United Skates on HBO
The Documentary Tells Of Hip-Hop and Community
In roller rinks across America, the hip-hop beats of N.W.A. and Queen Latifah united the African-American community under the same lights and on the same rink. As those establishments close down, people not only face the loss of a fun meet-up place, but also the loss of culture.
The Tribeca Audience Award recipient United Skates explores the closures of the roller rinks across America and how the black community comes together for underground adult nights to lace up the skates and roll with the music. The documentary, which is now available on HBO, follows three people in their quest to keep the practice alive.
Phelicia is one of those people. Living in L.A., she looks forward to adult nights, which aim at bringing in the generation of people who live for skating. Adult nights originated out of segregation and was a tactic used by white rink owners to create black-only skating hours. Reggie of North Carolina is looking to start an adult night at one of the 14 rinks in his home state, and he finally finds an owner willing to help. Meanwhile, Buddy Love struggle to keep the Chicago-based Rich City Skate open for the community and for his son.
The vibrant documentary directed by Tina Brown and Dyana Winkler features a slew of interviews from well-known hip-hop artist, including Salt-N-Pepa, Coolio and members of World Class Wreckin’ Cru. Later on in the project, R&B artist and EGOT winner John Legend (and husband of the relatability Queen Chrissy Teigen) skated on as an executive producer.
“Segregation has a terrible history in America, but sometimes the byproduct of segregation is that certain subcultures get to flourish, and I think one of the results of that is that there have been these cultural spaces where black people got together and enjoyed each other and enjoyed the music of their culture,” Legend told reporters at an L.A. screening.
W its captivating story of an underground culture that birthed a hip-hop scene that is so rich and rewarding, United Skateswill make you want to lace up your own skates and head to the nearest rink.
United Skates is available on HBO.