- WSL / Brady Lawrence

On Wednesday, June 3rd, at Moonlight Beach in Encinitas, CA, thousands of surfers gathered for the Paddle Out for UNITY in solidarity with Black Lives Matter.

Addressed by Sal Masekela, the surfers spelled out the word 'UNITY' with their boards, and then paddled out to celebrate the black lives lost to police brutality.

Masekela addressed the crowd with a bullhorn and asked for a full eight minutes and 46 seconds of silence to honor the life of George Floyd. This represents the amount of time that a reconstruction compiled by security footage, witness videos and official documents show how a series of alleged actions by officers turned fatal as reported by The New York Times.

The Encinitas 'UNITY' paddle out was organized by Textured Waves (a collective of black women surfers), Changing Tides Foundation, Kind Humans and Sal Masekela. To find out more, please visit them on social media.

Words by:
@salmasekela

Organized by:
@changingtidesfoundation
@texturedwaves
@salty.sol
@kindhumans_movement
@salmasekela

Film & Edit:
@thecigarettesurfboard

Additional Footage:
@downcomfort
@kindhumans_movement
@oltjp
@brakovision

Music:
@getawaydogs

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