Racism, Surfing, and Finding Unity

Racism, Surfing, and Finding Unity

Humanitarian

Racism, Surfing, and Finding Unity

Last week we were angry, confused, and full of sadness…but found a way to get up, a way to stand up. We turned that crazy mix of  emotions  into action – organizing a peaceful Paddle Out for Unity in our small community of Encinitas, CA –  with our friends at Changing Tides Foundation, Textured Waves, and Sal Masekela. The turnout was tremendously humbling, with thousands of surfers and non-surfers coming together for a peaceful protest and memorial to honor George Floyd and other black lives lost to a culture of systemic racism and classism. People rallied to demand change.

Sal Masekela, Danielle Black Lyons, and Justin Wilkenfeld, along with Becky Mendoza, addressed the crowd and together we shared 8 minutes and 46 seconds of silence to honor a life lost unnecessarily to police brutality.

The energy was powerful – hope was in the air. People seemed motivated to participate in making change real; for the long haul.

 

U-N-I-T-Y  (Words by Kindhumans Co-founder Justin Wilkenfeld.)

We, the people, want…UNITY.

And our country back. We want to save black lives. We want to live in a place that values all life. Separates good from evil based on merit, not the color of your skin. But this goes so deep into America’s psyche. It’s in all of us. Conditioned.

WE CAN ALL BE BETTER THAN THIS.

Much love to my fellow humans.

Much love to those that believe in equality and justice.

Much love for the compassionate ones.

Always love for humanity even with all our flaws. We need to care more about others!

Let’s deal with our nation’s baggage. Air out the dirty laundry and honor THE DREAM.

Let’s dare to DREAM again of something ideal, something special. And let’s make this into that…the special thing that America and humanity is supposed to be…kind and free. Freedom isn’t just for you or me, it’s for everyone. We have to remember that. Everything else is just a lie or an excuse.

This is especially true for the people we will never meet.

Let’s do better for the kids you’ll never meet. They’ll thank YOU for it even if you never hear them speak the words. We will all thank you from the bottom of our hearts. If we can start with helping all the kids present and future we will be off to a great start. Try understanding what products still use child labor and slavery. Learn about wage slavery and what that means. Learn to ask questions about our SHARED REALITY. Our choices make an impact even if we never met the person impacted by those choices. Imagine how you feel when things affect you, things that someone else made happen TO YOU, not WITH YOU. We are supposed to do this TOGETHER. We are supposed to be UNITED.

Ask yourself “What can I, myself, do to help make the world a better place?” I can tell you this – it starts at home. It starts with YOU. It starts with ME. This is our shared responsibility as citizens and as decent human beings.

This is going to take a lot of work to truly come together to make this amazing land of opportunity and justice the same for all, not just the rich. Let’s learn to share better.

Let’s care about our whole society. Together.

United WE Stand ✊🏾

What can you do? We have pulled together a resource guide for ‘Equality and Becoming an Ally.’ 

 

 

Video credits:

Words by: @salmasekela

Organized by: @changingtidesfoundation, @texturedwaves, @salty.sol, @kindhumans_movement, @salmasekela

Film and edit: @thecigarettesurfboard

Additional footage: @downcomfort, @kindhumans_movement, @oltjp, @brakovision

Music: @getawaydogs

Photography credits:

@donaldmiralle, @serenalutton, @jianca_lazarus

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