Photo via Instagram / Clementine Skate
Clementine Skate
Clementine Skate is a Milwaukee-based skate collective for women, LGBTQ+ folks, and Black, Brown and Indigenous folks. Started in 2021, their goal is to create a safe space to skate for people who exist outside the cis white male paradigm. Jennifer Gamillo and Jas Rosenblatt are the main two organizers of Clementine.
Gamillo explains that she and Rosenblatt had been skating for a couple years by the time they began hosting events. “We both started skating around the same time and we quickly noticed that there weren’t a lot of femme-presenting people or queer people in the scene,” she said. “Skate parks can be super intimidating when you’re going by yourself, and I think after I met Jas and we started going with each other, we really wanted more people that look like us and present like us to feel safe and comfortable when they come skate.”
“When I first started skating there would be no girls there unless I went with my sibling,” Rosenblatt adds. “We know what it’s like to feel othered so these events have felt really important.”
After attending skate sessions at the indoor Four Seasons Skate Park, Gamillo and Rosenblatt took it upon themselves to host skate nights of their own at the outdoor Cream City Skateboard Park, favoring the more intimate setting there. The name Clementine Skate comes from a wholesome inside joke; Rosenblatt elaborated, “Jen would bring a bag of Cuties to Cream City and we’d share them with everyone.”
Clementine soon gained enough traction and positive feedback to begin hosting their monthly Queer & Ladies’ Skate Night at Cream City; local skate shops SkyHigh and Phase 2 have generously sponsored their events. They take donations for boards and equipment in order to make skating as accessible for folks as possible. Additionally, some of their skate nights have benefited organizations like The Women’s Shelter and Planned Parenthood.
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Their most recent event was the Halloween Skate Jam which featured a costume contest, trick contest and prizes. “We’re still learning a lot as we go,” Gamillo said. “I’m excited to be doing this and for things to keep getting better. We had a beginners’ session recently and it was super fun; we had a few people come out for it who were really focused, and we definitely want to do more things like that. I still even consider myself a beginner but learning with your friends is super helpful and encouraging - that’s how we both started.”
Clementine Skate hopes to have another event around Thanksgiving time. Follow them on Instagram (@clementineskate) for updates and upcoming events.
