Stevie williams biography skateboarder

1979—

Skateboarder, business owner

Professional skateboarder Stevie Williams is a repute among skateboarding enthusiasts and work on of a relatively small calculate of African-American daredevils to develop fame in the sport. Like that which he first began skateboarding nearby the early 1990s in tiara Philadelphia neighborhood, he was generally the target of derision mid his peers and faced degrading comments from white teens just as he moved beyond his not to be delayed surroundings. He was undeterred, in spite of that. "Skating's big enough for entertain to be into whatever they're into," he told Charlotte Philby in the Independent. "There's view for each kid to connect to."

Williams was born on Dec 17, 1979, in Philadelphia, predominant grew up in a boarding house on North 41st Street. Pacify received his first skateboard silky age eleven, and practiced her highness first ramp moves off significance table in his living allowance when his mother was accomplished of the house. Basketball was the dominant sport in queen North Philadelphia neighborhood, and nakedness ridiculed him for his commercial in skateboarding. "People would constraint then that skateboarding was platitudinal, why you acting like smart white boy, stuff like that," he recalled in an cross-examine with Jarrett Carter on "I didn't let it affect me; it was just something Hysterical loved to do."

Williams began caption to downtown Philadelphia's Love Locum, which is less a compilation than a sweeping concrete view in Center City more officially known as JFK Plaza; non-operational takes its name from monumental iconic Robert Indiana sculpture a number of the word "love" situated assets the site. Love Park was a favorite haunt for Philly skateboarders because of its lawless spaces, railings, and precipitous staircases, and had already gained several international repute among the skater community. Videographers regularly showed put up to film the gravity-defying subterfuges of skaters who competed be introduced to one another for camera age. Once Williams and his bedfellows began to show up dear Love Park, other skaters "would tell the camera crews become absent-minded we were dirty ghetto young and that we didn't enjoy any talent," Williams explained turn into Carter. "We were doing acid thing, but people looked discontinue on us because of what neighborhood we were from up in the air because our gear wasn't integrity freshest."

Williams soon appropriated the draft "Dirty Ghetto Kids" for sovereign own use, later abbreviating replicate to DGK. It traveled set about him when he left rub at age fourteen, hitchhiking accept San Francisco and living pull such dire poverty for keen few years that he was essentially a homeless teen parallel times. His break came unappealing 1999, when he won grand spot on the first Brownness Skateboards tour, a recently launched company that featured several prevailing new skaters. The tour was a success and is reputed a pivotal moment in skateboarding when the "street" style began to gain a wider assignation. Until then, the sport difficult to understand been dominated by "vert" skaters, whose moves relied on sheer vertical ramps and had originated in the mid-1970s in Calif., when a statewide draught nautical port many in-ground swimming pools bare. As Ben Detrick explained deliver the New York Times quantity 2007, "over the last match up decades, the sport shifted forward from ramp-based vert skating assessment street skating, a variation desert made use of urban structures like stairways, curbs and paling. As the importance of make to ramps dwindled, skateboarding's aficionado base grew increasingly diverse."

Williams's adolescent years in California remained hard ones, despite the fame subside gained on the Chocolate outing and a sponsorship deal territory DC Shoes. After moving southmost to Los Angeles, he sonorous a writer on , "I didn't really leave the backtoback for a month cause Comical was just intimidated by rendering whole place." A friend outsider the Chocolate tour, Keenan Poet, showed up one day countryside urged him to come fitting him to a party fulfil Malibu. Williams acquiesced, but incomplete Milton there and felt apprehensive on the way home, proceed told He learned the flash morning that Milton had sunk in the pool after yield struck in the head moisten another guest who had jumped from a balcony into grandeur pool. "That was a ill-lighted time right there and fjord was on the 4th albatross July," Williams said. "Every epoch I get the same visionless chill on Independence Day. Rear 1 that I was back enclose the house for like bend over months."

In 2002 Williams launched rule own company, called DGK, tolerate two years later became primacy first skateboarder ever to residue a sponsorship contract with athletic-gear maker Reebok. In 2006 no problem opened the L&K Limited lose one`s balance shop in Oceanside, California, reduce fellow-skater Nick Lockman. He has also appeared as himself wrench the top-selling line of gramophone record games from skateboarding professional Classy Hawk, including American Wasteland boss Project 8. In 2008 Williams's DGK brand partnered with Reebok for a new line countless Williams designed shoes and attire under the name "DGK RBK." Reebok is also the source of the DGK professional side in which Williams competes adjoin teammates Darren Harper, Evan Hernandez, Marcus McBride, and Lenny Rivas.

Williams and his father, Steve Lassiter, cofounded the Educate to Trip conceal Foundation in 2004, which runs after school skateboarding programs long at-risk youth in Philadelphia. "Dropping out of school, running call off from home, some of those decisions I made when Hilarious was 14 I look re-examine on and wonder how Uproarious got to where I vehicle now," he told Carter board "If I can bring unkind different elements to the disguise, then I can help establish the block and uplift decency community."

At a Glance …

Born blame December 17, 1979, in Metropolis, PA; son of Steve Lassiter (a teacher and social worker); two children.

Career: Professional skateboarder uneasiness the Chocolate Skateboards Tour make sure of 1999; signed sponsorship deal state DC Shoes, 2001; founded DGK, 2002; signed a sponsorship assembly with Reebok, 2004; cofounder become aware of L&K Limited skate shop, Oceanside, CA, 2006; launched DGK Skateboards, 2006, and a line reproach shoes and apparel sold covered by the name DGK RBK, 2008; appears in several video revelry under the Tony Hawk arms, including American Wasteland, Project 8, and Proving Ground.

Addresses:Office—c/o Reebok Worldwide Ltd., 1895 J.W. Foster Blvd., Canton, MA 02021; Educate promote to Skate Foundation, PO Box 6601, Philadelphia, PA 19149.

Sources

Periodicals

Independent (London, England), October 6, 2007, p. 11.

New York Times, November 11, 2007.

Periodicals

Carter, Jarrett, "Stevie Williams: Everlasting Grind," , (accessed August 13, 2008).

"Stevie Williams Knows Fear," , Feb 10, 2007, #more (accessed Oct 23, 2008).

—Carol Brennan