Go Skateboarding Day (GSD) is an annual promotional event organized by the International Association of Skateboard Companies (IASC). It grew from the All Star City Skate Jam held by Kerel "SriKala" Roach and Bryan Chin in 2002 in New York City, and was renamed Go Skate Day in 2004.
Go Skateboarding Day was created in 2004 by the International Association of Skateboard Companies (IASC) to help make skateboarding more accessible through events held in major cities around the world. In 2006, more than 350 events took place in 32 countries. The following year, the IASC received Special Congressional Recognition from US Congresswoman Loretta Sanchez for its work in promoting skateboarding and encouraging young people to get outside and practice the sport. [1]
Hundreds of people skated in Albany, New York. [2]
In the west country of the UK, Erik Ellington, Spencer Hamilton, Dee Ostrander and Lizard King joined Bristol locals such as Korahn Gayle, Josh Arnott, Paul Carter, and Dave Snaddon to celebrate Go Skateboarding Day in 2014. [3]
Thousands of skaters were present at Hollenbeck Skate Plaza, Louisiana. [4]
North Florida's Hemming Plaza hosts an annual Go Skate Day celebration. [5]
Nike sponsored a large Go Skateboarding Day event in Cologne, Germany. [6]
The charity organisation Skatistan has been celebrating Go Skateboarding Day in Afghanistan since 2009. In 2014, their events also spread to Cambodia and South Africa. More than 150 students and their families and friends joined street parades in Kabul and over 200 attended celebrations in Mazar-e-Sharif. [7]
Vans holds an annual celebration of Go Skate Day in Singapore. In 2014, hundreds of skaters went to Sommerset Skate Park for the event. [8]
Hundreds of skateboarders joined in to celebrate Go Skateboarding Day in Lima, Peru. [9]
Some skaters celebrating Go Skateboarding Day have had conflicts with the law. One of the more notable incidents involved skaters Matt McCormack, Skylar Nalls, Robbie Brindley, Casey Canterbury and several other friends in Hot Springs, Arkansas, where they were involved in an incident with police. Baird and the involved skaters contend that the police used excessive force when they arrested them; the police maintain that the officer was enforcing a city ordinance. [10] The incident made headlines when a YouTube video of the arrest was uploaded, being viewed three million times, followed by intense internet debate over the incident. [11]
Skateboarding is an action sport that involves riding and performing tricks using a skateboard, as well as a recreational activity, an art form, an entertainment industry job, and a method of transportation. Originating in the United States, skateboarding has been shaped and influenced by many skateboarders throughout the years. A 2009 report found that the skateboarding market is worth an estimated $4.8 billion in annual revenue, with 11.08 million active skateboarders in the world. In 2016, it was announced that skateboarding would be represented at the 2020 Summer Olympics in Tokyo, for both male and female teams.
Anthony Frank Hawk, nicknamed Birdman, is an American professional skateboarder, entrepreneur and the owner of the skateboard company Birdhouse. A pioneer of modern vertical skateboarding, Hawk completed the first documented "900" skateboarding trick in 1999. He also licensed a skateboarding video game series named after him, published by Activision that same year. Hawk retired from competing professionally in 2003 and is regarded as one of the most influential skateboarders of all time.
Brandon Cole "Bam" Margera is an American former professional skateboarder, stunt performer, television personality, and filmmaker. He rose to prominence in the early 2000s as one of the stars of the MTV reality stunt show Jackass and subsequent sequels. He also created the Jackass spin-off shows Viva La Bam, Bam's Unholy Union, Bam's World Domination, and Bam's Bad Ass Game Show, and co-wrote and directed the films Haggard and Minghags.
Tompkins Square Park is a 10.5-acre (4.2 ha) public park in the Alphabet City portion of East Village, Manhattan, New York City. The square-shaped park, bounded on the north by East 10th Street, on the east by Avenue B, on the south by East 7th Street, and on the west by Avenue A, is abutted by St. Marks Place to the west. The park opened in 1834 and is named for Daniel D. Tompkins, Vice President of the United States.
The Seattle Mardi Gras riot occurred on February 27, 2001, when disturbances broke out in the Pioneer Square neighborhood during Mardi Gras celebrations in Seattle, Washington. There were numerous random attacks on revelers over a period of about three and a half hours. There were reports of widespread brawling, vandalism, and weapons being brandished. Damage to local businesses exceeded $100,000. About 70 people were reported injured. Several women were sexually assaulted. One man, Kris Kime, died of injuries sustained during an attempt to assist a woman being brutalized.
Freedom Plaza, originally known as Western Plaza, is an open plaza in Northwest Washington, D.C., United States, located near 14th Street and Pennsylvania Avenue NW, adjacent to Pershing Park. The plaza features an inlay that partially depicts Pierre (Peter) Charles L'Enfant's plan for the City of Washington. The National Park Service administers the Plaza as part of its Pennsylvania Avenue National Historic Site and coordinates the Plaza's activities.
The Miami Beach Police Department is the police department of the U.S. city of Miami Beach, Florida, patrolling the entire Miami Beach area, although they sometimes cooperate with the county-wide Miami-Dade Police Department.
Nyjah Imani Huston is an American professional skateboarder. With numerous sponsorships and competition prize winnings, Huston is one of the highest paid skateboarders in the world. Huston won gold medals at the SLS Super Crown World Championship in 2014, 2017 to 2019, and has won 12 gold medals at the X Games since 2011.
Stevie Williams is a professional skateboarder who was included in the twenty-seventh position of the "30 Most Influential Skaters of All Time" list that was compiled by Transworld Skateboarding in late 2011.
Jason Jessee is an American professional skateboarder and automotive designer best known for his stint with Santa Cruz Skateboards in the late 1980s. He was identified as the 24th most influential skateboarder of all time by TransWorld SKATEboarding magazine in 2011. The feature documentary Pray for Me: The Jason Jessee Film was released in 2007.
There have been many conflicts during Critical Mass events since the founding of the worldwide bicycling advocacy event in 1992. The conflicts have resulted in injuries, property damage, and arrests, and both bicyclists and motorized vehicle drivers have been victims. Critics say that Critical Mass, held primarily in large metropolitan cities, is a deliberate attempt to obstruct automotive traffic and disrupt normal city functions, when individuals taking part refuse to obey traffic laws, while participants variously consider it a celebration of cycling, of cyclists' rights, and a practical re-imagining of urban space.
Occupy Oakland refers to a collaboration and series of demonstrations in Oakland, California, that started in October 2011. As part of the Occupy movement, protestors have staged occupations, most notably at Frank H. Ogawa Plaza in front of Oakland City Hall.
Street League Skateboarding (SLS) is an international skateboarding tournament series. The league features professional street skateboarders competing for the largest monetary prize in the history of skateboarding, and was founded by professional skateboarder and entrepreneur Rob Dyrdek.
The Broadway Bomb is a longboarding race held every year along the length of Broadway in Manhattan. The event was founded in October 2002 by Ian Nichols and Fred Mahe with an initial set of sixteen competitors. After growing in size every year, by 2018 more than 7,900 riders competed.
The 2015 Texas pool party incident, also known as the "McKinney pool party", was a civil disturbance that occurred on June 5, 2015, at a pool party in McKinney, Texas, United States.
During the 2015–2016 celebrations of New Year's Eve in Germany, approximately 1,200 women were reported to have been sexually assaulted, especially in the city of Cologne. In many of the incidents, while these women were in public spaces, they were surrounded and assaulted by large groups of men. The Federal Criminal Police Office confirmed in July 2016 that 1,200 women had been sexually assaulted on that night.
"The Buszy", built in 2005, is a skatepark plaza in Milton Keynes, England. The skate area is covered almost entirely by the roof of the former Milton Keynes Central bus station.
The West Los Angeles Courthouse is a street skateboarding spot in Santa Monica, Los Angeles County, California. Once an illicit skate spot, this location became a public skatepark. Nike Skateboarding hosted a "Go Skateboarding Day" event in 2014 that led to a chain of events in which local skatepark advocates worked with the city to convert the space into a legal skate spot. Now, it exists as an aesthetically unique and historically rich skatepark, combining both the angular aesthetics of the courthouse's original design with a vibrant paint job that changes occasionally and a mural that also sees changes to mark contests or holidays in the skateboarding community.
George Floyd protests in New York City took place at several sites in each of the five New York City boroughs, starting on May 28, 2020, in reaction to the murder of George Floyd. Most of the protests were peaceful, while some sites experienced protester and/or police violence, including several high-profile incidents of excessive force. Looting became a parallel issue, especially in Manhattan. As a result, and amid the COVID-19 pandemic, the city was placed under curfew from June 1–7, the first curfew in the city since 1943. The protests catalyzed efforts at police reform, leading to the criminalization of chokeholds during arrests, the repeal of 50-a, and other legislation. Several murals and memorials were created around the city in George Floyd's honor, and demonstrations against racial violence and police brutality continued as part of the larger Black Lives Matter movement in New York City.