In an effort to support Black youth within Toronto’s skateboard community, Oldowan Co. created Canada’s first Black skateboard collective to foster connections, mentorship and safe spaces around the city.

“Within the skateboard industry itself, Black youth are widely underrepresented and require additional financial support to even participate in the sport,” said Carolyn Douse, the company and collective’s founder and director. “Oldowan Blackboard Collective aims to give Black youth the opportunity to inhabit spaces without barriers of financial burden - our purpose is to build platforms of support, empowerment and equal opportunities within the skateboarding community for all Black youth across the GTA [Greater Toronto Area] and Canada.”

Oldowan Co. was started in 2013 as a Black-owned clothing company and created the collective when Douse and her team saw that several Black skateboarders did not know each other, and there was a need for to build community and further opportunities for them.

Douse said 50 per cent of all profits from the clothing sales go towards supporting Black youth in the collective, through mentorship and sponsorship.

Since beginning the collective about two years ago, Douse said the growing community have embraced Oldowan’s initiatives.

“I think so for us really, the impact that we have been able to have on the [skate]community is solely because we’ve able to be embraced by our community. As we move forward, one of the things that is important to us is being able to grow our community.”

Among the collective's past initiatives include co-organizing the Black Lives Matter (BLM) Skate for Solidarity event that saw hundreds of skateboarders, bikers and roller skaters from across the GTA and Durham Region gather in support of the BLM protests happening globally on Juneteenth in 2020.

The collective also launched a petition on Change.org to install lights at Ellesmere skate park in Scarborough - the park is a highly populated area for skaters, however the lack of proper lighting is preventing "proper lighting to allow longer periods of enjoyment of the facility," according to Douse.

Oldowan Co. is launching its recent clothing collection and is preparing for a pop-up shop at Ellesmere skate park, as well as a celebration in November commemorating its eight-year anniversary.

Listen to Carolyn Douse's full interview here: