Like for me roller skating definitely saved my life which is why Harry Martin created a space that he hopes can save others he’s the owner and founder of the roller wave what he calls a traveling pop-up roller skating experience this one is in Brooklyn I was dealing with
Depression anxiety you know just overall stress I started roller skating again it just basically like changed this negative feeling I was having in life into a positive but for the black community roller skating wasn’t always an accessible Outlet when African Americans were actually allowed to go to the roller skating rink because
They were segregated it was segregation so they gave us one night a week and they would call that Soul Knight or Martin Luther King Jr night wow yeah and like we had on one night that was dedicated to roller skating fast forward a few decades and roller skating became a cultural symbol within
Communities of color allowing people to break free from barriers and just roll this is Black Culture Latino Latina culture going to these roller skating rinks we the ones that brought the vibe to roller skate in back in the 1940s it was just like Ballroom ice skating looking dancing but cream of high
Society introduced roller skating to the ballroom soon it was the rage everywhere but once you had that African-American touch to it we added that disco dance that that feeling to it these Rings were a place of Refuge to express connect and have fun across the country different cities
Became hot spots for skaters and the culture was born for 30 years this was Brooklyn’s Empire Roller Dome now it’s the Empire roller disco disco dancing on roller skates is pumping new life into Old roller rinks and a favorite skate tune Ain’t No Stopping Us Now could be the theme song
For the entire roller skate industry so I started skating when I was six years old I started skiing at Empire roller skating rink in Crown Heights Brooklyn growing up in the late 90s early 2000s in Brooklyn was like notorious for like you know violence so going to the roller skating rink
Like just even going there you had to like protect yourself in the streets that violence was one of the reasons why a bunch of rings closed their doors for good in New York City and including Empire leaving Harry and many other skaters with limited options closing
These spaces is like not giving us a outlet to like go and release but Harry wanted to change that he’s Reviving the roller skating scene in the city thousands of people have visited Harry’s ring so far bringing together both past and present Generations just felt like even my daughter knowing that this is
What Daddy’s doing and we have our own rank I just feel good I feel like superhero a little bit how do you feel knowing that you’re kind of the seed of so much about healing I feel great I mean I feel like I have a purpose in the
World the space brings Joy it brings positivity right now rollerweight house BK is scheduled to close its doors in June but the hope is that it will be around much longer thanks for watching our YouTube channel follow today’s top stories and breaking news by downloading the NBC News app
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