The Hidden Culture under I95

The Hidden Culture under I95

Jacob Herzog

10/3/22

Zooming everywhere, I see multitudes of people doing ollies, jumping onto obstacles, someone giving it their all with a backside 180 off a stair set, and just when that seems enough, I hear a big slam! I went to check it out as I walked past the asphalt, inclines, and dips, I finally see where the noise led me to; I look up a gnarly set of 8 stairs and see someone trying to land a Tre flip, I see him scooping the board with his back foot, flicking with his front, and as he pulls of the motion he catches the board and then finally pulls of an insane feat. Soon after I start to hear a bunch of noise, no not the constant noise of the cars overhead on the bridge above me, instead your ears dominate towards the sound of skateboards smacking the ground to almost simulating clapping, all at the same time I see a group of kids that were standing to the side screaming and cheering on this person for landing one of the hardest tricks off of a great height; you can just feel the energy in the skatepark illuminate. Lot 11 is a place where when you walk in you see and immediately notice a multitude of culture, social interactions, and physical activity. I was introduced into skateboarding from my best friend, Lucas, who taught and showed me everything there is to know; we have been skating together for almost 4 years now. In skateboarding whenever trying a new trick at the skatepark its more of a mental challenge rather than a physical one, this is because the mind thinks of every way you can get hurt and so it paralyzes yourself into not committing. Some people might think that this sport is too dangerous and risky, but if you’re careful starting out, and most importantly, knowing your limits then you can have a lot of fun. I was always told that committing is the most important part to skateboarding, what do I mean by committing? Committing is the act of forcing yourself to act without thinking of what can go wrong, essentially ignoring your thoughts.


My session at Lot 11 Skatepark started with my same routine of warming up which consists of flat ground tricks such as ollies, shuvs, 180’s, flip tricks and more, through that process I was able witness a person who visited the skatepark one day happened to be sponsored by the shoe company ‘New Balance’, and the skateboard company ‘Krooked’, and he came to this skatepark to give out free shoes and boards to the kids in need who did not have as much as others did. It was nice to see this happen because it represents how kind the community can be; it really supported the culture of skateboarding and held the reputation up high for being kind and generous while expecting nothing in return.


Relating to another experience, I was able witness someone trying a very difficult trick that requires determination and guts (specifically a kickflip back tail slide), located in the very back of the park with the five stair with a handrail in the middle, I spectate as this person runs to gain speed, pops the tail of his board as turns his shoulders while at the same time, and flicking his front foot to rotate the board where he locks the nose into the handrail to slide down and just when it seems he has it, he falls and bails! Every time he attempts and falls to the ground always made me feel uneasy almost where I feel his pain from repeated falling. I could just imagine how hard it was for this kid to try and land this trick let alone attempt it. Something that struck me was I saw someone standing beside the stairs, someone who looked experienced in skateboarding just by the way his skateboard was scratched up and the clothes he was wearing, he wasn’t just watching the skater, instead he was giving him tips and pointers all while encouraging him and yelling eagerly for him keep going giving him the extra confidence he needs to overcome his trick because sometimes that extra motivation can push you to keep going when scared or tired. I feel because of this motivation he finally accomplished his goal… he landed it! His joy and the accomplishment made me feel like I could do anything, it was something special. Why was this impactful? Well, other than the kindness of motivation, the age difference between the two people was very distant; the skater was young looking while the person watching looked like he was in his mid 30’s. Someone who was clearly older than the other younger person didn’t care about the age gap or how he looked, this person wanted to help him out of his own kindness and wanted to see this trick accomplished. Something special happened when I witnessed this, it was community coming together. People who are so different and who come from different backgrounds come together to this one place and accomplish helping one another all while having fun.


The community of skateboarding holds its reputation for being built on respect for one another not making fun of someone if that person isn’t as good or is a beginner, instead they help one another with tips on how to improve and progress. I have personally experienced this, and I also have seen others experience this as well. Sometimes, being different in skateboarding is supported rather than seen as negative. It is impactful that so many people regardless of age, race, and gender all come together and don’t discriminate in any way. From these experiences, I saw that Miami has a hidden culture of skateboarding stemmed from kindness. From this one place, Lot 11 creates close friendships based on the common interest of skateboarding. Ironic to think that skateboarding, false perceived of producing ‘reckless behavior’ can sprout acts of kindness, teamwork, and create new friendships all in this community.