PUBLISHED 11:59 AM PT Sep. 22, 2020PUBLISHED 11:59 AM PDT Sep. 22, 2020
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SANTA MONICA, Calif. — On Tuesday, a local surfer paddled his board 12 miles from Inkwell Beach, Santa Monica to the Malibu Pier to pay homage to Nick Galbadon — the first Black/Latino surfer in Los Angeles who was known to routinely paddle to Malibu to surf because he was not allowed on the beach.
Sand and salt water are usually always on the agenda for David Malana, but this summer has been much busier than usual. He came up with the idea of his nonprofit initiative, Color the Water, after going to a surf paddle-out event for George Floyd, the Minnesota man who died at the hands of white police officers in May.
The San Dimas native noticed very few people of color that day, and for those who were there, the disparity of surfing levels between the white surfers and those of color were starkly different.
“That was supposed to be a call to action, not the action in and of itself," said Malana. "So in that way, how do I make this...these anti-racist sentiments part of my daily practice?”
Malana's heart for others is hardwired in his soul. He has traveled the world, serving in the Peace Corps for five years after college. He now teaches media literacy has also founded a nonprofit, in honor of his late mother, where he gives free surf lessons and takes photos and videos for Black Indigenous people of color, or BIPOC.
"That is where I was trying to make sure that it wasn’t performative," Malana said, when asked about what it means to be a true ally. "And also because media was involved, I didn’t want it to be where I give one lesson, get the pictures and post it online. I wanted to develop autonomous surfers.”
After black.surfers Instagram posted a photo of Malana’s announcement, the community started to grow.
“So it's been really organic," he said. "I am really proud that the leadership of it also is majority Black. Black leadership is crucial in a project like this, where me as an Asian-American man, the best that I can do is to be an intermediary in this racial struggle. My father enjoyed a lot of the rights that he has off of the back of the civil rights movement, where the sacrifices were made mostly by the Black population. And so, in that way, I am very aware of who I am, and who I am not."
One of the leaders and co-founders of Color the Water is Malana's friend Liz Jackson, an active travel guide who is usually somewhere outdoors leading trips around world. But since the pandemic began, the Native Angeleno has been home and wanted to contribute to the cause.
"It literally starts with a hashtag, you know," said Jackson. "David put out this hashtag, 'Color the Water,' and all of a sudden people started showing up. And when we are out in the water, people, you know, there are people that are walking by, asking what’s going on and asking questions. You don’t have to have a big business plan or anything. Just throw it out there in the world and see how people respond to it."
"Black leadership is what helps and moves it forward and makes it grow into something very substantial," Malana said. "I think that is what is happening now."
The response to Color the Water is one that he hopes will make waves for as long as they can.