Table of contents for Skate DJ-Denver
- Is Your Skate DJ Getting the Job Done?
- Is Your Skate DJ Getting the Job Done? (Pt. 2)
- Is Your Skate DJ Getting the Job Done? (Interlude)
One skater’s experiences in Denver
A little history
(NOTE: This editorial is about roller skating even though the intro goes into elements of Black history.)
Anyone who has ever attempted to bring about change or address issues that others are uncomfortable with knows that a certain backlash is inevitable. Such persons, over time, learn that their sincere efforts – or truth telling – are suspect to others who disagree with or dislike their message. Critics of such persons often label those seeking change as troublemakers, nuisances or rabble rousers. But what change anywhere in the world has been brought about any other way?
During the civil rights era, Martin Luther King, Jr. was looked at by some as a troublemaker even with his peaceful methods of protest. He was sincerely committed to a mission of equal treatment for all people, particularly Blacks in America who suffered great oppression and discrimination. On the other end of the spectrum, Elijah Muhammad of the Nation of Islam was labeled a racist and teacher of hate for his teachings of Black self-reliance, self-respect and upliftment. Unlike MLK, he did not teach people to accept abuse and mistreatment but rather, per the teachings of Islam, advocated “fighting with those who fight with you. Never be the aggressor, but if anyone lays a hand on you – do all within your power to defend yourself.” Both men addressed injustices and problems in the society and told truth as they saw it but their truth-telling and disturbing the status quo, that many others were comfortable with, caused them to become the target of character-assassination, insults, disrespect and disdain by those who chose to hide their heads in the sand and just accept things as they were. Even though “things as they were” included continued abuse and bias toward Blacks. The truths those men told were just too much to handle for people who were like the critics of Jesus in his time and would rather have had him crucified than for his message to become widely accepted in the society.
Ida B. Wells, (1862-1931), was a journalist who was unafraid to take on controversial subjects, some which others thought shouldn’t be brought to light or focused on. She reportedly referred to herself as an “agitator” and one who “kept the waters troubled,” particularly regarding her writings to expose lynching as an American travesty and human rights abuse allowed by national, state and local governments. She was talked about, insulted, had false rumors and lies spread about her – all because she was unafraid to boldly write and speak about issues others were unwilling to touch.
I have to say that as a journalist by profession, I come with that same spirit of Ida B. Wells and many of my writings definitely serve to “agitate” people who – for whatever reasons – find themselves bothered, upset or angry over my choice of words, my opinions, my choice of writing subjects or my knack for being able to put things in a way that makes people want to read, even if they don’t like what’s being said. I have to thank God for whatever talents and gifts I have in the area of written expression since I certainly didn’t bestow those talents on myself but it has certainly been interesting, over the years, to observe how people react to controversial issues being brought to public attention.
This intro is a bit heavy and serious for a series of articles about the DJing in the Denver area but, nonetheless, this intro is what “the spirit inspired” and “it is what it is.” I don’t know where this series of postings is going, how long of a series it will be or how it will conclude but it might be helpful to start with a little bit of history.
I have roller skated since I was a young girl, born and raised in Denver, coming up during the time when those clamp metal skates were popular. The love for skating remained even into my teens but I did not develop a deep passion for it until moving to Atlanta in 1989, living there until 1997 when I returned to Denver. At one point, I was skating 3-4 times a week in Georgia where there were several rinks and several adult sessions to choose from.
Returning to Colorado, there was one main adult, Sunday session (Skate City/Meadowood) and another smaller session at another rink (Skate City/6th Avenue). For awhile, my preference was the 6th Ave. session but it was cancelled after some time and then I began attending the Meadowood session every Sunday and, back then, there were 3-400 people coming out every week. It’s unclear what happened and why things changed so drastically, but in 1998, a man was shot in the parking lot after a session and the owner and the skate organizers (K-9 Productions) decided to cancel the Sunday skate for a few weeks to let things cool off.
It is possible that is one thing that caused the crowd to drop off but the crowd has not been as high since those days and some Sundays, even now, there are barely 100 people at a session. Did the music change too? Did the DJ stop playing certain music/songs that he thought might incite violence? I don’t know but all I do know is that complaints increased dramatically, many skaters were no longer satisfied, a good number stopped coming period and after months/years, I was led to start a petition entitled “It’s Time for A New DJ.” That was in 2001.
Some may feel such efforts are “immature” and may not understand the reasoning but, by the same token, some in the 1960s may have thought protesting or boycotting was immature, or found speaking against the long-accepted status quo not to be a good idea. In life, however, people have to do that which is put on their heart and mind to do, regardless of what other people may think about it.
So, because several found the DJ unwilling to listen to or acknowledge the opinions, complaints or suggestions of others who wanted improvement and change, nearly 50 in one night signed the petition. Days later, I gave a copy of the petition to each of the four persons who were coordinators of the Sunday session and attached a memo to go along with it.
You can read those documents via the following links, just to get a little history on things. (NOTE: only the first page of the 4-page petition is posted but that’s enough to give an idea of what it looked like and what people were saying.)
(NOTE: These are PDF documents, therefore, you need Adobe Reader in order to open and view them.)
To be continued.
- KM -
© 2010 Roller Skating Today
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