This is a special edition of the Inertia Podcast. Due to the Pandemic, I spoke to Martina Duran, Chelsea Woody, and Danielle Black Lyons on a recorded Zoom call where we discussed the movement that is Textured Waves, a collective of African American women working to get more females of color involved in surfing. The lack of color in American lineups is a complex problem, of course, as are race relations in general. The awakening that was the George Floyd killing and the Breonna Taylor shooting and the countless other African American deaths at the hands of police have sent our country into state of self examination. At least I hope that’s where we’re at.

These are difficult issues that must be looked at, and then solved, from a number of different angles. With Martina in Hawaii, Danielle in Los Angeles, and Chelsea in Santa Cruz, we narrowed it down and discussed the African American experience in surf and the barriers that have kept women of color from playing in the sea more readily. And how they’re working to change all that – all while maybe inspiring the rest of us to look at the issue of systemic racism a little more closely.