to onio?"
i get asked about ONIO
a lot. Anyone that knew me
in the 90's knew about Onio.
He lived across the street
from our house in W. Oakland.
we met him when he was about
1yrs old... often times dragging
him out out of the middle of the
street and back on to the sidewalk.
He became obsessed with our pit
Buzzard by the age of two... in fact
his first word was "Buzzard". His
second word was "skateboard".
So naturally we feel in love with
him. We gave him a board when
he was 2 1/2 and he was fully pushing
fast down the street and doing ollies
by age 3. It was an amazing sight to
see....one that was the cause
of many almost car accidents.
Onio had every single thing going
against him, a crack head mom, a dead dad,
a lead-ridden house that was poisoning his brain and
body, and a family that treated him like
a stray dog. But god damn when he smiled
or would bang on our door at 3yrs old and
ask me, "you wanna go skate the curb?",
none of that other shit mattered.
My Mom,Jake and I took him with us
everywhere. He became my son/brother/best
friend. From the time he was 3-15 i spent
almost everyday with him. In his early
years he had no concept that we were white
and that that even meant anything in this
world.
Of course as time went on and kids would
ask him " is your daddy white?" or
"ain't skateboarding a white boy sport?"
He started to figure it out... that our
situation was not the norm.
He was in Thrasher by the time he
was five and in almost every video part
I had. We took him in the van with antihero
to Portland... and he got to see the raging
and the bro time that happens on those trips.
But no matter how hard we tried to pull him
from the streets he was drifting in that
direction. It was like a there was a magnet
inside of him, and no matter how many of
his cousins funerals we went to, he wanted
to be on the corner. It was fuckin hard to
see it happening.
Now i only get to see Onio every couple years
due to the fact that he is in and
out of jail. Every time i want
give him some attitude and ask him "what
the fuck?" but i never have it in me.
I'm so fucking happy to see he's still
alive and it's a reminder to me how lucky
so many of us are.
Where ever you are right now
O...i miss you. We should go skate
the curb.
24 comments:
Much admiration.
you were always a positive influence and thats what matters, pretty rad man.
this is the best. i don't think he could have had a better influence.
sidenote: it's always so great when you write on here, max!
the world needs more people like you max.
So great!
Feel the same about my brothers and cousins. Locked up, caught up, doped up, and I hope they're still alive.
I hope your boy O gets it all together, man.
good luck onio hope you and max will skate the curb again one day.
Awesome reflection...thanks for sharing.
Give Onio shit, Max. If he will listen to anyone, it will be YOU.
So weird to see him all grown up. I remember seeing you guys together EVERYWHERE when he was little! I hope he straightens up.
Okay, and what the hell. He's grown up, but you still look exactly the same... vampire?
"good luck onio hope you and max will skate the curb again one day."
^^That's what it's all about at the end of the day for me.
Inspirational stuff Max, i pray he's ok, he's lucky to have you on his side and it must mean a lot to him also..thanks for telling the tale.
Positive influences stay with you for ever.
max - i remember way back - the kicked out of everywhere video when onio had his run on the curbs. that whole clip is one of my all time favorites, not even the skating, but the whole vibe man. our bud keith was our age, but the same exact situation as onio. we would take him out skating to get him away from his abusive dad. he skating in fucked up old running sneaks & his boards were completely trashed. we would hook him up with boards & just be there for him. youre a good dude for sure. fuck - sorta feels like we grew up together on opposite coasts.
no shit - check it out dude. found the whole part.!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j6tGQ6nsz50
I like reading your stories . . . brings back lots of skateboard related memories I have from my youth . Motorcycles are cool & all , but I grew up on a skateboard and I really do enjoy these little bits of frozen time .
I read somewhere once that to have a friend you must first be a friend and its easy to see, you Max are surrounded by many friends. Your story's on life are always interesting. So keep the wheels spinning and the beavers grinning good buddy.
some people are just here to touch other peoples lives.
rad comments... thanks so much.
glad u guys read this shit.
lot's of parallels for people
out there i'm sure. -max-
cant believe how tall he got..seemed like not to long ago seeing him in your video parts as a tiny kid...think its awesome you still keep in touch...and how you took him in to your family..makes you an amazing human for that!..awesome post
It was amazing when life was that simple. We look back after experiencing all the heavy shit in our lives and long for simplicity of the curb across the street. We sat on those curbs, we skated the hell out of 'em, and we found friendship there. We can't hide from the reality of life, but we should sure as hell look back every once in a while and take note of how and why we've changed. Thanks for sharing, Max.
I remember seeing Onio in the old vids and print ads thinking how cool it was that you guys paid that much attention and involved him in something positive.
Had a similar thing happen with one of the younger locals that used to hang around the skate shop I worked for at the time. We all tried like hell to keep him from straying as he grew older, but drugs and everything connected to that life pulled him away from our shop family. It's a heartbreaking thing when you see it happening and no matter how many sit downs, efforts to help, or threats of the big brother style ass whoopings, you just can't seem to stop it. My heart goes out to you Max... and hope that Onio pulls it together.
My thoughts are with the both of you...Onio knows deep inside, the love that had been instilled. The smile(s) show.
its a tuff one watching that shit happen to those We Love(I right there with You), All We can do is what You and Your Family did, He knows by rollin' with You there is more then the corner. He has to accept or reject the cycle that He is in.
May ya man O see the Light and make the right choice.
Peace
its a tuff one watching that shit happen to those We Love(I right there with You), All We can do is what You and Your Family did, He knows by rollin' with You there is more then the corner. He has to accept or reject the cycle that He is in.
May ya man O see the Light and make the right choice.
Peace
This photo is nuts, I cant believe this is skinny little Onio. It was rad watching he and Clem transported out of their crazy lives spending time with you.
Post a Comment