Roller-skating, an old-school refuge for Black Americans, is getting a revival

By Maya Eaglin and Nicolle Majette, NBC News

Roller-skating is part of the fabric of what it means to be a Black American. One man works to make sure the pastime endures for another generation

The mastermind behind The Roller Wave, a traveling roller disco pop-up, is trying to revive an activity that was once a cornerstone of leisure and kinship in Black communities across the U.S. 

Harry Martin, its 33-year-old founder, describes roller disco as “a party on wheels.” His latest project, The Roller Wave House BK, is a long-term installation set up in Brooklyn, New York, that pays homage to “old-school” roller-skating rinks with modern amenities, like a live podcast space and art installations.

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“Growing up in the late ’90s, early 2000s, Brooklyn was notorious for violence. So going to the roller-skating rink, like even just going there, you had to protect yourself in the streets,” Martin said. 

The violence was one reason several rinks closed their doors for good in New York City. Not long before Empire closed in 2007, Skate Key shut down in 2006 amid allegations that it was responsible for the increase in violence. Another popular destination in New York City’s West Village, The Roxy, closed the following year, leaving Martin and many other skaters with limited indoor options.  

Read about Martin’s efforts to change that.

Black skaters suffered from segregation before and after the Jim Crow era.

More Black culture articles here.

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