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Laura Bronson is leading the pack
by Christina Crook
For Laura Bronson, founder of Keep It Real,
skateboarding isn’t a sport – it’s a way of life.
She rides up on her graffiti-decked board with a
million dollar smile, mammoth earphones and backpack in tow. We’re
meeting in North Toronto, on a sunny afternoon after class.
Laura’s a true rider. The only daughter in a
family of seven, she climbed on her first deck at the age of four, landed
her first olly at age 10 and acquired her first pro deck by age 14. In a
male-dominated sport, she’s a veteran.
“I was drawn to skating because it was so unique
– and a great way to meet and spend time with friends. Obviously my
favourite part of high school was lunch,” she grins.
Laura started doing graffiti in her teens. Once
she’d mastered bubble letters in art class, she turned to a bigger
project: the family’s back shed. After some arm-twisting, her mom
complied – and, layer by layer, Laura began covering the backyard
plywood with multi-coloured spray paint. Her first design was a single word:
‘Freedom.’
Now 21, Laura, a native of Burlington, Ontario, still
calls the Greater Toronto Area home. She is a part-time youth pastor at
‘24/7,’ a recent church plant in a former dance club; and she
also spends time skating, finishing her diploma at Master’s Seminary
in Toronto and organizing weekly Keep It Real events from her family home.
She may be left alone to maintain her grades; but when it comes to the
growing skate ministry, she’s got back-up.
Keep It Real (KIR) was started as a clothing line,
created by Laura and her older brother Tim, in September 2007.
“It was all just an idea. The saying [keep it
real] became more than a shirt because kids felt like, ‘If I’m
wearing a Keep It Real shirt, I actually need to be real.’”
Soon a bunch of friends got together and began
traveling around the Greater Toronto Area, encouraging youth to be real in
their faith. Now, with a skate team of 20, KIR hits community centres,
schools, conferences and church-hosted events – with skateboard
demos, bands and rap performances, live graffiti writing and testimonies.
So what is Keep It Real, exactly? In Laura’s
words, “It’s challenging youth to be real in their faith, and
using their gifts and talents to reach their culture – to just be real, y’know!”
It’s this girl’s dream.
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“Just last night, I was driving home after a
skate demo at this tiny church. There were, like, 12 kids there –
but, y’know, I just love it,” Laura exclaims. “I said to
my brother: ‘Can you believe that we get to do this?’ I want to
do Keep It Real for the next 20 years.’”
Laura’s passion is infectious. Unaware of the
ebb and flow of passersby in the courtyard where we sit, her voice is clear
and loud. When asked how the Keep It Real message ties in with
Christ’s, she declares:
“Jesus Christ was the most real guy out there,
right?” She turns a few heads with this statement.
As if before a live audience (which she is more than a
few nights a week), Laura explains:
“[Jesus] never did anything wrong. He loved
people – and in any way possible for him to reach out to people, he
did it. Even the girl at the well, he goes up and asks her for water
– and she’s like, ‘Why are you talking to me?’ Yet
he was like, ‘I accept everyone.’ Even to his best friends, the
disciples, he said ‘You guys, come and hang out with me’
– and they were such outcasts.
“And in the same way with [the] Keep It Real
team, like in the crew, our whole team is all just random people.
They’re not people with big names, not people who are rich or
anything like that – but we’re just trying to go out with the
message of Christ, and trying to live out how Christ was real, and
challenge youth to give him everything. ‘Cause you know, you see so
many teenagers fall away. Like the whole nine out of 10 fall away after
[age] 18, that’s what motivates us. So in the same way that Christ
was real, we want to be real too.”
We say our goodbyes. Itching to carve the smooth
interior floor, Laura grabs her board and begins to walk. A few steps
later, in perfect form, she hollers: “Keep it real!” A flash of
whites, and she’s turned the corner.
For more information, visit www.ikeepitreal.ca.
Photos: Tim Adams
Options Spring 2009
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