Shadow Line
Two hours past noon, during the hottest part of the day, Daniel Johnson executed a standard kick flip in a harsh environment. He landed perfectly on the skateboard like an exotic big cat. The pigmentation of the pixels are deeply saturated. An energy meter affixed to a common utility pole stained by Latino gang graffiti became a signpost. The characters are territorial in nature, but far more menacing behind the characters is the adopted gang policy by some Latino gangs: ethnic cleansing. In Southern California, primarily in Los Angeles County, there’s a directional chain of command from prisons to the streets to eradicate blacks out of specific gang neighborhoods. The content of character prevails over skin color barriers by carriers of love.
Like the black panther on his t-shirt made by ‘Proper’, an apparel company in Long Beach, Daniel is quick to pounce on a rapidly rotating skateboard no matter how dangerous the terrain. He ollied off a rooftop in Signal Hill. For over two decades, the Los Angeles Police Department has documented the brown on black violence. Gangs have been fighting fatal wars over turf and money. However, based on ethnic identity, perpetrators armed with hate, committed crimes against their rivals. High concentrations of Latino gang members were charged with these crimes like white supremacist.
The racial conflict is lifted out of obscurity and charged into present reality by signs of intimidation. Nobody wants to live in a neighborhood where they are unwelcome. Capturing Daniel’s skateboard talent in a photograph highlights his refusal to let gang feuds stop the constant practice of the sport he loves. After showing Quise this photograph, he gave me special knowledge about the gang graffiti like a forestry expert able to identify which plants in a forest are poisonous and which plants are edible.
The daily trouble they face as skateboarders, kick-pushing through gang territories is volatile. Means of survival without padding. A court appearance for doing what they love: skating on concrete courts. Safety penalties add up. Unlike the sort of challenges faced by their suburban counterparts, the local skaters who commute from different regions of Long Beach incredibly arrive inside their safe haven. They fondly call it, ‘Ghetto Park’. These are credible fears, but will not deter the freedom of movement. ‘Ghetto Park’ acts like a shield for ethnically diverse skateboarders who embrace racial unity.
On the East Side, the Washington neighborhood’s crime statistics have been steadily improving ever since former council-member Mike Donelon built 14th Street Skate Park in 2001. Although brutal orders from prison to the streets are green lit, there are more green lights within the skateboard community to love one another while they learn and train together.
The shadow line forms a tag of athletic resistance to merciless violence. The shadow line is a reminder of the fine line between life and death. The shadow of the house crookedly takes up the lower third of the photograph like a curtain. Behind the curtain is a story about how a black family from another area of Los Angeles county, found chalk outlines of human bodies in their driveway. Shadow lines exist everywhere, but the light exposes and eliminates them with the love blood of Jesus.