A reminder that this city has an undercurrent that will not be deadened.
Get ‘em Idris.
-s.
Kaplow.
This video is…
1. …exactly why I do what I do.
Why I can never turn my back on this country. Why I fight to leave but only to come running back with more ideas, and renewed commitment to letting our voices be heard and setting our heartbeats loose. Heartbeats, with melodies laced on top of them, lyrics lingering only long enough for us to say “yes…this”. Heartbeats, interrupted by breath held, skateboard wheels grating against metal, the exhilaration, the anticipation…the air.
2. …a glimpse at what is in the hearts and minds of our youth.
Parents need not be afraid in this country. Children stay close enough to home to kiss their parents on the cheek more than once a week. Families still pray together. But this generation…their imaginations and passion run free, and they know the world is not a world of confinement, but one of abundance. They know that for as much as there is war, the capacity that love has to overcome it exists. They have seen excellence - if not in real life, then from someone else’s…online. Access has given them an opportunity to recognize what they do and do not want. This has made all the difference.
3. …a collaboration of talent.
And the spirit of collaboration, of sharing, of building, and uplifting - this is the spirit that the people in this video have lent me. So to Gef - and his commitment to empowering his peers by communicating messages with his video camera and outofscratch.com, to June - and her choice to stay true to her heart song, and to NixDamnP - and his courage for fighting for what nobody else sees or believes…
…you are the why, the what, and the how.
Manila, stand up.
-s.
Proudly Filipino — San Diego, California
Aldrin Garcia breaks the world record for highest ollie, beating out Danny Wainwright and Luis Tolentino ( tied at 44.5 inches), with a 45 inch pop.
Video by Garrett Taylor
via http://skateboarding.transworld.net
