at the local.
Vidya Golla - no Paines no gains!!

This map was created to make it easier for non-trad skaters to find people to skate with and places to roll. every month Maya haptas shoots a few questions to one of the meet up crews featured. Let's skate y'all!