That’s right! In an historic event this weekend, the East Oakland Swim Club in partnership with Water World Swim Organization Swim and the Centurions of San Francisco, hosted 100 Black Folk and Friends Alcatraz to San Francisco Swim. Folks from around the Oakland Bay Area came together to swim in the surrounding open waters for this good cause: to encourage more black and brown folks to learn to swim, and demonstrate that many already do!

Courtesy of The Grio

Unfortunately, 70 percent of black children do not know how to swim, and the consequence is a disproportionate rate of drownings in our community. According to the University of Memphis study, the fatal drowning rate of African-American children ages 1-14 is 2.6 times higher than that of white children in the same age range.

Group  leader Cedric Troupe shares, “[Oakland] has shutdown many of its public pools, limiting access to swimming in our communities. I hope that through this swim, we raise awareness about how important swimming is to black folk, and the importance of public pools.”
Outdoor Afro Leader Zoe Polk, an expert swimmer in her own right, started out the morning with the group and some Clif Bar Mojo!

“It was a beautiful morning,” she said, “I was so happy to join Cedric and friends to swim for this important cause!”
Learn more about the East Oakland Swim Club by visiting their Facebook page.