Anisa Khalifa: A few weeks back, a professional skateboarder was scrolling through social media, when he came across an old photograph that blew him away.
Tony Hawk: It just oozes style.
Anisa Khalifa: The photo was taken in Fayetteville, North Carolina in the 1970s. In the shot, a 10-year old girl skateboards down a street, holding up an umbrella as she rolls toward the camera. It’s a beautiful image. But one thing, in particular, stood out to him.
Tony Hawk: Honestly, her sense of confidence and ease.
Anisa Khalifa: Now, I don’t know a lot about skateboarding. But that look on her face, her poised stance – it’s striking. So it doesn’t surprise me that this photo would grab the attention of a pro skater. But this guy…is the most famous skateboarder in the world. And he was dying to know who she was…
Tony Hawk: So I reposted it and next thing I know it just caught like wildfire.
Anisa Khalifa: No shocker there. Tony Hawk has more than NINE MILLION followers on Instagram. He’s an icon—one of the most accomplished athletes of all-time. And he helped put skateboarding on the map in the 80s and 90s. But back in the late 70s…
Tony Hawk: That's a time when not many people were skateboarding…. there wasn't a lot of Black representation in skateboarding. There wasn't much women representation in skateboarding and, and this checks all those boxes…
Anisa Khalifa: So… who is the mystery girl in the photo? I’m Anisa Khalifa. This is the Broadside, where we tell stories from our home at the crossroads of the South. This week, we go on a hunt to find Tony Hawk’s new favorite skater – and find out why this decades-old snapshot was so ahead of its time.
Jeremy Markovich: My name is Jeremy Markovich. And I am the writer of the North Carolina Rabbit Hole newsletter.
Anisa Khalifa: Jeremy’s work pays special attention to the state’s lost history and quirky culture. And like us here at the Broadside… he loves a good mystery.
Jeremy Markovich: There are some mysteries where you're just like, I don't, I don't think you can solve this one. Right? Like, like, there's some that are really big and broad.
Anisa Khalifa: But the one that showed up in his Instagram feed on a recent Saturday afternoon seemed like it was made for him to solve. A challenge from Tony Hawk himself: who is this skater?
Jeremy Markovich: I saw the picture, which I thought was fantastic. And I saw the caption, which said it was from Fayetteville in the 1970s. And I thought to myself, yeah, this is something I could probably figure out…I feel like a detective, like, oh, I think this is an easy case potentially for me if I can get to the right spots… Somebody is going to figure out this mystery. Why can't it be me.
Anisa Khalifa: As you look at this, like what stands out to you about this photo? What makes it so special?
Jeremy Markovich: So, um, in the picture is it's black and white, uh, really high resolution. And it's this, this young, uh, Black girl has pigtails. She's wearing this long coat and I think there is just like this moment of serenity to me. You have this girl and she's just very casually skating down her street. It's raining and she's holding up an umbrella. She has one hand in her pocket and she's just kind of looking at the camera like ‘yeah this is just what I do’.
Anisa Khalifa: Jeremy had his mission. So he rolled up his sleeves, and jumped down the rabbit hole…
Jeremy Markovich: And so I started looking around and the farthest back I actually found was on Instagram. An account called blackarchives.co had posted this picture, a collection of images from Fayetteville Observer photographers between 1973 and 1987.
Anisa Khalifa: A 15 year range. That didn’t exactly narrow things down.
Jeremy Markovich: Then I started looking around on the Observer's website and the picture, uh, that was on the website actually had a date on it, January 20th, 1979. So now I have a date. I don't have a location. I don't have a person's name. I don't have a backstory. But now I have a precise date. And, uh, from there I went on to some online newspaper archives, but they didn't have the Fayetteville Observer. So, uh, I turned to who you turn to in really tough times, a librarian.
Anisa Khalifa: Shout out to librarians. They get the job done.
Jeremy Markovich: Absolutely, You cannot get it done without librarians who know where to find things and can get them to you and they’re like, always the most helpful people in the world.
Anisa Khalifa: And with the help of an archival expert at the Cumberland County Public Library, Jeremy found the specific newspaper he was looking for.
Jeremy Markovich: January 21st, 1979. And, uh, that is where I found the caption and that is sort of what unlocked the whole mystery. And the caption says, Shaundra Shane didn't want to get wet, but the idea of spending a Saturday without her skateboard was too much to handle. So she got her umbrella and wheeled down Dinsmoor Drive.
Anisa Khalifa: He finally had a name. But there was a slight problem…
Jeremy Markovich: Her name is misspelled in the caption. So is it Shaunda or is it Shaundra? But when I came across a Facebook profile, I was like, Oh, this has got to be her. And it wasn't hard to figure out, the photo of her in the rain skateboarding under an umbrella, that was the profile photo. So I was like, this is her.
Anisa Khalifa: Jeremy reached out to Shaunda over Facebook. She responded and DING DING DING! She confirmed that she was indeed the young girl from the photo.
Jeremy Markovich: So I called her up and it was a weird coincidence because she hadn't really thought about this picture in a long time. And like a neighbor was cleaning out. Like a closet or something and found this picture and was like, Hey, that's a really cool picture. Do you, uh, do you want it? And she's like, yeah, cool. And then it ends up on Facebook. And she's like, Oh, you know, I was just thought it was my own little picture of me. I didn't really, you know, I wouldn't expect anybody to post it online.
So it was this weird coincidence where this photo had come back into her life more recently anyway. And, uh, She just happened to find it about the same time, maybe as Tony Hawk found it. And she was like, Oh yeah, I know who Tony Hawk is, that's really cool. And she seems like when I talked to her on the phone, just this really like, nice, calming presence, like, she seems, she seems very zen, uh, to talk to, just like she looks very zen in the photo, like, that, that thing hasn't changed.
Anisa Khalifa: Jeremy, you do this all the time. Stories like this are your bread and butter. But this one seems special. What's so special about this story? Jeremy Markovich: You know, this is one of these stories where to me, sometimes when you see things on social media or you encounter them in the digital world, right? And sometimes it all can kind of feel a little bit contrived, right? Like you just kind of feel like, Oh, this is — somebody put somebody up to this or this didn't really happen this way or this situation didn't really — there's more to this story. And with this story uh it refreshingly didn't feel that way at all. At least in the stories that we often tell or come across like that feels more and more rare and so I just love telling the story because It was just a nice little story even though It involves the most famous skateboarder of all time.
Anisa Khalifa: So Jeremy succeeded in his quest to locate this mystery skater. But the story doesn’t end there. Coming up, Shaunda Shane meets her admirer and fellow skater, Tony Hawk. When Shaunda Shane heard that a photo of her 10-year-old self was going viral, she almost didn’t believe it…
Shaunda Shane: It was a total shock to me. Like. Totally.
Anisa Khalifa: Shaunda still lives in Fayetteville. Today, she works as a patient financial specialist for a local hospital. She’s also a mother of three and life keeps her pretty busy. But one day things went a little differently.
Shaunda Shane: Everybody just started calling me and texting me and emailing me and was like, oh my God, oh my God, Tony Hawk posted your picture on his page. And I'm like, what?
Anisa Khalifa: Shaunda says it’s been fun and kinda surreal seeing her old picture get this level of attention. But throughout this whole saga, she hadn’t actually talked to Tony Hawk. That is until a few days ago…
Tony Hawk: Hi, Shonda. Nice to meet you. What an honor.
Shaunda Shane: Hi, Tony. You too, as well.
Tony Hawk: I think it's so cool that your picture has resonated this many years later. I was just so, I was so impressed that you, you looked so confident, especially skating on, you know, on the archaic equipment at the time and in the rain. I mean, if there's one thing I, I will not do these days is skate in the rain.
Shaunda Shane: I was a daredevil back then.
Tony Hawk: It appears so.
Anisa Khalifa: So how did you come across this photo of Shonda skateboarding in the 70s as a young girl?
Tony Hawk: It came through, uh, a mutual friend, a legendary black skater from the 80s, 90s, Clyde Singleton, posted it on his Instagram feed and just said, you know, I think the, the exact words were something to the effect of, ladies and gentlemen, this is the real GOAT, uh, skateboarding photo from 1979 coming out of Fayetteville, North Carolina, and, uh, he had reposted it from blackarchives.co. And I thought it was an amazing image and, and just what a formative time in skateboarding, but one that isn't well documented. And so I, I reposted it and I just thought it was very cool. And next thing I know it kind of caught wildfire.
Anisa Khalifa: Shonda, can you take us back to that day and tell us what were the circumstances of the taking the photo?
Shaunda Shane: I do remember I was, wanted to go outside. I wanted to play. I was with my grandparents because I live with my grandparents. So at the time I was the only child there. So of course, um, I had my skateboard. My neighborhood at the time, like had nothing but hills. It was like hills on every street. And the more I rode, the more I mastered it, because trust and believe once I hit a pebble or a little patch of sand, I would go tumbling off of that skateboard, but I promise you, I mastered it.
So on this particular day, I wanted to go outside. I was skating in the rain and I had a, a newspaper guy that stayed on our block. So as I'm riding in the rain, he came outside and he was like, can I take a photo of you? Can you ask your parents? Can I take a photo of you? So I went and asked my grandparents and my grandparents said yes. And that's how the picture came about.
Tony Hawk: That's so cool. Just on a personal note, I love that you stand with your right foot forward. That's what we call goofy footed. I'm proud to know that Shonda is a fellow goofy footer.
Shaunda Shane: I definitely am.
Tony Hawk: How long did you skate for?
Shaunda Shane: Uh, I skated for years. I had no one to skate with. For a long time in my neighborhood, I was the only girl that had a skateboard. No, I can't even remember at the time that I was skating any boys in my neighborhood that were even skating skateboards like that, but I skated for a couple of years.
Tony Hawk: You're a pioneer in that sense, because there were not many, not many girls skating back then.
Shaunda Shane: No, it wasn't. And all of my girlfriends had roller skates, you know, so yes, I enjoyed my skateboard and I went everywhere with that little pink skateboard.
Tony Hawk: So cool.
Anisa Khalifa: How did you pick it up, Shonda? What made you decide to start skateboarding?
Shaunda Shane: My uncle brought me a skateboard. He came home one day and he brought me a skateboard. Or me and two of my friends, he brought us skateboards. And I think I just learned from then just how to maneuver it and I would, uh, I'm the type of person I will watch people like watch, watch, watch people and learn how to do things, you know, from watching people. I've always been that way. And I think I just watched and, and learned and then practiced and just watched other people.
Anisa Khalifa: How does that compare to your growing up and learning how to skateboard, Tony? Where were you in your skateboarding journey in the 70s?
Tony Hawk: I started around this year that you have this photo. So, uh, I was about 10 years old and my older brother was a surfer. So he skated by extension of surfing and he taught me how to ride. And I feel you with the pebbles and the sand, um, had plenty of those incidents on the way to school and the way home, but it wasn't until I went to a skate park for the first time that I truly fell in love with it because I saw the possibilities of being airborne. That's what hooked me and I've been skating ever since.
Anisa Khalifa: There’s one final twist to this story. After Tony posted the photo and Shaunda’s phone started to blow up, she got a request from the local newspaper – the Fayetteville Observer. The same paper that originally published Shaunda’s picture back in 1979. Staff photographer Andrew Craft wanted to recreate the now famous shot. Shaunda jumped at the opportunity, even though it had been a while since she’d stepped on a skateboard.
Tony Hawk: I wanted to ask you, Shonda, how was it recreating that photo?
Shaunda Shane: It was amazing. It was, uh, nerve wracking because the first picture when I was 10, you know, I was actually rolling so that easier, but on the recreation, I had to literally like stand still and I'm like, Oh my God, I can't do this. You know,
Tony Hawk: It's funny you say that. Cause I can tell from that photo what, yeah, I can tell you're standing still, but also that the trucks are kind of loose on that skateboard and it would have benefited you for them to tighten those trucks. It would have been more stable.
Shaunda Shane: Okay.
Tony Hawk: That's just my, that's my, uh, hindsight of 20/20.
Anisa Khalifa: The technical knowledge that no one else would have been able to give.
Shaunda Shane: But it was, it was amazing, um, I wish I could have did a little bit better job, but I was literally just walking in the door from work. He was knocking on my, well, ringing my doorbell and I'm like, okay, I can't even do anything. It's like go time right now.
Tony Hawk: That's amazing.
Anisa Khalifa: I wanted to ask both of you. Why is it so important to preserve these kinds of personal and cultural histories? Like photos like this that document specific places and times.
Tony Hawk: Well, from my perspective, there's an accepted narrative of skateboarding that it was mostly Southern California surf culture that created the movement. And when you see photos like this, That just puts it all to shame because, you know, here's Shaunda on her own in North Carolina and skating as if she's been doing it her whole life. And the idea that these photos are, you know, just now coming to light is, is really, well, it's enlightening. And so I'm thankful that people have preserved these, these types of images.
Shaunda Shane: Yes. I was just so amazed. Like I said, I do remember the photo, but did I ever think that it would come back around again? Like never in a lifetime. And I think pictures like that, or I mean, is, am I old enough to call it history? I guess I'm history now. I don't know in my history, you know, it's something that I definitely want to say for my grandkids, you know what I'm saying? And they can show their kids, like, look at grandma on a skateboard. You know what I'm saying? So. It is really wonderful.
Anisa Khalifa: Shaunda, are you going to get back on the skateboard now?
Shaunda Shane: Actually, um, like a month or so before that, my son's skateboard was outside. And I just jumped on. I was like, let me see if I can ride the skateboard still. So I jumped on it and I rode out in the driveway into the street and that was about it, that's all I did, but don't test me because I will see.
Tony Hawk: Well, I'd love to, uh, I'd love to send you one of mine with some tighter trucks. So you feel a little more stable.
Shaunda Shane: Yes, I definitely. And then. I know where a skate park is now because back then I had absolutely no clue where a skate park was.
Tony Hawk: Oh, there were none. Trust me. I grew up in that era. There were none.
Shaunda Shane: Okay. Okay. So yeah, I definitely, I'll try. I'll try anything. I'm, um, I still got that daredevil in me.
Anisa Khalifa: This was great. Thank you both so much.
Shaunda Shane: You're very welcome.
Tony Hawk: Thank you.
Anisa Khalifa: I highly recommend checking out the photographs of Shaunda Shane. We have linked to both the original and the recreation from the Fayetteville Observer in our show notes. We also have a link to Jeremy Markovich’s work at the North Carolina Rabbit Hole.
This episode of the Broadside was produced by Charlie Shelton-Ormond. It was edited by Jerad Walker. Wilson Sayre is our executive producer. The Broadside is a production of WUNC–North Carolina Public Radio and is part of the NPR Network. You can email us at broadside@wunc.org. If you enjoyed the show, leave us a rating, a review, or share it with a friend! I’m Anisa Khalifa. Thanks for listening y'all. We'll be back next week.