From PBS North Carolina and our good friend Clyde Singleton, this is an incredible story. At first, the girl in the photo was anonymous—who was she and how did she end up on a skateboard in such an early time in its history? In the 70s, it was rare to see a girl on a […]
From PBS North Carolina and our good friend Clyde Singleton, this is an incredible story. At first, the girl in the photo was anonymous—who was she and how did she end up on a skateboard in such an early time in its history? In the 70s, it was rare to see a girl on a skateboard, even more rare to see a young black girl. Clyde Singleton investigated and sparked a conversation about representation and the power of skateboarding—and they tracked down the girl in the photo. Watch!
Tony Hawk shared the photo and at that point it was fully viral. The girl in the photo is Shaunda Shane, and she began receiving messages that Tony Hawk was looking for her. Incredible.
“A 1979 photo of a young Black girl skateboarding on a rainy day in Fayetteville has ignited conversations about representation, culture and the power of skateboarding. Host Kenia Thompson explores the incredible journey of this now iconic image with guests Clyde Singleton, a pro skateboarder and writer; and Shaunda Shane, the mystery girl in the photo.”
As Clyde retells it, the photo was sent to him by fellow skateboarding legend Alyasha Owerka-Moore. Clyde had never seen a girl on a skateboard when we grew up and as a constant investigator into skateboarding’s past, he had to try to find out the story behind this photo.
Clyde also wrote up a piece about this photo in a recent issue of Closer magazine.
“A 1979 photo of a young Black girl skateboarding on a rainy day in Fayetteville has ignited conversations about representation, culture and the power of skateboarding. Host Kenia Thompson explores the incredible journey of this now iconic image with guests Clyde Singleton, a pro skateboarder and writer; and Shaunda Shane, the mystery girl in the photo.”
As Clyde retells it, the photo was sent to him by fellow skateboarding legend Alyasha Owerka-Moore. Clyde had never seen a girl on a skateboard when we grew up and as a constant investigator into skateboarding’s past, he had to try to find out the story behind this photo.
Clyde also wrote up a piece about this photo in a recent issue of Closer magazine.
