Roller skating has strong ties to the black community as during the Civil Rights Movement, it became a way for black people to escape discrimination. In the 1950’s, skating rinks allowed black people to skate once a week. Originally named “black night”, the night was renamed in the 1960s to be called “Soul Night” instead.
An important piece of history surrounding roller skating is the 685-mile journey that Ledger Smith skated from Chicago to Washington, DC, in order to attend Martin Luther King Jr’s “I Have a Dream” speech.
