The Black Surfers Collective - A Movement in Inclusivity

[00:00:43] Kwame: Welcome to another episode of We Serve Podcast. I am your host, Kwame, and with me is, as always, is my dual host, Nigel Lewis. Nigel, how's it going? I'm good, Kwame. How are you? Welcome everyone. I am great. It [00:01:00] is starting to get warm, daylight, saving time, just kicked in. You and I were talking there, I think I called you like last weekend and right away you were like, are you okay?

[00:01:08] Kwame: I'm like, I'm great. What? What's happening? I could hear how happy you are right now 'cause it hit like 60 degrees or 65 degrees in New York. Yeah. Yeah. So, you know, I was so happy about that. But yeah, it's time to get good. It's time to get good. You can, you can tell we're both children of the sun. Yes, absolutely.

[00:01:23] Kwame: Hunt. Uh, so with us today is, you know, it's not often that you actually get to meet a hero, but I think that this gentleman that we have with us today, I classify him at least as a hero. Um, you know, with us today is Gregory Rochelle, the president and co-founder of the Black Surfers Collective. Gregory, welcome.

[00:01:45] Kwame: Thank you for joining us. Yeah, Greg. Thanks.

[00:01:48] Gregory Rachal: Thank you. Appreciate you guys having me.

[00:01:51] Kwame: Greg and I met for the first time two years ago at the Isto Conference in Puerto Rico. You know, his isto. Just [00:02:00] again, just bringing people together because I've met so many amazing people from this and, you know, Greg and I were one of the people I met Greg through there.

[00:02:07] Kwame: And you know, from that point on, you know, he and I have just always kept in contact and been just have like, you know, side conversations and, you know, it's, it's not a, every week we talk, but when we do talk, I think we have some pretty deep conversations and I. You know, you know, this is definitely a good platform and we want you to have, want to have you on the platform, especially for those of our listeners who are here on the, you know, specifically on the East coast, who may not be quite aware of just the great work that you and your, your organization is doing out there.

[00:02:34] Kwame: So, again, thank you for joining us. Um, thanks

[00:02:36] Gregory Rachal: for having me. I really appreciate it.

[00:02:38] Kwame: So if you can, let's, let's, let's just jump right into it, you know, can you. Can you share a little bit about your personal journey, not necessarily starting off with the, the BSC, but your personal journey of surfing. How did you get into surfing and, you know, at what point did you figure, Hey, I'm gonna spend x amount of years submerging myself in the [00:03:00] salty water of, of the west coast?

[00:03:01] Gregory Rachal: That's right. Well, uh, I got through into surfing through my skateboarding, which is, you know, in the seventies. Uh, I'm 63 years old, so I was. Running around in the beginning days of skateboarding, ramps, pools, skate parks back in the seventies and early eighties. And we came upon a lot of guys that were skaters that, uh, were surfers.

[00:03:22] Gregory Rachal: And, uh, me and a crew of brothers that I grew up with, we decided to, uh, jump in. So we started surfing probably 75, 76. Right around there. In those days, you could go to a shop and find a used wetsuit, a used surfboard, and, and that's what we did. Young guys just pushed ourselves into whitewater and figured out how to make it happen.

[00:03:46] Gregory Rachal: As we got older and guys started driving, we were able to, uh, drive ourselves around to different beaches, which was cool, you know? But in those days, I didn't really know of any other black surfers. To tell you the truth, it [00:04:00] was just me and my boys. It was about six or seven of us. As we got more cars, sometimes we'd have two cars.

[00:04:05] Gregory Rachal: The cats, sometimes we'd ride the bus or whatever we had to do to get down to the beach. I, I grew up in what, what would be called South Central la the Crenshaw District. So I'm a good five miles from the coast. Anything we had to do, we did to make sure we got there.

[00:04:20] Kwame: Right. Okay, so I'm gonna stop complaining when I have to walk half a block to get to the boardwalk because I'm like, oh, I don't wanna walk that far anymore.

[00:04:29] Kwame: I don't wanna do this. But five miles coming and just, and not even knowing how you're gonna get there. That's, that's pretty intense. No. So, and then, so what was the impetus then, taking it from that and then forming the Black Surface Collective?

[00:04:42] Gregory Rachal: Well, um, you know, I'll go back a little bit. Uh, I kind of got out of surfing when, in the mid eighties.

[00:04:49] Gregory Rachal: I, I kind of moved into more of an outdoor thing. I was doing a lot of climbing, backpacking, mountaineering, that kind of thing, and always had surfing in my mind. I would [00:05:00] probably go out maybe once or twice a year. I had had friends that had boards, wetsuits, that kind of thing. You never lose it, right? You always wanna be back in the water, but it wasn't my, uh, wasn't my main thing.

[00:05:11] Gregory Rachal: I was doing triathlons, I was doing all kinds of outdoor activities. And in the late eighties I got on the fire department. And um, when I did, I started to meet guys that were surfers. And so I got back in the water regularly in the, uh, late eighties, early nineties. And that's when I happened upon the black surfers, uh, association.

[00:05:32] Gregory Rachal: And uh, that's where I met most of the brothers that, uh, were operating in LA that were, were surfers. And I didn't really. Wasn't familiar with them, but I got to know them and we started doing things together. We started, uh, going on camping trips and surf meetups and that kind of thing, which was, it was great, you know, just having that connection with cats in the water.

[00:05:56] Gregory Rachal: I had never really been in the water since I was a teenager [00:06:00]with that many brothers and sisters that were in the water. And it was just, uh, an amazing time. And what happened was we. Through, um, uh, Deon Kaath, who was one of the founding members of Black Surfers Collective and a past president of the Black Surfing Association.

[00:06:17] Gregory Rachal: He was doing work in the community at, uh, beach gatherings. He would bring out his own boards and teach people to surf and encourage him to get in the water. Um, he asked us to come down and help out, and we started to do that. You know, you just, you start to see the need and you start to see the, the promise of just putting more and more people in the water.

[00:06:38] Gregory Rachal: And that was really the start of what we, what became the Black Circus collective.

[00:06:44] Kwame: Nice.

[00:06:47] Nigel: Yeah, no, I, I appreciate hearing the story. I think unlike Kwame, I'm not as familiar with the, uh, with the association, with the collective, I'm sorry. But I, I love hearing the [00:07:00]similarities, I guess, to some things that, that, that's happening on, on the east coast.

[00:07:03] Nigel: Um, I'm from the Caribbean, so it's a little bit different of a, of a entry to surfing for me. Uh, but it, I'm, I'm always amazed, and I actually had a question that was kind of a little bit different, but what did that feel like for you being in the water with, um. Like going in as a group. And I know skating is a lot like that.

[00:07:21] Nigel: Like, like normally you skate with your crew and, and, and you go hit up spots and you kind of plan a day around gonna the park or a spot or something like that. But I must think it must felt pretty interesting. 'cause I, I've, I've surfed, uh, the West coast, I. A bit, and usually when I go with I'm by myself, you know, or, or with some other friends, uh, in the industry.

[00:07:40] Nigel: But what did that feel like going in the water when, like, what was the perception of you guys? Like what did that feel like? Walking in with like six or seven black men, you know, with surfboards jumping in the water.

[00:07:50] Kwame: Because even, like for me, like the times I've been on the east coast, on the west Coast, excuse me, um, there have been times like, unless we plan it.

[00:07:57] Kwame: Right. It's not a, I'm usually [00:08:00] the only one out there. I remember one time I was in, I, I went to Manhattan Beach and I walked into this store, Greg, and as I went and the guy looks at me, he goes, oh yeah, I remember you from what? He goes, dude, they're not that, they're not that many guys walking around Manhattan Beach with locks on a surfboard who look like you.

[00:08:18] Kwame: Trust me. I remember you. Okay. Yeah. So, yeah, so natural. That's a really good question.

[00:08:24] Nigel: And really for me it's, it is during that time. Right? Because, yeah, I think that, that, we all know that, that there was definitely a lot of just tensions going on, you know, in the early eighties and, you know, you know, between communities.

[00:08:34] Nigel: So, uh, I'm, I'm, I'm, I'm curious to learn a little bit more about that.

[00:08:38] Gregory Rachal: It was, you know, when I was a teenager it was, it could be contentious. You know, surfing can be pretty selfish in its own way, but we've all known the localism that happens and, you know, showing up with five or six brothers all at once, um, it gives you a little bit of comfort.

[00:08:54] Gregory Rachal: You know, when you're paddling out with five or or six of your friends, the lineup would kind of separate, you know, they didn't know what to [00:09:00] do with this, to tell you the truth, you know? Gotcha. Other than the cats that we skated with that knew us well. If we were skating, if we were surfing with the guys that we skated with at like Bay Street and Santa Monica, places like that, people knew us.

[00:09:12] Gregory Rachal: And so we were more than welcomed into the lineup because they felt like we had a kinship through our skating. But when we went other places, you know, up and down the coast, it was, uh, it could be pretty different. Uh, these were, you know, like you said, the the times were were different than they are today.

[00:09:27] Gregory Rachal: The numbers were very few. In those days, I think pretty much if I didn't come with a brother, I didn't see a brother in the water. And uh, so it was very much like what you've experienced, both of you, you know, being on the west coast, even today, um, I can say today because I'm in the water pretty regularly, that I see many more brothers and sisters, people of color, more women, more.

[00:09:50] Gregory Rachal: It's just a, a more diverse surf culture happening. But it's still incremental, right? It's not like. It's just, you know, everywhere. [00:10:00] It, it's just, it's remarkable, but it's, it's happening, but it's not at the numbers that we would wish it.

[00:10:07] Kwame: And, um, still sticking on the times when you had just started and you were going out with, with your, with your fellow brothers.

[00:10:12] Kwame: What, if anything, were you hearing from people from other people of color who were not surfers? I mean, I can imagine that you guys get out there and, or even as you're walking back, you know, they're probably looking at you like, what are you doing? You know? So if any, were you Yeah, I just looked at like, okay, nothing was said and they would just like raise an eyebrow or did you know, did you guys hear anything, you know, you know, share some stories.

[00:10:33] Gregory Rachal: You know, I could say that our surfing adventure was really a, uh, an expansion of our skating adventure, right? Mm. Uh, a couple brothers, five, six brothers riding the bus with big skateboards and backpacks and heading out to skate banks and pools and whatever we're doing. You know how it is in the community.

[00:10:50] Gregory Rachal: People are gonna look at you and say, oh, you wanna be white, you're doing this. We don't do that. It was the same thing, you know, riding, uh, walking around with surfboards, right? Uh, they're gonna say [00:11:00] that. What I found later on though, was that more of those people actually wanted to know what it was like.

[00:11:08] Gregory Rachal: When you're in a group situation, people want to. Ostracize you and be a part of the group, but if you get 'em on a one-on-one, they're more likely to ask you, uh, what's that like? I've always wanted to try it. How do I, you know, how do I get involved? You know, so many conversations like that have happened both from when I was younger to when I was back into surfing into the, and the early two thousands.

[00:11:37] Gregory Rachal: That, again, that's really the, the impetus for really getting out in the community and starting the Black Surfers Collective. We brought people together, we brought equipment to the beach. We really started to do that outreach that, um, brought. Underrepresented communities out to the beach and let 'em know that there's people like them in the water, and that will be there with you to support you and, and, uh, [00:12:00] in your adventure.

[00:12:00] Nigel: Yeah. Um, that, that's incredible to hear. So again, because I'm not as familiar with the collective as, as, as Kwame is, what, what, what do you guys do essentially? Is it just, just introducing people to the sport of surfing? Is it more involved with the collective? Tell me a little bit about it. It's, yeah.

[00:12:18] Gregory Rachal: Um.

[00:12:19] Gregory Rachal: What we started off doing was just doing, uh, surf lessons and what we've been a active for the last 12 years, 13 years. Uh, this is our 13th year. We've evolved into kind of a, a community active organization. We are providing free swim lessons. We are working with different environmental groups. We are, uh, partnering with different groups and bringing youth and families out to the beach and letting them share in the whole outdoor beach lifestyle.

[00:12:51] Gregory Rachal: Teaching them about the, uh, ecology of the coastline, creating stewards of the land. You know, so many of our people that grow up in [00:13:00] different communities are so far away from the coast or the outdoor lands or something that they've never really experienced that. It's important that. We bring them back and we support them in experiencing that to create a connection point.

[00:13:17] Gregory Rachal: Uh, doing that just just opens their mind and their, uh, their, their sense of adventure. If they stay in the water, that's great. If they wanna turn and maybe do backpacking, mountaineering, whatever, you know, go out on a mountain bike, uh, go skiing, go snowboarding. This is really what it's about. It's about sharing with our people the fun of the outdoors and letting 'em know it's there for them.

[00:13:39] Gregory Rachal: And we do that through surfing and, and the beach lifestyle.

[00:13:43] Kwame: Got it. Nice. So you guys also, uh, one thing that you see when you go to your website is, is very prevalent. Nick Gabbled on day. Ah, so I know you guys actually, so did you start that, not Nick Gabbled on day, but did you start, whether were you [00:14:00] the first ones to start doing, uh, surf lessons or bring trying to bring the community out on that day?

[00:14:04] Kwame: Or is this something that came out of something and can you give us a little bit of the history and. The present, the, the past, the present, and where you'd like, where you see it, like it going for the future.

[00:14:12] Gregory Rachal: We actually did start Nick Abbadon Day. Nice. That was part of the beginning of Black Surfs Collective, the Inkwell Beach, which was a historically black, uh, beach where they had it roped off four blacks to enjoy the beach.

[00:14:25] Gregory Rachal: At that time in Santa Monica, we had a plaque, uh, that is there at that beach and it's, uh. It's a monument to that, that history of Jim Crow, uh, in, in Los Angeles and in, in, uh, there are a number of beaches. You have 'em back there, I believe in Virginia and different places. But we had a couple here in la, the well being.

[00:14:46] Gregory Rachal: One of them. Nick was a historic, historic figure that grew up in Santa Monica and actually learned to surf at the, in well, and he, uh, he. Uh, learned to [00:15:00] surf in the late forties, early fifties, and died in the early fifties, uh, uh, surfing in Malibu. And when we found out about his history, it seemed like the perfect, uh, vehicle to, uh, present the Black Surfers Collective work with different organizations.

[00:15:19] Gregory Rachal: We partnered with, uh, heal the Bay, the city of Santa Monica, Kirk Bus Foundation. The Nature Conservancy, all these organizations came together to help us put this on. And, uh, it's been going on now for, uh, 12 years and, uh, I think this will be our 13th. And it's, it's, it celebrates Nick. We talk about Nick's history and which is our connection to the ocean, right?

[00:15:43] Gregory Rachal: He is one of the first, uh, documented his, uh, surfers of color in the Los Angeles area. And so we really got behind that and. Through these organizations and through the, the county of Los Angeles, we brought kids from and families from all [00:16:00] over, uh, underrepresented communities in LA and we've been doing it now for a lot of years.

[00:16:04] Gregory Rachal: We end up putting about 200 people in the water on that day. We'll have a paddle out and mix honor and honoring any other surfers or family members out of, out of, uh, passed on for the past year. And, uh, we provide lunch, we provide swag. We provide ecological, uh, schooling and a trip to the aquarium. So it's just a, an all over great day and, uh, it's been growing every year and we're just gonna keep it going as long as we possibly can.

[00:16:32] Kwame: And when, when is Nick Abdon Day Exactly?

[00:16:35] Gregory Rachal: It will be, uh, June. Ninth June, I believe this year. June 9th. Okay. Yeah.

[00:16:40] Kwame: So listeners and viewers, if you are out in la, if you're out in California and reach out and you are available June 9th, you know you're available on June 9th, you're available on June 9th, you know, um, get in contact and you know, I have, I have not been, but I've seen the pictures and I've seen the photos and the videos and on Instagram, and it definitely is something that it is [00:17:00] on my list at some point.

[00:17:01] Kwame: I definitely want to get out there just to be. Just to be part of it because the community and I can feel the community energy through Instagram, what it's like when you're actually there with your feet in the sand and smelling the salt water and talking to people about it. So yeah, if you are around, then definitely, I think it's something you should hit up.

[00:17:17] Nigel: Yeah. And um, actually it, it, I'm putting the six degrees of separation together now, and it's starting to come to me. So I worked for Nike for quite a few years in Nike action sports, and I, you know, they did that video 12 miles north about Nick Glin, and now the face comes together, uh, and I, I remember when we, we premiered it.

[00:17:36] Nigel: You're, you're in the video, correct? I am. Okay, yeah. Okay. Now it's all starting to kind of come together here, but yeah, I was. I did not know about Nick, uh, until I saw the movie, which again, you know, sometimes some things you're just politely left out in this country. But I was very impressed and super proud to be a surfer after hearing his story and seeing what he had to go [00:18:00] through just to do some of that.

[00:18:01] Nigel: He loved, you know, um, as simple as just surfing. Yeah. And, and, um, it, it really made me feel, I, I remember watching it and, and feeling like almost like. Carrying that on, you know? Mm-hmm. Like, like, like needing to make sure that other kids that look like me and, and, you know, women and men and, you know, understand that, that there's a history here and that we need to be proud of it.

[00:18:24] Nigel: So, yeah. I, I, I, I, it started come together to me now that I, yeah,

[00:18:28] Kwame: because this was this, I mean, yeah. Again, not to dwell too much on Nick, because I know we have to, but I think it, it is worth it that we, he. Paddle. The reason the documentary is 12 miles North is because he had to paddle for 12 miles roughly to get to MM, to get to Malibu, to surf.

[00:18:44] Kwame: And you know, people may think, oh yeah, it's just surfing. But to do that for the sport and the activity that you love, it's not just, oh, I'm just gonna do this. You actually had to jump in the water and paddle 12 miles in one direction, surf, and then turn around and then paddle back [00:19:00] in the other direction.

[00:19:01] Kwame: So that really shows a kind of love for this activity and this sport that we all love, and we know what it's like and why we do this. And I think that that right there just shows the world just how amazing surfing is and can be, which is why I think everyone should. Try surfing at least once or six times.

[00:19:20] Kwame: You know, not just, not just, oh yeah. You know, it is just for this group of people, you know. So, again, Greg, you know, kudos to getting, you know, people who don't have the, uh, who don't have the necessary facilities, just be able to jump in the water wide right away to be able to give that to them. So, again, thank you for that.

[00:19:39] Gregory Rachal: You know, it's, um, hearing Nick's story and as you said, Nick did the, uh, the documentary on him, a short story, short documentary on Nick. It really made me think about what the history of surfing is and what the history of surfing in Los Angeles is, and if Nick hadn't passed away so [00:20:00] young. What would our legacy be?

[00:20:02] Gregory Rachal: Mm-hmm. Right? He was there in the beginning of surfing in Los Angeles when people were just starting to use it as a, as as a sport. And he was right there at the beginning. And then you, you wonder if he hadn't have passed away, would there have been a presence? Would we had more of a presence in it? Maybe, maybe not.

[00:20:19] Gregory Rachal: You know? But the fact that he overcame Jim Crow, you know, laws and, and more social morals to do. What he loved to do and to be there with people. And you know, supposedly he was well respected and accepted in the surf lineup, you know, but look at everything he had to overcome to get there. And um, so it was just really a, a monumental thing.

[00:20:42] Gregory Rachal: I didn't know about Nick, but when I heard about it, it was like kind of a no brainer. Hey, let's do a, an event. Nick's honor, it is really, it's just great, you know, being able to tell his story. And then do a paddle out in his honor every year and then just bring so many young people together and put 'em in the water [00:21:00] and see the smiles on their faces.

[00:21:01] Gregory Rachal: It's, it's amazing.

[00:21:03] Kwame: Yeah, we may have to do one in Rockaway. Yeah.

[00:21:05] Nigel: Yeah. No, I actually think it, yeah. Yeah.

[00:21:08] Kwame: We, we, we might be hitting you off offline to try to see if you can get, get your template and do, do one in Rockaway. Yeah. Because I think that a lot of people out there would, um, would appreciate that, you know, it's, it's, you know, the scene in Rockaway with, it's, it's a relative, relatively newish surf area for people of color.

[00:21:28] Kwame: Yeah. So, mm-hmm. I think that, you know, I, it is something that we can all appreciate, you know, so the more we can get the community together, you know, it, it, it will definitely be on a positive thing.

[00:21:37] Nigel: How do you see, and, and this is more just collective questions, so, so I know you guys, uh, do a lot of work around la Is it your goal or vision that you, um, can have the collective have a bigger impact than ele?

[00:21:50] Nigel: How do you envision the collective, like developing over time?

[00:21:54] Gregory Rachal: I would say to continue to do what we're doing. But also continue to expand. And what [00:22:00] we'd like to do and what we're planning on doing is more continual surf lessons or, uh, you know, evolve surf lessons, not just a one day exposure. Maybe taking people from, uh, beginning surfers all the way through intermediate to mm-hmm.

[00:22:15] Gregory Rachal: A supported program. We're also trying to work in some surf therapy programs and, um, uh, and continue with our swim lesson. We also see that the collective is kind of a hub. There's a number of organizations throughout Southern Cal, both in the LA area, up north and down south, you know, San Francisco area, the Bay Area, and down into San Diego that we tend to partner with.

[00:22:39] Gregory Rachal: When we can, we see ourselves as kind of a hub. We will work with these groups, put on different events. We try to stay in communication. When they have events, we try to go down and support them or up to support them, and I also want to have a presence in creating a supported. Black surfing community. As far as competitive surfing, [00:23:00] we all know how difficult that is.

[00:23:02] Gregory Rachal: The people that are making it and surfing these days, there's coaching, there's equipment, there's all the things that are barriers to our community being in there. But I. What do we see? We see if, if we dedicate the time, we are quality surfers and can definitely compete on the highest levels. And it's just a matter of time before we start doing that.

[00:23:21] Gregory Rachal: And one of the things that I see in the future is, is kind of creating, again, a hub, a communication line to where we're supporting these up and coming surfers throughout, not just the west coast, but the, the whole United States. And maybe, you know, even in the Caribbean, you know, that we, we find out who they are and pull together our resources.

[00:23:41] Gregory Rachal: To support them to, uh, move forward. Um, and, and you know, so it's, it's kind of a two-prong task, right? Uh, recreational surfing is, is where my love is, but I also want to see my brothers and sisters move forward if, if it's in their drive to become a competitive surfer. I want to do my best to [00:24:00] support that.

[00:24:01] Kwame: It's interesting you say that. I think you are the fourth person in close to. 12 months or 14 months that I've spoken to about some competitive surfing. And one of the things that everyone says at the same time is, we have the people out there. It's just people don't realize just how much it costs to be a competitive surfer.

[00:24:22] Kwame: It's not just, oh yeah, you show up one day and you, you just not, it's, it's not like in the movie. You know, it's not North Shore. You don't just show up in Hawaii, you know, um, surf against Jerry Lopez and he goes, Hey, holy boy. And gives you a chaka. And you, you take off, you know, you have to pay for all these different contests.

[00:24:38] Kwame: You have to pay for your flights. You have to pay for your, your sponsors have to pay for these, for your food, your lodging, your boards, you know, um, contest cost money to actually enter. And you know, a lot of that, one of the conversations I was having with someone Ika Wilmot and hope, you know, he's planning to get him on the, on the show as well, was why you don't see many surfers from [00:25:00] other of surfers, black surfers and surfers of other of color from other countries in the Olympics.

[00:25:06] Kwame: Because we have the surfers, it's just they cannot afford to go off and, you know, take off months upon months to just qualify. For it because, you know, people have day jobs and people have families and, you know, they need to be able to, they need to be able to survive, but the talent is there. So, no, I, I, I agree.

[00:25:26] Kwame: Yeah.

[00:25:26] Nigel: Yeah. And, and I think you do see the countries that invest, and I'm thinking about Brazil particularly, I mean, they kind of invest in their surfers. Yeah. You know, and, and you see those guys are definitely on the stage and, and, and winning on the stage. Mm-hmm. Yeah. So I think that, that, that's. Pretty good direction, you know, to, to, to think about, you know, 'cause from Barbados there's amazing surfers in Barbados.

[00:25:48] Nigel: Mm-hmm. And you know, there's a couple of them that you see pop up here and there, but should be way more consistent than that for the amount of quality surfers that are there at a very high level competing. Yeah. Interesting. It is. Definitely. Yeah. [00:26:00]

[00:26:02] Gregory Rachal: It's, it's, you know, I'm, I'm out in the water two or three times a week.

[00:26:06] Gregory Rachal: Right. And sometimes I get there. At, let's say seven o'clock, I'm seeing young school aged kids leaving the water with their parents in the morning. They've already been there at Daybreak To put in their time Yeah. Before they'd even go to school. And that's the coaching, that's the, the, yeah. The training that has to take place.

[00:26:25] Gregory Rachal: Otherwise we're, we're behind the eight ball right from the beginning. These kids have been in the water since they were five, six years old, already making it happen. Right. And these are some of the things that if it's not, um. If it's not supported, it's not gonna happen. And then we we're, we, even though we have the talent, we, we might have that talent later on, they're looking for that 12, 13, 15-year-old kid, not the 20-year-old kid.

[00:26:50] Gregory Rachal: That, uh, young person that, that really surfs well because they know that. They're already behind the eight ball. And so you don't get that [00:27:00] sponsorship, you don't get the, uh, the coaching. Nobody's gonna give you a bunch of boards. You know, professional surfers go through a, a, a board every couple weeks, you know?

[00:27:08] Gregory Rachal: Right, right, right, right. Um, and sometimes the board a day, you know, depending on where they're surfing. Right. And that equipment, you know, a thousand dollars aboard really. And, and like you said, flight, travel and all of these things, but. These are the things that we, as the people need to talk about, just like we've done in other sports.

[00:27:26] Gregory Rachal: We need to figure out how to get behind these athletes. Yeah. And, uh, pool our resources and start to, uh, to really hold them up.

[00:27:34] Nigel: So as you were speaking, it actually kind of got me thinking about at the store. Mm-hmm. And the reason why I open station, you know, and, and wanted to see it kinda live is because.

[00:27:45] Nigel: I did see that that level of support just isn't there anymore. I mean, um, and it, it is probably not for a number of reasons, but part of the goal was to support, I'll say someone like ada. Mm-hmm. Like aal, if they were interested in becoming more serious, like really kind of saying, [00:28:00] Hey, you know what? I got this contest fee for you.

[00:28:02] Nigel: You know, um, uh, here's a board at a super discounted cost because sometimes, um. And I started thinking about this sometimes a lot deeper, um, in our communities. I mean, a lot of, unfortunately, a lot of the families are, are, are, are, are single parent families and mom can't afford to take that kid to the beach in the morning, right?

[00:28:20] Nigel: Because she's gotta get up, make, make dinner for one or two kids, I mean, breakfast for one or two kids, and then, um, you know, get ready herself for work. And so I think. I a hundred percent agree with you that we need, it would be nice to have something, whether it's on, you know, retail side or, or, or just, uh, some sort of organization that can, you know, maybe.

[00:28:39] Nigel: Pick that kid up in the morning, you know, make sure that they're in a safe space, that they can surf and then get 'em back home. And mom feels comfortable, or dad feels comfortable that that's someone that I trust and the kid's gonna go to school after. Like, you know, I swam competitively for a while and I mean, that was the thing, like you were up early.

[00:28:55] Nigel: Like there's no, no kind of after like you just get up, you go, you know, in [00:29:00]school. You do that and then after school you come back, you train again. So I think that's, that's something that would be amazing to see. Yeah. Um, as your collective develops, but just in our community, uh, surf communities in general.

[00:29:11] Kwame: Yeah. It's definitely a community and I mean, we keep using the word community and at the end of this, I want to, um, say something about that because we keep using the word community. Yeah. But it's definitely a community thing. But like, I remember growing up when, you know. Um, by the time, once I got a little older and I was able to, you know, go off and go down to the beach by myself and do whatever, so I was out there with my friends, just swimming back and forth, basically just being complete idiots back, flipping off the stone jetty and putting my, my god's will alone.

[00:29:38] Kwame: We didn't crack our heads open, but now that I look back on it. At the time I thought, oh yeah, it's just me. You know, I'm, I'm free. You know, my parents aren't around. Nobody's paying attention to us. But looking back on it now, there was always somebody looking, somebody always had an eye out on us. 'cause I remember so many times people who knew my parents or people who didn't even know what, my parents would come up and say, Hey, you know, when you do this, [00:30:00] try it this way.

[00:30:00] Kwame: Or, when you're swimming, you, you'll tire yourself out more. If you keep, do swimming like this, try it this way. So that sense of community and just trying to keep it. Moving with people and so that we know that, like you said, Nigel, someone's out there watching for watching out for you. Yeah, yeah. You know, can get you and Greg, like you said, having someone you know, be able to bring the kids down to say, okay, yes, it's sunrise in New York on during the summer.

[00:30:25] Kwame: I mean, summer waves on the, the best, but sunrise in New York during the summer is like 5 15, 5 30 in the morning. I have seen people out there with their kids. Okay, we just, no waves, let's just paddle back and forth. If this is what you want, this is what you gotta do. We can paddle back and forth, build those panel muscles as we go.

[00:30:43] Kwame: So it's really, um, it's really something I think that we can, as a, as a community, again, here's that word. As a community, we can start to develop and it's, it's starting, but, you know, we still have a little bit of a distance to go with it. Greg, you spoke a little bit about the, um. About the surf industry, and I had to [00:31:00] smile because I'm not gonna name any names or anybody's specific YouTube channel, but sometimes I look at some of these guys on and they're like, okay, I want to go to like the Zel store or other sort.

[00:31:09] Kwame: Yeah, I want that board, that board, that board, that board, that board. And they come down with like 19 different boards. And I do the math in my head. I'm like, that's roughly what? About a thousand dollars of, oh my. God. Wow. And I, and just me who has a job is like, I don't know if I can spend that much money on a board right now.

[00:31:26] Kwame: I'll have to make, deal with the one I have or hit up a show or hit up somebody else, say, Hey, you know, can you give me a discount on this one if I do this? But it's really, it's really, it can, it can, it can get really expensive. So the question I have is, uh, what, what changes have you seen in the surf industry regarding diversity and inclusion since, uh, found in the collective?

[00:31:46] Kwame: If any,

[00:31:46] Gregory Rachal: unfortunately, KWA not enough. Right. You know, way, uh, right around the Black Lives Matter movement. Uh, a few years back you had a little more reach out, but I think it was, I mean, [00:32:00] let's be honest, it was really a knee-jerk reaction to Yes.

[00:32:03] Kwame: Right.

[00:32:03] Gregory Rachal: Trying to look better by these companies trying to, uh, capitalize on the movement, right?

[00:32:09] Gregory Rachal: Mm-hmm. That all dropped away. And, and bottom line is you look at the, the surf industry, you'd think there was no surfers of color. Yeah. It's, I mean, it's that bad. It's, it's just, and the thing is, and Nate, that puts on a great day in the stoke, he always talks about this. The money is there. Mm-hmm. They just don't look at this like we're a, a viable resource.

[00:32:31] Gregory Rachal: Right, right. Yeah. So we are spending the money, we are in the water. We're one of the largest growing, uh, demographics. But the surf industry doesn't see it, nor will they invest in it. And, you know, we're, that's why we're gonna have to take care of ourselves. You know, we, uh, we do a thing where we've asked people to donate their boards.

[00:32:50] Gregory Rachal: If they have old boards. We try to. And that can be a problem in itself. Where do you store all those old boards, right? Yeah. Everybody's got 'em. I don't have enough space in my yard, just stack a [00:33:00] bunch of boards, but I would love to be able to recycle and, and pass those on to young people or, or even older people that wanna stay in the water, you know?

[00:33:08] Gregory Rachal: But. Wetsuits boards, whatever we can do to support people that. So we try to stay in touch with the people that do come out to our events regularly, and if it is something they wanna do, we try to stay in touch with them and, and support them in getting them some equipment to keep them going and that kind of thing.

[00:33:27] Gregory Rachal: And letting them know when we're gonna have, uh, blackouts as we call it, or, uh, make sure they come to the next, uh, uh, pan Beach day and, and come down and surf with us. It's not just for beginners. We would, we want everybody to come down and be a part, but yeah, getting back to the industry way behind. Yeah, way behind.

[00:33:47] Gregory Rachal: It's like we're, our numbers are growing, but there's no reflection of that.

[00:33:52] Kwame: It's funny you said that. I just had a thought that might get us canceled. So I am thinking to myself when I've listening to you [00:34:00] say this, and you know, you're, you're right because, and again, I've had these conversations with people where we've pinpointed, but like, you know.

[00:34:06] Kwame: After, um, what was it, summer of 2020? Yep. Summer of 2020. You know, everybody was like, oh yes, uh, black Lives Matter. Black this, black that people of color Dot, we were all over the place. We were everywhere. Tide us couldn't, couldn't get enough of the faces. And then as the time started, hey, we are in 2025, and it's like, oh, okay.

[00:34:27] Kwame: It not, no, it's not really a, a, a resource that we can use right now. So I'm saying all upset. So you're saying that people of color were not really your resource? That sounds very familiar from about 400 years ago, but hey, that's just me. Maybe it's just the way my mind works. Um, no and no. You, you, you are, you are right.

[00:34:46] Kwame: And agile. I know you've, um, spoken with like people about, about this as well.

[00:34:49] Nigel: Yeah. Yeah. I mean, my take on it, it, it see from a couple different angles, especially 'cause I've worked in the surf industry for, for a while. So I hear that the sales meeting conversations and the boardroom conversations [00:35:00] sometimes, um, around what, what the goals are.

[00:35:04] Nigel: And I think the surf industry as a whole, and it's starting to come to fruition now, right? Because it's kind of, not collapsing, but it's this whole thing happening where brands are falling off and you know, so on. And it's because I think, and I can tie this in a, in a weird way here, they always. Go for where the money is, which I get it, right?

[00:35:21] Nigel: Mm-hmm. You're a business, you gotta go for the money profit, right? Profit. But they don't, they don't really pay enough attention to what the spark of that is, right? Mm-hmm. So, yes, it is really cool. And this is, I'm just using Kelly Seder as a name. Mm-hmm. To want to sponsor Kelly and have him be, because he's winning titles.

[00:35:38] Nigel: He is like amazing, right? But would, but. The investment came by like Matt Keckley, right? Who gave him the board early on and when he was like 12 or th, you know what I mean? Mm-hmm. And I think what happens is that brands don't see that well enough. And if we're tying this all in, even if they did, Kelly needed to be there in the morning at five training so [00:36:00]that, you know, that, that, that that happened.

[00:36:02] Nigel: But I think the surf industry. Again, I, I have a whole new perspective. I've had it for a while, but my perspective of just going forward, everything that we do is, it's cool to wanna sit at the table, but I'm cool with like just building a new table mm-hmm. And creating what it is that we need to do. Nice.

[00:36:17] Nigel: And that's been my mo and that's why the store was so important to me. And that's why I'm gonna make sure it gets back on because I'm just, I'm tired of asking for like scraps. Mm-hmm. And saying, because maybe I don't even like that food. Right. Yeah. But we're eating it because that's what we told to eat.

[00:36:30] Nigel: But, and I look at someone like Sal. Masella who, who with the book and with what he's doing is saying, Hey, surf looks like this too. And I'm like, exactly. So yeah, I mean, I, I get the surf industry that God was gonna try to change the chase the dollar that they don't even pay attention to the fact that this movement is happening.

[00:36:48] Nigel: Mm-hmm. Because it's not gonna turn quickly enough for them. But I feel like we need to see it and we need to invest and we need to. Build brands around, uh, what we wanna see in the water and the people that we, we support in the water. [00:37:00] Um, so I'm all for creating a table and going, Hey guys, this is the table now.

[00:37:03] Nigel: Like, how are we moving from here? So, I don't know, that's just where my head has been, especially, especially, um, in 2025 where it's, I mean, it's, it's just obvious all the things that's going on. You know,

[00:37:16] Kwame: I'm,

[00:37:16] Nigel: I'm loving

[00:37:17] Kwame: this call. Yeah. Grabbing sound bites from both of you guys and everybody. So I'm, I'm love with this conversation.

[00:37:22] Kwame: I'm sorry, Greg. Go ahead.

[00:37:24] Gregory Rachal: Yeah, no, I mean, I, I agree. You know, the surf industry, unfortunately, is, is a reflection of the capitalist society in which we live, right?

[00:37:32] Kwame: It

[00:37:33] Gregory Rachal: went from this underground movement Yeah. This really cool sport. And now it's gotten so big that it's really just another reflection of the capitalist, uh, business model.

[00:37:44] Gregory Rachal: And that's unfortunate because it. I get it. You're right. It does, it is a business and people need to make money, but if that becomes the only focus, it starts to lose. Its, its specialness. Right? And I'm with you, man. I, I think we [00:38:00] need to, uh, we need to create our own table. We need to bring our own style to it.

[00:38:05] Gregory Rachal: We need, just like we do, man, every place else, we gotta bring our own and we gotta support our own, bring our own, make it our own. And that's gonna, that's what's gonna, and that's what we've seen in LA with the movement that's been going on in the last five, six years with the Black Lives Matter movement, with the, uh, even in the pandemic, so many more young people of color took to the water that we've given them a home to come back to.

[00:38:31] Gregory Rachal: They're, they're instructing for us now. They're coming to our beach events. Um, and it really shows, right, we're doing it, uh, in a way that it's ours. It's so much fun. It's, it's such a, uh, an amazing thing and we get families and people coming back again and again and, uh, even wanting to know what we're doing in the winter months because we, we stop in October because you know, the water's getting cold and things and people are like, no, no, no.

[00:38:58] Gregory Rachal: Where are you guys at? They want, be [00:39:00] part of this community. And I think as long as this keeps building, we have to give it a place to, to be home. Right.

[00:39:07] Kwame: A hundred percent. A hundred percent agree. So with all, I mean, we've been speaking about this and I think this, we've actually covered this within, um, some of the conversations we had, uh, or some of the topics we covered, but are there any specific challenges that you and the collective have faced since, since inception, you know, um, that you'd like to, and how did you overcome them?

[00:39:26] Kwame: Specifically, 'cause I know there are other people, there may be people listening to this who are like, oh, you know, this sounds like a really good idea. You know, I, I would hope that they, and I, I encourage them to reach out to you and to you guys directly. But you know, they may just like decide, hey, you know, how do I get a template for this?

[00:39:41] Kwame: What challenges that could they have faced with this

[00:39:43] Gregory Rachal: man? You know, for the first 10 years, Kwame, we were doing it out of our own pocket. So, you know, my wife and I. And the rest of the members, the core members of the collective were just coming down, bringing our own equipment, doing what we could to make this happen.

[00:39:57] Gregory Rachal: But we were very fortunate enough for [00:40:00] Gabaldon Day to get sponsorship from the county of Los Angeles in different places. But our core money that we were moving with was, was really our own. In the last two years, we've uh, um, we're moving into our second year operating as a nonprofit. Which opened up finances for us.

[00:40:21] Gregory Rachal: We were able to apply for grants. We've gotten one large grant and another grant that just came through this year. We're very fortunate to have that and be able to now buy our own equipment, our wetsuits, our boards. We're, we're gonna be buying a trailer to, to move all of our equipment back and forth.

[00:40:38] Gregory Rachal: Nice. Uh, because it's so hard. I mean, I'm driving down the road with 10 boards stacked on top of my car, you know what I mean? And getting that equipment and getting things, and that's gonna be the hardest. But, you know, you can start small. That's the thing. If you put two people in the water or five people in the water, you can get two soft tops and a couple instructors and still make a difference.

[00:40:58] Gregory Rachal: And that's really how [00:41:00] we started. We started just. I had a grassroots bubble and, and we've been fortunate enough to just grow slowly. And then in this last year and a half, we've taken a big jump. And I think that's, that's really the, the thing that's, that's keeping us alive right now is keeping us, and it's in, and as I talked about some of our future plans, it's allowed us to make those future plans, right.

[00:41:22] Gregory Rachal: We're not just what we've, even though I'd be happy doing what we did do. What we have been doing over the last 10 years. I'm also really excited about moving forward. So I think just getting back to new organizations as they start, I think starting up building a good core group of people that, that have your same.

[00:41:40] Gregory Rachal: Interest and your same heart and going out there and sharing your love of the water with, uh, with young people and, and making sure, and giving them a, a supported entry level into the water with people that look like them, people that they can identify with because we're overcoming a lot. To get in the water to get to the beach, and it's, [00:42:00] it's really important that we, uh, that we give them that support.

[00:42:03] Kwame: Thank you.

[00:42:03] Nigel: Yeah, so I know that there's probably a lot that we still have to cover here, but like I always like to do, we're coming close to time. Yeah. Yeah. No, I, I, I, I just always, I could talk about the surfer, right? So, um, what do you, what are you surfing? Like, like, like what's your surf routine like these days?

[00:42:21] Nigel: How are you getting in the water? How often, what boards are you on? What do you, what's your thing?

[00:42:26] Gregory Rachal: I'm, I'm, uh, I just retired. I. For the fire service, I'm a little broken. Okay. That's some makes and pains, but I try to get out in the water three, maybe four days a week when it's happening. And when I'm in good health, I, uh, I longboard in the summer and then I ride like a, uh, you know, just like a nine, six, single fin, little bit of a concave in the nose that I, I purchased years ago and I never really got.

[00:42:48] Gregory Rachal: And longboarding. Gotcha. And so I'm really trying to work on that. It's, it's a lot harder than you think it's gonna be. Right. I learned on a shortboard because I was a skater. Right. And so popping up as a young kid and [00:43:00] making the board do what you were used to doing on, on the ground was a lot more simple than getting on a longboard and having to move around on it.

[00:43:07] Gregory Rachal: It's, it's a lot more weight, it's a lot more bored. But I'm, I'm enjoying learning that. I have many boards, obviously, just like everybody else, but. My, my regular board that I'm writing right now is a, uh, a seven two, kind of a mid-length, uh, twin pin kind of a shape, which I really love, but at my age it's, it's easier to paddle out, not that easy to duck dive, easier to paddle out and, and, uh, catch waves on.

[00:43:33] Gregory Rachal: And, and I still have a good time. I'm kind of a down the line guy. I don't, uh, profess to be a, a really great surfer, but I, I just love being in the water.

[00:43:43] Nigel: Where are, um, some of your favorite spots to surf? Um. I've, I've been to LA a couple times, but, but I just know the regular go-tos. Like I've surfed Topanga and I've surfed, uh, I think like county line and it's like Venice obviously.

[00:43:58] Nigel: But where, where are some of your [00:44:00] favorite spots?

[00:44:00] Gregory Rachal: Those are, are some of my spots too. I don't go to Topanga too much. It's pretty crowded if I can find it when it's less crowded. Also Sunset Point. Uh oh. Yeah, sunset. When's good. It's a lot of fun. Um, both of those points are, are pretty active. A lot of people go there, especially again, since the pandemic, there's so many more people in the water.

[00:44:18] Gregory Rachal: I have a buddy that lives up in Topanga, so he'll hook, I'll hook up with him, but we will go all the way to County Line just because it's a little more, you know, there's a couple spots up towards County Line and at County Line that I serve, I surf. South of the Venice Pier. We do our lessons. Our Penton Beach days are at dot Waggler, which is right out in front of LAX, just a little north of El Porto, north of Manhattan Beach, south of Marina Delrey, right in there.

[00:44:43] Gregory Rachal: And uh, there's some nice little sandbars there. There's a bunch of old guys like myself every morning. So I, I tend to go out there and have some fun and it's not too crowded, and I'll move around, you know, as, as I need to head down to, uh, you know, down to Orange County, down to Santo f Chico, [00:45:00] whatever, wherever's things are happening.

[00:45:01] Gregory Rachal: You know, I'm lucky I'm retired now, so I get to venture out little more than I used to.

[00:45:07] Kwame: That's good. Last question. What message would you like to, what message would you, do you have, would you like to share with aspiring black surfers or anyone who might be looking to support the black surfers collective?

[00:45:17] Gregory Rachal: Uh, I'll start with aspiring black surfers. Mm-hmm. Um, or any surfer of color, anybody that's new in the water. Um, keep doing it, stay in the water. It's something I plan on doing. So I gotta pay some kid to drag my board out in the water. I'm hoping to be 90 years old and, and still paddling into waves.

[00:45:34] Gregory Rachal: Something that, um, it's always been in my heart since I started and, and I'm gonna keep doing it. It, it keeps me active, it keeps me, uh, flexible and, uh, and we belong there. You know, our, all of our history is in the water and unfortunately in this country and in other countries, we've been pushed away from the coastline.

[00:45:55] Gregory Rachal: We've been pushed away from the water, and we need to reclaim that. Presence [00:46:00] in that part of our lives and our culture. And, uh, I think if you, if you're interested and there's an organization near you, go check 'em out. If you're in LA come find us. We will make space for you and get you in the water and get you that experience.

[00:46:14] Gregory Rachal: And it'll be supported. It'll be with people that, that can, you can identify with and, um, and then you can turn around and pay that forward. Right? You can turn around and give that to somebody else. That's really the, uh, the motto that I live by. It's like I'm always paying it back. Somebody. Introduce me.

[00:46:33] Gregory Rachal: Somebody's helping me, and I'm always trying to help others to start up or get going or to come and join. As far as the Black Surfers Collective, you know, we are, we're active in the community. We're gonna continue to be active in the community. We're working with, uh, organizations like, uh, outward Bound Adventures.

[00:46:52] Gregory Rachal: We're working with another group called One With the Ocean, the YMCAs, to provide free swim lessons. You know, [00:47:00] again, we're overcoming things to get our people in the water. Yeah. We were having people come out and ask for surf lessons that didn't even know how to swim.

[00:47:08] Kwame: Swim. Yeah. We came

[00:47:10] Gregory Rachal: from a Right. And they didn't have a family that swam.

[00:47:13] Gregory Rachal: Mm-hmm. So now we turned around and we've been providing free swim lessons through the YMCAs. Through some other groups and then we bring those people out once they learn to swim. And now it's a much more comfortable, safe thing to do, right? To get 'em in the water and, but we're overcoming so much. And then to get the young people from the surf movement to come out and help us as instructors.

[00:47:35] Gregory Rachal: Now we've overcome a whole nother stigma. You're not having to ask somebody that you can't identify with to help you. You're looking at somebody that you can absolutely identify with,

[00:47:44] Kwame: right?

[00:47:44] Gregory Rachal: And they're like, Hey, what's going on? How you doing? No, no, no. You're gonna be safe. Let's, let's go play in the water first.

[00:47:50] Gregory Rachal: Now we get on the board and you know, and you're there and you're giving them hugs and you got these big smiles in their faces. And then they come back on the beach and we're having a beach party and you know, it [00:48:00] becomes a whole family thing, right? And we're getting families come back. We start off with the kid and all of a sudden the next month mom and dad wanna get in the water.

[00:48:08] Gregory Rachal: They bring their cousins and you know, it's that thing that's, that's growing and uh, we

[00:48:14] Kwame: thank you so much for that. I know, I saw, I was gonna share this and it's something that I. I am actually, I actually realized this or it, it pops into my head a few weeks ago and I'm like, why didn't it ever come up to me before?

[00:48:25] Kwame: But the word community, you can actually, well, I break it down into two sections. The first one is common and the definition of common is shared by common. From or done by more than one. And then unity, the state of being united or joined as a whole. So when you put those two definitions together and you come up with the word community, which is what we've been speaking about for all, for this entire time, and what, you know, what we are trying to strive for, I think that just those two words in themselves put together gives us the best, the perfect definition of community.

[00:48:55] Kwame: And, you know, the reason why I'm bringing this up because, uh, you know, I'm not, this, this is something [00:49:00] that. We do have our surf community, but it goes so much further than just surfing. You know, Greg actually helped me and my family out a lot this past with the LA fires. So Greg, thank you so much for what you did for my relative who was displaced by the fires.

[00:49:16] Kwame: I really appreciate it. He still talks about meeting, meeting you and talking to you and how great you guys are, you know, and this, and Greg is all the way over in on the west coast and I'm here on the East Coast and still that sense of community will say, Hey, is this somebody who. Kwame knows. And his, um, and, you know, I'm gonna reach out my hand and I'm gonna help him out.

[00:49:34] Kwame: Mahalo. Thank you so much, brother. I appreciate that.

[00:49:37] Nigel: Yeah, it's my pleasure, brother. Yeah. You know, Kwame, and as you were talking about that, it, it, it's something that, um, it's definitely community, but I have to definitely say it. It's surfing. Mm-hmm. Too, right? Because we, we spoke about this before, but it always dawns on me how, how true it is when you're a surfer.

[00:49:57] Nigel: Your community is technically the world. It's [00:50:00] something that you do that's kind of cool and that it connects you with other surfers. When you see a guy in the airport and you're going on some sort of business man, and he has a surfboard in your head, immediately you're like, you have no problem walking over to him going, Hey, where you it?

[00:50:13] Nigel: Right. Like, and I think that, um, that's one thing I love about the surf community, and yes, there's some, you know, like some divisions here or there, but I'm pretty positive that there's this, this universal language of brotherhood that is surfing Exactly. Um, that is surfing that. You know, if, you know, I know, and Adrian will kill me for this.

[00:50:30] Nigel: Whenever someone says to, Hey, I'm gonna Barbados, I'm like, talk to Adrian. Right? Yeah. And Adrian like takes him under their wing and he gets to show 'em around. And if I'm there, you know, I feel like we always have that. So it's something that I appreciate a lot with the surf community. And, and as you were telling your story, I, you know, started to think if Greg played golf mm-hmm.

[00:50:46] Nigel: And you were a surfer, would the, would the connection be the same and helping out? Yes. Because you were maybe friends, but I'm sure that. Surfing Bond ties it a lot tighter together. Yes. So I, it it's just something that I, I, I was thinking of while you were speaking that I find to be [00:51:00] true. Absolutely.

[00:51:00] Gregory Rachal: Yeah, absolutely.

[00:51:01] Gregory Rachal: There, there's a connection with the water that is, I don't know, it's just, it, it, it crosses all boundaries, right? Yeah. Even people that you might not even have anything. Uh, in common, and you can find something to talk about if you're both like, like you said, especially in the airport or, you know, rolling down the street.

[00:51:19] Gregory Rachal: You know, you see somebody roll down the window, Hey, where'd you go out today? The wave, you know, I haven't been out for a while, or whatever it is. And, uh, that connection, it, it, it crosses all boundaries. One of the things I wanted to mention before we go is that, you know, we talked about Nick and then we talked about me surfing in the, in the.

[00:51:40] Gregory Rachal: Seventies. Mm-hmm. There was a whole list of brothers that surfed through the early sixties and into the seventies and into the eighties in LA that were competitive, that were part of the surf movement in LA that surfed with the giants, the people that, that we've all heard of, we didn't even know [00:52:00] that I didn't know existed, but I've, I've since come to meet them and myself and David Messman the, uh.

[00:52:07] Gregory Rachal: The creator of Wade in the Water. We are at this time trying to put together some, some time to actually interview these cats. Oh,

[00:52:15] Kwame: epic. Yeah. And get their

[00:52:16] Gregory Rachal: stories because, you know, they're all in their seventies now. And, and you know, if you don't, Rick uh, Rick Walker always says if you don't get it on, on film or take a picture, it never really happened.

[00:52:26] Gregory Rachal: Right. Yeah. And so we know that they're not gonna tell our story. They're not gonna tell our story. We have to tell our story. And that history is huge. I was at one of our events and somebody asked me how, you know, other than Nick did some of these brothers, when did the first brothers in LA Surf? And there was a guy that I knew in the crowd and I said, Hey Don, when did you start surfing?

[00:52:49] Gregory Rachal: He goes, oh, I started in 62. Wow. And I looked and I said, Ben, I was born in 68. And I'm 60 years old. Yeah. So this guy's been in the water a long [00:53:00] time, and so we've been in this water a long time. We've been competitive surfers. We've been in the water making our place in the surf community in a, in at least the Los Angeles area since that time.

[00:53:12] Gregory Rachal: And we can't let that go, man. We gotta keep it going and, and, and take our, our place.

[00:53:18] Nigel: I can't wait to see what you guys, uh, do with that info because that's something I would pay good money to go see. Just 'cause I love that, that era of surfing. Absolute anyway. No, absolutely. But just to, to, to see like, hey, you know, it, it's something that, that's really sad about the state of affairs in the country now.

[00:53:34] Nigel: Not to leave on a political note. Mm-hmm. But I don't understand how people don't get how important just all history is when you're in a place, you know, like, yes. I love, I mean like one of my. Surface was always Tom Corre and I, I know that kind of history. I know some guys older, but I would love to know about guys that were in the water and send seen photos of them.

[00:53:53] Nigel: Mm-hmm. Kind of like at these iconic spots that look like me. I mean, think about the impact that would have on, on just. [00:54:00] My generation, but also like each generations and go, we've been doing this. Like, you almost feel like, okay, I belong at the table now, right? Like, it's not like I'm trying to find a spot.

[00:54:08] Nigel: It's like, no, no, I, I helped built this table too. Mm-hmm. So, you know, so I, yeah, I'm, I would love to see that and see a hundred percent and see what you guys do with that. So,

[00:54:16] Gregory Rachal: because we didn't know of any black surfers when we were growing up in the seventies, we looked to the brothers that were in Hawaii.

[00:54:24] Gregory Rachal: So you had Larry Berle, you had Marvin Foster. Yeah. Some of these are, are, are, are mixed brothers with Hawaiian, but some are just Hawaiian cats that look like brothers. Right? Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. And you, you go to what you can identify with and we emulated their moves in our skating. So when we started to surf, it was already like in our blood, right?

[00:54:45] Gregory Rachal: We saw them doing what we wanted to do and, uh, I wish I had known that these brothers that

[00:54:51] Kwame: yeah,

[00:54:51] Gregory Rachal: uh, were around in those days. It's just, and they grew up right here in the Los Angeles area where I live. I just didn't know them. You know, they were a [00:55:00] little older than me. And, and if it's not in your, your group of friends, you know, you, you just do what you do.

[00:55:07] Gregory Rachal: So it's really cool to know that they've been here all along and that I get to, uh, actually drink from their, uh, drink from their fountain just a little bit. Nice.

[00:55:15] Kwame: Nice. Thank you. So I think we um, we are at the point now where we're gonna wrap up. Greg, thank you so much for, uh, joining us today. I. And you know, I think that we could have sat down and talked surfing for like another hour or so.

[00:55:30] Kwame: 'cause I definitely could sit down and speak with you. 'cause I remember the first time you and I had a conversation, we were at dinner and there might have been like 15 of the people there just like talking, talking, talking. And I was like, you know, excuse me, excuse me. Pardon me. Excuse me. Mm-hmm. So let's talk.

[00:55:45] Kwame: We just like had this conversation 'cause the food came and we were still talking. People left, we were still speaking. So, you know, I, every single time you and I talk, I love, I love talking with you. So thank you so much for, for, um, for being here with us and, uh, thank you Wt f [00:56:00] Studios again for having us here, letting us use your space wolf.

[00:56:04] Kwame: Thank you as always, brother, for being our engineer on this. I thank you to our viewers and our listeners. We did get a, our first comment in the other day, and it, it was more of a comment towards me because they said, Mr. Labia should try winter surfing a little bit more. Okay. First of all, and Mr. Labia, second of all, I do winter surf.

[00:56:25] Kwame: He is the one who doesn't winter surf. I got no winter gel doesn like wind surface. So no that, but, uh, you know, to,

[00:56:33] Nigel: I. I will winter surf. Mm-hmm. But I am from the Caribbean and that blood is still in me. So I would, I mean, when it's good, I'll go out, but I don't, you know, and, and I'll get better at it, you know?

[00:56:45] Nigel: Yeah, yeah. And that's perfectly fine. Winter surfing is fun, but I wanna say, uh, to that person who ask the questions, I, I enjoy winter surfing. Enjoys a strong word. I will, I will. I'll it exactly when the waves are good, but I'm just particular about the [00:57:00] conditions when it's cold out, you know? No, no, I hundred percent get that.

[00:57:02] Nigel: That's it

[00:57:02] Kwame: because it's, it is a lot different between, uh, one to two feet and it's 90 degrees outside. Yeah. And one to two feet and it's 30 degrees outside. It's so, two completely different. Two.

[00:57:13] Nigel: But we love the questions. Definitely keep the questions. Yes, please. Coming. Uh, and we'll answer them as best as we can.

[00:57:17] Kwame: Greg, I'm just gonna ask you, where can people find, find out more information about the collective?

[00:57:22] Gregory Rachal: Oh, thank you. The, the boss would've been a little, uh, yeah. Um, you can find us at, uh, Instagram, black Surfers Collective Facebook, black Surfers Collective. And we have a Black Surfers Collective, uh, dot uh, dot org. So, um, you can find us on any of those. Our schedule will be there. You can donate, but we're gonna be putting on events.

[00:57:43] Gregory Rachal: We have a Nick Beldon day, beginning of June, and then every month after that, the first weekend of the month, we have our beach days at, uh, um, what we call our Panton beach days at dot weer, where we, we put as many as 50, 60 people in the water and we finish up with a beach uh, [00:58:00] party. So please come down and join us.

[00:58:02] Kwame: So it's Black Surface Collective on Instagram. What was the, what was the second one?

[00:58:07] Gregory Rachal: Facebook.

[00:58:08] Kwame: Facebook. And.

[00:58:09] Gregory Rachal: And, uh, we have our own website, black Surfs Collected. Excellent.

[00:58:13] Kwame: Okay. Yeah. So if you are interested, please, please, please hit them up, even if you're not interested, please go hit them up because some of the stuff that you see on there is, is pretty cool.

[00:58:23] Kwame: Thank you again everyone, so much for sticking with us and listening and, um, seeing this on YouTube.

[00:58:29] Kwame: So again, uh, do your part, leave a heart, subscribe, whatever, all that YouTube share, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah stuff. And hopefully we'll see you guys in the water. Yeah. Next time you Yeah, man,   [00:59:00]