surf history alive

For years, Color the Water has been teaching the people of Watts to surf. Not only the action of surfing, but also the history of it, its position and degradation under white supremacy and colonization, and brave melanated people across history who created it, and have kept alive enough to have it reach them today, in this resistant way. That Rahzizi, the artist who created this mural, is also one of the first learners of Color the Water, also works with Watts Labor Community Action Committee (WLCAC) as storyteller and documentarian, is a fit we could not have imagined, but at the same is as real as it gets. That Rahzizi is from shares Ted Watkins, the founder of WLCAC’s Mississippi roots, is another sign that this mural was meant to be. Through seeds planted by Malcolm Jones, through tireless efforts from Theresa Hwang, and through the steadfast force of Rahzizi and the volunteers he enlisted, this became more than an art project - it became both celebratory sculpture, and a fundamental community build of a pillar that will last longer than paint or cement. The stories portrayed and the people depicted are real - specific in nature, but also universal in form. This piece represents for us what it means to be committed in our efforts as an organization, quiet in our proclamations of what we do, but bold in our actions as we continue to struggle, fueled by why we do it.

Why?

Liberation.