For nearly 70 years a roller rink in Southwest Detroit has attracted new generations of skaters Rollercade Detroit on Schaefer Highway opened in 1955. at the time there were very few places for black children to roller skate so a Detroit couple decided to take matters into their own hands and
Six decades later it is still going strong think at roller K Detroit was bumping on a Saturday night at the end of January it’s just a Vibe it’s just a vibe that we can’t really put into words celebrating 68 years in Southwest Detroit there’s no place on Earth I’d
Rather be than here at the Rollercade tonight roller skating is Black Culture with a Detroit spin it’s the same way with the way we dress the way we talk what up doe our slang it’s in our skating style as well Detroit has its own unique roller skating style as well
I mean you got jitten you got Buffs you got roller skating everybody did one of the three if not all of the three in 1955 Leroy and Johnny may folks opened Rollercade on Shafer Highway it was during a time of segregation so the black children they did not have a lot
Of options they just couldn’t go anywhere and skate there were only certain places that they could go and this was one of those places I learned more here than I did in school my mother actually ran the rink from 55 all the way up through 1989 when she passed away yeah it’s
Almost out of this world because I mean to think of everything that they were faced with at that time to really sit down and plan out opening a business let alone a roller rink and then to be able to execute that plan with all the hurdles that they were faced with at
That time it really speaks to how extraordinary they were over the decades Rollercade became more than a rink this was the option it gave them an outlet it gave them an opportunity that no one else would give them an opportunity to skate an opportunity to do something
That they loved and enjoy because out there it’s just crazy in here it’s all about having fun take the moves and adapt them to the way we were skating Johnny May and Leroy’s Legacy lives on through their grandchildren it’s an honor I’m just grateful to be born into
This family so I’m happy to be a part of it it means a lot to just be here be in this space having the ability to be creative and be who I want to be and something that was rooted in my grandparents something that they started
Now a new generation is looking up from their cell phones to lace up roller skates it’s interesting to see when their favorite song comes on you get to know tuck the phone away tie the skates up and get around the floor and just for those few hours when they’re roller skating you
Kind of noticed that they got those phones put up and they kind of enjoying life in a more simpler way the rink is just 60 feet wide by 90 feet long but the memories created on this shiny surface under strobe lights to the music of our youth it’s Priceless you know
Things seem so big when you’re younger you come up here now it’s like wow but you know uh you can probably tell from the smile on my face that uh it’s a it’s a wonderful memory and the founders of Rollercade Detroit have eight children and 25 grandchildren
Who they hope will carry the torch currently Rollercade is open four days a week so if you want to get in on the action you can we’ve got all of that information on clickondetrade.com
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