Stream It Or Skip It: ‘United Skates’ On HBO, A Documentary About Roller Rink Closures And Their Impact On The Black Community

Remember when you used to go to your local roller rink? You skated in a circle for hours, maybe danced a bit, maybe even had enough ability to spin on wheels. But you all felt the same way: You and the music felt like one. That’s the feeling that the people profiled in United Skates, an HBO documentary about the roller skating subculture in Black communities. Read on to find out more…

UNITED SKATES: STREAM IT OR SKIP IT?

The Gist: For decades, the humble skating rink has been serving as a community center for the towns that they serve. But they have been even more important for the Black communities in those towns. Rinks have been a safe space for people to gather, have fun, show off their moves, and forge friendships and relationships. But as the documentary United Skates shows, rinks are disappearing and with them the sense of community that they create.

Rinks were also a place for hip-hop acts to play to their first big crowds. Examples from the now-closed Skateland USA rink in Compton include Queen Latifah (before she added “Queen” to her stage name), Salt-n-Pepa, Eazy-E, and more. To say that rinks were instrumental to many acts’ career success would be an understatement.

Filmmakers Tina Brown and Dyana Winkler go around the country, talking to people who have grown up skating and find that it’s increasingly more difficult to find a place to skate. Phelicia, an LA-based mother of five, takes her kids skating at a local rink all the time, but in 2014, the rink closes, due to the landlord not renewing its lease. When they try to go to a rink in a more suburban setting, they’re told they can’t wear their custom skates because the wheels are too small and “the floor gets damaged,” even though white people with small-wheeled skates are on the floor.

We also hear the story of World On Wheels, the only place where Bloods and Crips could mingle without violence (at least within the walls of the rink). It closed in 2013, and stayed dormant for four years.

In North Carolina, Reggie and his family have to drive three hours just to get to a rink, even though it has a Top 40 playlist. He decides to go to that rink and organize an “Adult night” where the Black community can gather in an open skate without a ton of restrictions and a hip-hop playlist. The documentary examines how rinks used to be segregated in pre-civil rights days, but after they were integrated, nights like “Adult night” or “R&B night” would segregate all over again, including increased security.

In Chicago, Buddy Love and his family have owned a rink for a decade, but they’re struggling. Still, they host a national skate party that attracts Phelicia and Reggie and skaters from all over the country. Everyone has a great time… but Buddy has some bad news for everyone. It’s symbolic of how many rinks are disappearing, squeezed out by rezoning and high rents. Though there is a bit of a revival afoot, and World of Wheels is at the center of it.

What Movies Will It Remind You Of?: Any documentary involving a subculture, like Paris Is Burning, Murderball or Good Hair.

Performance Worth Watching: We loved Phelicia, mainly because she’s built a life for her kids, and made them all appreciate roller skating. Two of her kids are profiled: Shannon, who has ADHD and ends up going to jail for breaking and entering, and her youngest, London, whose father is also a big roller skater.

Memorable Dialogue: “I’d rather see him in chains than a casket,” Phelicia says about Shannon; she actually turned him in after he broke into a house.

Single Best Shot: At the national skate party, a hometown Chicago-based skater does a move called The Underground.

Sex and Skin: Nothing.

Our Take: We live in a town where a long-open roller rink just closed (it’s mentioned briefly in the movie), so United Skates held some extra fascination for us. Brown and Winkler, backed by executive producers like John Legend, expanded on the documentary short the produced to show a well-rounded picture of Black skate culture and how it’s in danger due to the mass disappearance of rinks over the last three decades.

What we found most fascinating about the documentary, besides the amazing and varied moves from different parts of the country, was how the idea of “Adult night” was embraced by the Black community even though they know it’s still a not-so-subtle form of segregation. Also fascinating was how the (mostly white) rink owners practiced under-the-radar racism by banning things like skates with no toe stops or small wheels or even things like skating in trios or lines, all things that were more pointed to the Black community than anything else. Just having increased security during Adult night shows what the owners really think of the community they’re hosting.

But then there are owners like the one from the Skate Depot, which closed in 2014. He was truly sad to see people he knew for decades have nowhere to go to let off steam, and folks like him and Buddy truly wish towns and cities would consider what rezoning does to communities when they lose gathering centers like skating rinks in favor of big box stores.

Our Call: STREAM IT. United Skates shows a subculture that needs some promotion, has a great soundtrack, good interviews, and shows dance moves that can give you chills. Lets hope roller rinks make a comeback now that this movie is out there.

Joel Keller (@joelkeller) writes about food, entertainment, parenting and tech, but he doesn’t kid himself: he’s a TV junkie. His writing has appeared in the New York Times, Slate, Salon, VanityFair.com, Playboy.com, Fast Company’s Co.Create and elsewhere.

Stream United Skates on HBO Go