Atongular Monique: Creating Pathways to Access, Living Beyond Stereotypes, and Making Waves

The Trail Ahead

When you think about surfing and catching waves, Queens, New York is definitely not the first place that comes to mind. However, the community of Rockaway, Queens is home to a very vibrant and well-connected surf community. Atongular Monique is a mentor at Laru Beya Collecting, a surfing-focused, non-profit organization that offers free surfing and water safety intstruction to historically excluded youth in the community. She is also an avid climber and outdoor enthusiast.

Faith first met Atongular while climbing at the Women’s Climbing Festival in Bishop, California, back in 2018. Today, Faith and Addie chat with Atongular about her entry into the world of surfing, climbing, and other outdoor spaces. They have an important discussion all about the work that Laru Beya Collective does, particularly their focus on supporting young women of color in their surfing journey. Laru Beya Collective also plays a huge part when it comes to supporting the Rockaway community in the aftermath of Hurricane Sandy.

Atongular also recounts and shares her experience of often being the only Black woman in climbing spaces and other outdoor activities. This sparks an important discussion on why representation matters in sports and the world of outdoor activities. More specifically, representation in leadership roles in these spaces can often break down barriers for younger members of the BIPOC community. This is an important episode all about the importance of representation, leadership, and the different ways in which individuals can support outdoor communities in order to make them a more inviting and inclusive space.

Resources Mentioned

• Laru Beya https://www.larubeyacollective.com/
• Young Women Who Crush https://www.instagram.com/youngwomenwhocrush/
• Hurricane Sandy Facts https://prospect.org/infrastructure/hurricane-sandy-inequalities-resilience-new-york/
• NYC Water Safety Bill https://www.nysenate.gov/legislation/bills/2021/S2207
• Short film about Brothers of Climbing https://www.rei.com/blog/climb/brothers-of-climbing
• Brown Girls Climb https://www.browngirlsclimb.com/
• Flash Foxy Women’s Climbing Fest https://www.flashfoxy.com/climbing-fest
• Try Hard Climb Crew https://tryhardcrew.com/
• This Land Doc - Play https://www.thislanddoc.com/play
• The Venture Out Project https://www.ventureoutproject.com/