The Cubans call it el bloqueo, an embargo imposed by the United States on almost all exports to the country since the Cold War. “The blockade”, which began in 1958, naturally includes one of the most American exports: skateboarding. And with no industry on the island itself, Cuba’s scene has had to rely on support from organisations like Miles Jackson’s Cuba Skate – a youth-developed organisation dedicated to the empowerment and progression of Cuban communities through skateboarding. For the past ten years, Cuba Skate has led the charge towards a DIY-centric revolution, pushing locals to take pride in a ground-up approach to skateboarding.
Interview by Oisin Tammas
Miles, we last spoke in 2016, you’d just finished your Ciudad Libertad documentary, you were building a huge DIY spot and, since there were no skate-shops in Cuba, you were working hard to import boards for the skaters to ride. What’s changed in the last three years?
It’s still pretty much the same, we’re just able to bring a lot more in now. We have a lotta’ folks who hit us up over email or social media who want to give equipment, and we try to send our US volunteers out there with shoes, grip, wheels, boards. There are still no shops or access to resources on the island, but we can do a lot more to tackle that now. Also Obama opened up travel to Cuba with commercial flights, so it’s been six to eight trips per year for me, let alone everybody else who is going out there.
Why is it specifically difficult to get skate shops going out there?
Since the revolution, the embargo means there’s a dynamic political relationship which we respect, but it is a third-world country, it’s a communist/socialist state, and the only sports they support are baseball, track and field, dominos… Skateboarding is too new to them, so in that sense I think the Olympics, interestingly, is going to be a great opportunity.
But you’ve been out there for three years, are they taking notice?
We’ve added a lot more to our resumé, definitely. We’ve set up a woodshop where we manufacture skateboards, recycling broken skateboards. We also further expanded the DIY at Ciudad Libertad, by running a system whereby you clock in hours at the build to get equipment. We’re trying to build skateboarding with the locals as inherently part of the community. We have to build bridges and plant seeds, and it’s cool to see that while the typical person might not look positively at skateboarding, you put a skateboard in their daughter’s hands and it changes their mindset. They see what it brings to their child.
Building understanding…
Yeah, there are spots in Cuba which is, like, MACBA with lots of foot traffic around. Police are cracking down there due to new tourist hotels. Our response: before we start skating there, we ride up and down and pick up trash so that the community realise we care about the space.
There are these preconceptions of skateboarding being rebellious, and it’s so important not to bring those negatives with you when it’s only in its infancy.
Exactly! The Skate Witches came down in November, that was a really good chance for that.
Rad! What did you get up to?
Well, there was obviously the bringing product component, btu then also two of The Skate Witches crew had been on trips to Cuba before and speak Spanish, so we focused on a creating lasting impact through them being able to communicate more directly. We built at the spot, but then we also wanted to realise our goal of bringing more women skaters to Cuba. There are a couple young ladies in Cuba who are really good, but it doesn’t mean as much when I teach them a trick as it does when a woman does. Showing Cubans that women can skate, can lift a barrel, do physical labour – there is a machismo culture, there is domestic violence, and while it’s not necessarily devilishly present it does need to be addressed. It was a win-win for all of us. It was diplomatic. And since then, Samantha of The Skate Witches has become part of the extended family, so we can develop more female-centric trips.
Oh yeah? Like what?
Sam, I guess, lived with Vanessa Torres at some point, and we definitely want to do something with her. Leticia Bufoni, obviously an incredible skater. Beatrice Domond as well, who I think is also able to speak Spanish. We’ve been building these relationships with them and their sponsors, to do more trips. Long term we want to get a skateboarding festival going, but we’ve not yet had too much response from the government.
I guess it’s DIY then?
Yeah! Like a Cuban King of the Road, only instead of Jackass-type stuff, it’s “who can build the best DIY ramp at the spot?” That would be good for media coverage, good for cultural exchanges (curated skateboarding trips with teams), and get a mix of partners to sponsor it.
These underdeveloped scenes do end up building incredible DIY cultures, it’s the same in Athens where we started. There are shops, there’s an amazing skate scene, but since the crisis corporate sponsorship became nearly non-existent. You can see that that period changed the culture and incredible DIY projects and independent brands arose as a result.
Yeah, you know. It’s tough being Cuban in certain ways as I’ve said, but it’s also pretty cool that they build the scene themselves. When you build something on your own and then skate it, it’s so much more valuable. The time will come when somebody will come and build a fully-funded park for us, but until the government gives us that space, we can build on our own. There’s an abandoned pool right next to the Gymnasium at the Ciudad Libertad, but it’s pretty dramatic and square, so we’re going to add some transition, some camelbacks – that’ll add another layer.
So you can really architect the culture from what gets built?
Yeah, and I’m super hyped on the woodshop. I’ve had a lot of fun bringing down power-tools and stuff like that, we’ve been doing AirBnB experiences at the woodshop, skating. But just seeing some of my best friends take the leadership in building at the woodshop, taking Cuba Skate to the next level without me having to coordinate everything.
It must make you very proud.
It’s so heartwarming, the DIY, the woodshop, and then giving a little boy or girl their first skateboard.
Is this something you feel you can hand-over entirely to the scene there?
I would like to, and people laugh at me because I’ve been saying this for a long time. In the next couple years, I’d like to become more of a board member. The small tedious things I do are important until we have more funding and staff, but it’s my dream to come off the front-line eventually. Have you heard of a company called True Skate?
The video game?
Yeah. Ruben Garcia of DC became a bit of a mentor, he got True Skate to donate almost $30,000 to Cuba Skate recently. We’re trying to invest that money in our future rather than just spend it.
I guess it’s rare to get actual hard cash, rather than equipment donated. So you have to be smart.
Yeah, the embargo stops many people from donating, and President Trump being in office isn’t helping anything. We have to get more donors and grants, but in the meantime we have to continue to be a jack-of-all-trades.
What would you specifically like to see happen in the next five years in Cuba?
We mentioned the Olympics briefly earlier. I think that however you look at it, it’s a great opportunity for third-world countries. Cuba hasn’t taken the right steps yet, but I think they will realise soon enough that they have to work with us because we have the connections. Individually, not as the organisation, I’ve bought some land with a friend and we’re trying to build a skate hostel – a cooperativa/bed-and-breakfast space.
Sick.
[Laughs] Then the festival, an official skatepark, more trips.
And what do you think still really needs to be improved in your work?
The Trump administration has been disappointing, the Cuban government has too – when there’s potential for a world-class skatepark free of charge. That’s been a huge headache. Personally, I’ve done some graduate programmes on executive leadership in nonprofit. I think I’ve got the right board members – experts in law and travel across Cuba, that kind of thing. But I don’t think it’s enough. I have to work extra jobs, I don’t have a salary – and those programmes taught me that that isn’t smart in this line of work. I always wish I had started the organisation with a business partner who could have helped with financing early on – that’s our one achilles heel right now. We’re fully transparent, we’ve not accrued any debt – but how do we move forward as an organisation which is sustainable as a whole? That takes time. We’re only ten years deep.
Let’s take a moment for shout-outs: what and who should we be checking out from Cuba right now?
Just go to Cuba and check it out. There’s such a unique style of skateboarding born from the lack of internet but dedication to DIY. You know, the traits and culture of Cuba is embedded into our organisation: ingenuity, resourcefulness, thinking outside the box. Try a thousand times before you succeed. But it’s also part of skateboarding. But hey, if you want to check out a cool Cuba musical artist: CIMAFUNK – we’ll be working with him.
You heard him, folx. Turn it on and rip the knob off!
