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11-19-2024 3:39 pm • PDX and SEA Weather
MLK Breakfast
This one is for the culture!
Black Archives, a multimedia platform dedicated to visually spotlighting the Black experience, has teamed up with Most Incredible Studio, the first Black-owned creative studio for LEGO art, to release a new piece highlighting Black roller-skating culture. Founded by Renata Cherlise in 2015, Black Archives is committed “to telling Black stories through the framework [of] Black memory and imaginations.” This nostalgic element inspired the most recent collaboration with Most Incredible, entitled “How We Roll,” a limited edition roller skate using LEGO bricks with an accompanying deep dive into the Black history, cultural significance, and artistic expression behind roller-skating within the Black communities.
“Roller rinks are living, breathing archives of our history, culture, and spirit. These are places where we come together, roll through life, and push forward – not only as sites of resistance but as sites of existence, too,” said Cherlise via statement.
Cherlise partnered with Most Incredible founders Syreeta Gates and Randall Wilson to hone in on how to bring this particular archival project to life, delving into research, history, and developing mood boards that accurately captured this often forgotten third space within the Black community. What resulted was a beautiful love letter for roller skating and an archive that blended history, archives, and imagination using LEGO bricks.
The collaboration includes archival photos that center roller-skating and roller rinks as a type of third space within the Black community, tracing its history and role in political activism, within the fashion industry, as performance art and recreation, within popular culture, and in the music industry. “How We Roll” also features a limited edition LEGO roller skate featuring 428 LEGO bricks and an accompanying assembly guide. Gates called the collaboration “a gift,” saying it is much more “than just a product ” and felt like a natural partnership for both brands.
“The partnership between Most Incredible and Black Archives came together because we wanted to gift a labor of love to Black Skate Culture. When Renata had the idea of creating a LEGO skate, I automatically went back to my 14th birthday party at the roller skating rink….I’ve always seen the people who were the most fly in Black skates, hence the design. This is not a product. It’s a celebration. We want to honor and pay homage to Black people who come from generations of skaters and thank them for being of service to the culture,” Gates told Because Of Them We Can.
A project that is both nostalgic and necessary, it’s a blast into Black joy that will stay for generations to come. For those who love the culture and the childhood wonder that comes with building LEGOS, it is also an essential collector’s item as we head into the holiday season. A vital space and community hub for Black families, roller skating culture is finally getting the flowers it deserves in the most innovative of ways.
“This limited edition set pays homage to the self-expression and creativity that has flourished within Black skating communities for decades. Through this collaboration, we bridge past, present, and future — turning an art form rooted in resilience — into a buildable experience,” reads a statement on the Most Incredible Studio website.
Click HERE to pre-order “How We Roll” from Black Archives and Most Incredible Studio.
