Over the weekend, cities all over America erupted in outrage over the death of George Floyd. Reporters were arrested, rubber bullets and canisters of tear gas were fired, stores were looted, and cars were burned. It was not a peaceful weekend. But despite the violence, there are peaceful protests happening, and one of them occurred at Inkwell Beach in Santa Monica on Friday evening.
More than 100 surfers and allies met up at Tower 20 to make leis before paddling out in honor of Floyd, who was killed by a police officer named Derek Chauvin after he was arrested in Minneapolis. Footage shows Chauvin kneeling on Floyd’s neck for eight minutes and 46 seconds. Floyd was arrested after allegedly purchasing a pack of cigarettes with a counterfeit $20 bill. Chauvin has since been charged with third-degree murder and second-degree manslaughter.
“I feel devastated by this country not stopping this violence against our brothers and sisters who are of color,” Price Marshall, a Venice Beach local, told Patch. “I’ll keep demonstrating ’til it stops.”
Inkwell Beach was chosen for the paddle out because of its significance in the fight for racial justice. The beach was an informally segregated beach before Jim Crow-era laws were dismantled in 1965 when Lyndon B. Johnson passed the Voting Rights Act. It’s also the place where Nick Gabaldon learned to surf. He regularly paddled 12 miles north from Inkwell Beach to surf Malibu in the 1940s, defying conventions in an America that had institutionally prevented many blacks from accessing the ocean. In 2008, the City of Santa Monica recognized Inkwell and Gabaldon with a monument at Bay Street and Oceanfront Walk.
🤙🏻🤙🏼🤙🏽🤙🏾🤙🏿 https://t.co/MLhM5K5Eec
— Kenny Hayes (@kennyhayesjr) June 1, 2020
The paddle out was organized by California Mermaid Photography, while Black Girls Surf, an organization for African American women who surf, used their platform to promote it.
“In honor of George Floyd, a paddle out will be held in protest of his and countless other horrifying murders,” BGS wrote. “Please use your voice to make it STOP. We are one community in support of each other.”
