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Laneisha Beasley sustains Louisville skate culture one lap around the rink at a time

Laneisha Beasley, president of Louisville Rail Ridaz, says skating has long taken care of her. She sees it fitting that she takes care of it in return.
J. Tyler Franklin
/
LPM
Laneisha Beasley, president of Louisville Rail Ridaz, says skating has long taken care of her. She sees it fitting that she takes care of it in return.

Roller skating has been part of Laneisha Beasley’s life since her youth. As an adult, she leads a group that aspires to cement and sustain Louisville’s Black roller skating culture.

Wood therapy. That’s what Laneisha Beasley calls roller skating.

“I’ve allowed skating to be my therapy, my escape from motherhood, my escape from work,” Beasley said. “I've never really seen a professional counselor, but the wood most definitely has taken care of me.”

In her teenage years, the roller rink was a place to have a positive experience.

“Right after high school, a few of us would go to Shawnee Park, and then after Shawnee Park, we would come here. A few of my friends went to the nightclub, and I chose to keep coming skating,” Beasley said.

She said having a space for younger people to safely exist and have fun was foundational to her upbringing.

“If we didn't have this place, I really don't know what kind of life I would have had,” Beasley said.

Beasley didn’t want to see the culture she loved fade away. She’s the president of the Louisville Rail Ridaz, a skate club dedicated to keeping the city’s Black skate culture thriving.

The skate organization travels around the country to meet with other skaters, performs at parades and offers free lessons.

The name pays homage to a specific skating style popular in Louisville.

“Rail riding is a style that is really close to the rails. Um, you just kind of go in a circle. You get your jam on,” Beasley explained. “It's like boogie skating. But riding the rails is getting as close as you can to the rail, and you got a big line of people going, big train.”

Beasley, alongside her fiance and a friend, hosts a weekly 21 and up party at Robben’s Roost in Buechel.

“It's important for me to keep the community thriving in any kind of lane, and I choose skating as my lane because I feel like I want adults to realize you can fall back in love with skating, and it's a community here. We will support you,” Beasley said.

Rooben's Roost, in Buchel, has long acted as a hub for Louisville's Black skating to come together and connect.
J. Tyler Franklin
/
LPM
Robben's Roost, in Buechel, has long acted as a hub for Louisville's Black skating community to come together and connect.

Rail Ridaz has brought people back to skating in adulthood.

Charisse Stone skated in her youth, but it was visiting Robben’s Roost with her husband that got her back on skates.

“I met Laneisha coming, just sitting on the side, and just started talking to her about skating and different things, and she was one of the ones who was like, ‘Come on, I'll show you. I'll help you,’” Stone said.

Stone is skating better and feeling better now – four years after returning to the rink. People skating by call her Auntie Resse, and she greets everyone, even strangers, warmly.

For her, that is what being part of the Louisville skating community looks like, and Beasley embodies that.

“She's nurturing, she's caring. She's always available. If you call her and she can, she will, and that's within the skate community, the community that's just her, that's our demeanor,” Stone said.

The connections Beasley has made on the rink extend far beyond the rails.

She met her fiancé, Markice Arrmstong Sr., skating.

“She kept bumping into me,” Armstrong said. “So I was like, ‘you know you want to know my name.’”

The two have a 22-year-old son together.

“Ever since I've known her, she's, she's worked for Metro Parks, so she's always been into the community,” Armstrong said. “As she's gotten older and grown, she's gotten deeper and deeper into it.”

Rail Ridaz treasurer Lynne Courtney said Beasley's leadership keeps the organization going.

“Laneisha, she's all about community work, so she keeps everything going, and she's a great club president,” Courtney said. “And she makes sure everything is done, and she brings us all together in the skating rink and make sure that we all have a good time.”

The Louisville Rail Ridaz aim to keep the city's Black skating culture alive through event, performances and free classes.
J. Tyler Franklin
/
LPM
The Louisville Rail Ridaz aim to keep the city's Black skating culture alive through events, performances and free classes.

Beasley is considered an OG in the skating community now; taking on the role of teaching younger skaters the ropes.

Brandon Hopson, or Brandon Sweetness as he is known on the rink, is a member of the Rail Ridaz.

“Me and Ms. Laneisha are good friends. We get along,” Hopson said. “I like seeing her, like my best friend and all that.”

Hopson said Rail Ridaz feels like family. He called it “the best organization in the world.”

“I may join in the [Pegasus] Parade this year, because last two years, I didn't join the parade, but I was thinking about maybe joining them and skating with them,” Hopson said. “...because I'm a talented guy, and I like to skate with my friends and family.”

When Beasley thought about her start on the rink, she said where she is now all makes sense.

She thinks back to the people who guided her when she first hit the rink.

“I think my 19-year-old self already saw this because I wanted to be the Ms. D. I wanted to be the Ms. Fidel, you know, the hold that legacy to be able to keep the culture going, so she would be very proud,” Beasley said.

She plans to keep that legacy alive, one trip around the rink at a time.

In honor of LPM’s 75th Anniversary, we're sharing the stories of 75 people who are changing our community for the better. We want to hear about someone who makes your life better. Share your story at lpm.org/75andChange.

Breya Jones is the Arts & Culture Reporter for LPM. Email Breya at bjones@lpm.org.

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