Passport to Success LA2017: Life at the Beach Series Nick Gabaldón Day Field Trip Report California Beaches Belong to You (Activity Date: Saturday, 3 June 2017) Prepared by Alison Rose Jefferson, Ph.D. SMC’s Youth Program Make A Big Splash with South L.A. Youngsters at the Nick Gabaldón Day 2017 Celebration Youngster from Martin Luther King Jr. Recreation Center about to stand up on her surfboard during her introductory surfing lessons at the Nick Gabaldón Day 2017 celebration. Photography by Damien Baskette. Revised 2 Page 1 of 14 Passport to Success LA2017: Life at the Beach Series Nick Gabaldón Day Field Trip Report California Beaches Belong to You (Activity Date: Saturday, 3 June 2017) Prepared by Alison Rose Jefferson, Ph.D. Youngsters from South Los Angeles parks having fun and jubilantly wading in the Pacific Ocean at Nick Gabaldon Day 2017. Photography by Damien Baskette. Youngsters from South Los Angeles hosted by the Santa Monica Conservancy’s Passport to Success LA2017: Life at the Beach Series pilot youth program jubilantly waded in the water, had some fun and learned about history and marine ecology on Saturday, June 3, for the sixth year of the Nick Gabaldón Day celebration at Santa Monica’s Bay Street beach/InKwell monument. Some of youngsters even tooK surfing lessons. Over 30 South Los Angeles youngsters joined other youngsters hosted by Pacoima Beautiful and Concerned BlacK Men, and folKs from the general public for enjoyment at the day’s event. There were close to 200 participants, made up of mostly youngsters from elementary school to young adulthood, along with event partner organization facilitators and volunteers, and general public supporters. Revised 2 Page 2 of 14 Passport to Success LA2017: Life at the Beach Series Nick Gabaldón Day Field Trip Report California Beaches Belong to You (Activity Date: Saturday, 3 June 2017) Prepared by Alison Rose Jefferson, Ph.D. Eric Griffin, director of Martin Luther King Recreation Center and Alison Rose Jefferson, program coordinator for the SMC’s Passport to Success Beach Series programming lead the coordination and fundraising efforts for the youth participation from parKs in South Los Angeles in the beach celebration. Youngsters participating in a day’s field trip were from Martin Luther King Recreation Center, Green Meadows Park and Algin Sutton ParK in the South Los Angeles City Council District 8 of Councilman Marqueece Harris-Dawson. Albizeal Del Valle, field deputy for Councilman Harris-Dawson, assisted with funding a bus coach to transport the youngsters, to and from, their South Los Angeles neighborhoods to Santa Monica beach for the full day of activities. NicK Gabaldón (1927–1951) was the first documented surfer of African- and Mexican-American descent in California’s Santa Monica Bay. As a teenager he began surfing in the Pacific Ocean at Santa Monica’s Bay Street beach sometimes called “the Inkwell,” which is the historical African American beach site from the Jim Crow era, and the location where Gabaldón first began his ocean experiences. In 2008 the City of Santa Monica officially recognized the Bay Street beach/“Inkwell” and Gabaldón with a landmarK monument at Bay Street and the Oceanfront WalK. The monument and this day’s celebration commemorates the legacy of Gabaldón and along side the heritage of numerous other people of color who enjoyed this beach site, that struggled for their California dreams of freedom and self- fulfillment during the Jim Crow era. He and other African Santa Monica’s Bay Street beach/Inkwell monument Americans and other people of color challenged racial and site at Oceanfront Walk where history, ocean class structures by confronting the emergent politics of leisure stewardship and surfing lesson activities took place and recreation access when they surfed, and hung out at the at the Nick Gabaldón Day 2017 celebration. oceanfront, a public space that was, and still is, at the core of California’s formative, mid-twentieth century identity. Fun and educational field trips are one of the ways we broaden youngsters’ horizons. When we expose them to different neighborhoods, new experiences and people, they see possibilities that they may not have considered before. The Santa Monica Conservancy, Heal the Bay, the BlacK Surfers Collective, Surf Academy and other organizations partner on the NicK Gabaldón Day programming to reach out to youngsters in under-served communities to inspire, engage and empower them (and their parents) through meaningful educational programming. We are helping build personal experiences with cultural, historical and nature heritage and civic engagement that are the foundation of stewardship, and the development of the next generation of civic, historic preservation and nature conservation leaders. Los Angeles County Supervisor Sheila Kuehle and the Bay Foundation provided primary funding support for the NicK Gabaldón Day in 2017 celebration. Revised 2 Page 3 of 14 Passport to Success LA2017: Life at the Beach Series Nick Gabaldón Day Field Trip Report California Beaches Belong to You (Activity Date: Saturday, 3 June 2017) Prepared by Alison Rose Jefferson, Ph.D. The Run Down for Nick Gabaldón Day 2017 At the beginning of the awesome day, among the opening remarKs, the youngsters got a special welcome from California’s Coastal Commissioner Effie Turnbull Sanders, an attorney and former University of California, Los Angeles competitive swim team member. She greeted all and shared her great concerned about keeping coastal access open for all people in our state, and her pleasure at being invited to attend and see the day’s programming. Stephanie Cohen, district director for the Los Angeles County Supervisor Sheila Kuehl offered a resolution in support of the NicK Gabaldón Day activity. Youngsters from South Los Angeles parks giving the bay a big hug, posing with a replica of the painting of Nick Gabaldón by artist Richard Wyatt used as part of the welcome and on land paddle out ceremony. Adults pictured, standing, left to right: Eric Griffin, director of Martin Luther King Jr. Recreation Center; Albizeal Del Valle, field deputy for Councilman Marqueece Harris-Dawson, Michael Blum, author of the Malibu Historic District National Register Listing Nomination; Alison Rose Jefferson, historian and coordinator of Santa Monica Conservancy's youth program; Effie Turnbull Sanders, California Coastal Commissioner; Shelley Luce, CEO of Heal the Bay; and Tom Ford, executive director of The Bay Foundation. Front row, kneeling: Meredith McCarthy, programming director, Heal the Bay, led the big hug for the bay. Photography by Elizabeth Espinoza, MLK Rec Center. Revised 2 Page 4 of 14 Passport to Success LA2017: Life at the Beach Series Nick Gabaldón Day Field Trip Report California Beaches Belong to You (Activity Date: Saturday, 3 June 2017) Prepared by Alison Rose Jefferson, Ph.D. Either by observation or actually participation, all then had the chance to experience a tribute on land and in the ocean paddle-out ceremony, where surfers honor fellow surfers who have died such as Gabaldón and others they wanted to recognize. On land surfboards and flowers were laid out in a circle at the shoreline area where all were gathered for the welcome remarks. After collecting the flowers and surfboards from the shoreline circle formation, surfers headed for the surf paddle out beyond the breaK, into the calm area of the ocean water nearby the shore. There they created a floating circle, with the flowers being placed in the center. The surfers straddling their boards held hands in union for a moment of silence. Someone spoke words of remembrance. Surfers may have send up hoots, whistles or chants, as they splashed water on the surrounding surfboards. The Los Angeles County Lifeguard boat sprayed water over the paddle-out group as part of the commemoration gesture. The surfers participating in the NicK Gabaldón Day programming then returned to shore to volunteer as water safety and free surfing lesson instructors facilitated by Surf Academy and the BlacK Surfers Collective. Youngsters from South Los Angeles parks participating in the welcome and in the on land portion of the paddle out ceremony for Nick Gabaldón Day 2017 at Santa Monica's Bay Street beach/Inkwell monument with a view of the Santa Monica Pier in the background. Carol Lemlein and Alison Rose Jefferson from the Santa Monica Conservancy are standing amongst the SoLA youngsters, just to the left of the Heal the Bay flag. Photography by Surfrider Foundation volunteer. Revised 2 Page 5 of 14 Passport to Success LA2017: Life at the Beach Series Nick Gabaldón Day Field Trip Report California Beaches Belong to You (Activity Date: Saturday, 3 June 2017) Prepared by Alison Rose Jefferson, Ph.D. Simultaneously in rotation with the surfing lessons, youngsters had learning experiences with local history and historic preservation, and marine biology and watershed stewardship. Santa Monica Conservancy president Carol Lemlein and historian Alison Rose Jefferson, who also coordinates the Passport to Success Beach Series youth program, facilitated visits to inspect the InKwell monument to experience the historic marker to educate the youngsters about Gabaldón and the Inkwell site. Ocean paddle out ceremony, where surfers honor fellow surfers who have died such as Gabaldón and others they wanted to recognize. Photography by Surfrider Foundation volunteer. Michael Blum, surfer and the author of the Malibu Historic District project nominating the Malibu surfing area to the National Register of Historic Places also helped out in the heritage presentation about Gabaldón’s surf experience at Bay Street and Malibu. David Kaplan, Santa Monica Conservancy board member stopped by to lend support. Heal the Bay facilitators lead marine biology and ecology explorations, while Surfrider Foundation volunteers led youngsters on mini scavenger hunt beach clean up to discover items which should not be on the beach. For those youngsters who did not taKe surfing lessons this time, there was time to watch the surfing students and plenty of playtime and fun in the sun, sand and surf between the unique learning experiences.