Prototype Issue
Superheroes at Inglewood’s Darby Skate Park
By Camille Garcia
(page 1 of 2)Skate boarding is one of the great rebel traditions of LA. Since the Dogtown-era of riot athletes, it has been a focus for countless young and driven misfits. Nowadays, it is finally being embraced in the 'hood.
“They call me Spider Man ’cause I can jump really high,” says 17-year-old Perry Clark before popping his skateboard off a stair. The wheels barely clip the edge and a quick pulse of panic reads on Clark’s face, but he catches his balance and skates off, grinning at his competitor.
The game is called “Skate,” and at Darby Skate Park in Inglewood, it’s the game Clark has in the bag.
Clark and his opponent, 20-year-old Dionte Gore, play rock-paper-scissors to decide the first skater. Each skater performs a trick which the other then has to duplicate. One of Clark’s first tricks is to jump on his skateboard over a standing bicycle. Gore shoots Clark a look of disbelief.
“I ain’t feelin’ like that today,” says Gore, both shocked and impressed by Spider Man’s stunt. Skateboarding has arrived with a vengeance in the black youth culture.
Out on the ramps, Clark is a standout. When he arrives at the park, several other teens greet and address him only by his pseudonym.
While most teenagers loiter around school campuses or head home to dutifully hit the books, Clark heads straight to his skateboarding haven: a concrete jungle of half-pikes, rails and midsized ramps where he has spent every day since he entered the scene a month ago.
“I come here because it’s fun. I don’t have to worry about anything else going on,” he says.
His cheery demeanor easily contradicts his self-described metal head style; a black hooded sweatshirt, black Dickies, a Raiders beanie and a tattoo of a skull engulfed by flames, which Clark got when he was 16. He’s quick to lay down the law of skate culture:
“One thing we really hate is when regular people don’t skate, but just listen to our music and wear our clothes. Skating is more than mainstream,” he says.
In fact, skate culture is taking a new form among teens in Inglewood, who are blending some elementsfrom “gang culture”—such as apparel—with the skateboarding style.
“It’s becoming a mixed genre,” says Tyree Davidson, 27, who has been skating “hard-core” for about two years. He comes to the skate park every day for a “release.”
“Over here, there are a lot of stereotypes about kids being in gang culture. I’m proud to be part of something that isn’t the norm,” says Davidson. “Out here, you embrace people for what they want to do, their talents.”
Clark, who is black, says other black teens teased him and accused him of trying to be white, but he’s quick to list several black pro skateboarders, like Philadelphia’s Stevie Williams, who has his own skateboarding team and a line of skateboarding shoes with Reebok.
“One thing we really hate is when regular people don’t skate, but just listen to our music and wear our clothes. Skating is more than mainstream.”
“Lots of black people skate; like Stevie Williams. They just don’t know. You just have to be good. There is no age limit or racist stuff,” says Clark.
He used to come here with neighborhood friends, but a lot of them fell into gangbanging or drugs.
“I don’t smoke, because it messes up my skateboarding,” says Clark. His No. 1 goal is to be a professional skateboarder.
The skate area is a recent addition to Darby Park. Situated on a hilltop a quarter of a mile from downtown Inglewood, the park was established in March by city recreation head Jimmy Gough.
“There were lots of skaters skating on City Hall’s stairs,” says Gough. “We saw the need for a place for these kids to go.”
The city wants to make Inglewood’s youth population a top priority; Gough says he wants to help local youth explore their interests.
“These different venues really make a difference in our community,” says Mario Smith, senior supervisor of recreational services for Inglewood.
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