Say what now? Qa'id's Lost Minutes

Snowboarding?

So … I’m a brother. Aaaaaaaand I snowboard. There might be one or two other things that I do that are kind of rare within brotherhood, but snowboarding definitely ranks highly up in that mix. It’s all very strange. Like most brown skinned folks I know, I hate the cold. I mean, I hate the cold. But honestly, I love snowboarding. What kind of weird science is this?

When I think deeply about it (= rarely) I am not sure whether my passion behind snowboarding stems from my dissatisfaction with the fact that there are so few black and brown people visible in the world of snow sports, or whether it’s all about the adrenaline I experience every other second while snowboarding. There’s something very satisfying about the shocked and surprised looks I get from people who on these snow covered mountains who may be thinking that I don’t belong. There’s something really exhilarating about coming over the crest on that snowboard, saving control and caution for the seldom occasions when I think I need it, protected from the icey wind by layer upon layer of scientific fabrics. But there’s also something extremely boring about being alone out there, no one looking like me.

Over the past couple of years I have seen more people of color on the mountains (and by mountains I mean big boulders that pass for mountains out here on the East Coast). However, when I say more, I’m talking about an increase of 2 out of 100. So before it used to be just me. Now it’s me and two other folks. Things gotta change.

NOTE: I have heard that there is a a crew of black snowboarders based out of East New York, Brooklyn – or maybe Brownsville. I’m on the lookout for ‘em.

UPDATE: Jan 02-2010
Black folks snowboarding in Brooklyn:

BLKOPS-122009-Snowboarding in Brooklyn from jsjcreative on Vimeo.