Paddle for Peace
In the wake of the death of George Floyd on May 25th, 2020, people around the world made their voices heard in different ways about racial inequality and police brutality. With peaceful protests sweeping the nation, a select few coastal cities, including our home beach in San Diego, CA, celebrated his life and showed solidarity for the Black Lives Matter movement though a traditional Hawaiian surfer paddle out ceremony. We chatted with the Paddle for Peace organizer Risa, who shared insight on the day’s event.
“In surfing, we paddle out to honor other fellow surfer lives that were lost. Paddle for Peace started as a paddle out to honor all of the black lives that were lost to police brutality and be a place for people to heal & instead a whole community showed up to unite and take a stand against racism. All I did was light the flame and everyone else carried the torch. It was a beautiful thing. “
A few days after the first large California paddle out at Moonlight Beach in Encinitas, thousands gathered on the rainy morning of June 6th, at Tourmaline in Pacific Beach, California. To immerse in the salt as a symbolic ode to Solidarity for George Floyd. Surfers lined the beach for eight minutes and 46 seconds of silence in honor of George Floyd before paddling out, chanting, singing, mourning and ending with a symbolic flower toss.
Local lifestyle photographer Blue Wesley was there to capture the bird’s eye view. Blue shares,
“The tradition, in which surfers paddle into the ocean, form a circle, and splash the surface of the water, is historically a Hawaiian native tradition for a fallen fellow surfer. “
With a rather gloomy and wet morning in San Diego and 9AM call time, getting “the shot” wasn’t looking promising via drone camera. Luckily, about 8:40 am, the water droplets subsided and left a grey moody sky. The gathering was solid, and the cloudy weather actually helped in showing water clarity and reduced glare for surfers. The resulting images were shared around social media, magazines, and news channels. Blue followed up the series, capturing images of paddle outs later that weekend at Ocean Beach on the morning of June 7th and Windansea in La Jolla on the 8th.
Prints-For-A-Cause
With hundreds of inquiries on getting prints of this historic event, Blue created “Prints-For-A-Cause,” an online print shop that will donate all profits from print sales to NAACP and OCEAN CONSERVANCY.
All prints from each of the paddle outs are available at https://www.polarizedstudios.com/prints-for-a-cause and the amount of final donations will be announced on Blue Wesley’s instagram. Be sure to snag your print to give back & honor this historic event.
What’s Next?
Image via @luv_photo_graphy
Organizer of the event Risa shares, “As far as Paddle For Peace goes right now, I am working with another company, Be Kind Vibes, and we are launching a surf camp to bring underprivileged inner city children of color to the beach and teach them to surf. This FREE camp will launch Summer 2021. It’s time to diversify the line up, the kids are our future. There will be more events to come and our work doesn’t stop here. We want to involve the surf community as much as we can and share the same good vibes on land as we do in the ocean. We will take a stand against any and all injustices and always promote peace. Paddle for Peace will keep our foot on the gas and do what we can to make the world a better place, for everyone. All future events and updates will be posted on our Instagram page.”
About Risa:
Risa is a half Black half Guamanian surfer who grew up on the island of Guam. She has lived in San Diego for the last 13 years and currently works in the health field. Risa has great love for the ocean and actively works with Surfrider Foundation as a volunteer to protect our oceans. The ocean, traveling, & healing people are some of her passions aside from surfing. She is an activist for not only the ocean and the environment but for people as well.
Follow on Instagram:
Risa @risababy and Paddle for Peace @paddleforpeace
Image via @daniyellla
About Blue:
Blue Wesley is an award winning commercial lifestyle photographer based in San Diego who prioritizes travel and acais bowls. He’s worked with world class athletes, shot magazine covers, and developed content for some amazing brands. He surfs daily and has a bucket list wider than average. Check him out at polarizedstudios.com or on Instagram @bluewesley.
Print Shop: http://polarizedstudios.com/prints-for-a-cause