The Rat Collective

"My name is Rainey Cruz, a writer, a rebel, a thinker, a skateboarder. I hail from The Caribbean, more specifically, The Dominican Republic. I arrived in New York City when I was 3 years-old. I was raised in Washington Heights, then later, The South Bronx. I grew up amidst the byproducts of social ills: crime, poverty, and segregation. Along with that harsh reality I also think of amazing people like Malcolm X and Langston Hughes, individuals that refused to let their environment define who they became to the world. I too am like them, an activist, a renegade. Nothing makes me sadder than to see my brothers and sisters hurt one another. In the same token, nothing makes me happier than to watch them unite and achieve.

This is what my Rat Collective initiative is about. I believe that skateboarding is a powerful act: powerful enough to inspire leaders.”

~ Rainey "Skates" Cruz