Culture Creation

OUR PROGRAMS ARE MEANT TO CREATE A PATH TOWARDS SURF CULTURE CREATION THAT CELEBRATES OUR DIVERSE EXPERIENCES AS Girls, WOMEN, and gender expansive people of color - PLACING JOY AND ENVIRONMENTAL REVERENCE AT THE CENTER - So that more of us CAN ENGAGE IN SURFING AND OCEAN CONNECTION, AND ALL THE BENEFITS THAT ENTAILS.  

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We do this by:

  • Having a staff  and volunteer base made up primarily by female of center people of color. We believe it is important that our participants are taught by women, girls, and gender expansive folks who look like them and share their experiences.

  • Focusing on cultural access in addition to financial and logistical access to the ocean. This includes replacing negative narratives around people of color and the ocean, with positive ones; repositioning surfing in familiar cultural spaces for communities of color; and uplifting histories and cultural traditions that connect women of color to the ocean and water.

  • Utilizing a Mind-Body-Ocean curriculum which carries mindfulness, gratitude, observation, and caring for the earth as central threads through all our actions; and integrates a variety of teaching modalities, cultural traditions, and arts and expression throughout our program days.

  • Having ongoing events that occur outside of surfing, in Oakland and via outings.   Some examples of these are our Oakland based environmental cleanups, our Year End Celebration featuring a female hip hop showcase and our Brown Girl Surf slideshow, Cal Academy outings, ocean hikes and film screenings.  

  • Conducting programs that are intergenerational. This allows for adults and young folks to develop relationships with each other, drawing on traditional intergenerational forms of care and communication.

  • Building the capacity of our volunteers and youth to act as ambassadors of Brown Girl Surf, and share their love of the ocean and surfing with others.