After facing personal trauma and the pandemic disruption of queer nightlife, A fortuitous stumble upon the skate rink at Riverbank Park in Harlem took Kenny McQueen on a journey. Roller skating started out as a way to move his body and became something that completely transformed his lifestyle.
Kenny’s deep love for community and dance skating is palpable, and when he felt called to address issues around nonconsensual touch and bullying that he and his peers were experiencing, he stepped up to the plate by creating the Respect My Space Alliance (RMSA) to get these difficult conversations started. In this interview, he shares the core values of RMSA and his vision for a skate community that cultivates multigenerational dialogues (and connection) with respect at the core.
Kenny imparts his thoughts on activism as an extension of community and collaboration even when it’s hard, as well as the transcendent nature of roller skating that leads to healing. Throughout this talk it is so clear that skating cuts deep for Kenny, and that he understands that sometimes things need to be shaken up in order to get to the good stuff.
We reflect on his experiences skating in different regions including his home base in NYC. He shares his love of Skate Jams he’s traveled and speaks to the historical and cultural significance of these events in the Black community. He also shares his thoughts on what makes NYC skate community unique.
Join us as we get personal with this shy yet audacious skater.
*Editor’s Note: In this interview, we mention the influential JB skater, Calvin Small. Kenny misspeaks and refers to him as Kevin.
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