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Neal Hendrix

@nealhendrix

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NC➖CA 📍Orange County
✖️skateboarder
✖️brand manager
✖️photographer
✖️broadcaster

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I'm posting a photograph of Prague, because it was Sasha Steinhorst's favorite city on the planet, and one he also helped me learn to love. Sasha lost his cancer battle today, but we celebrate someone who probably rode their skateboard in more countries than anyone in the world. Sasha helped teach me to love and appreciate other cultures and people. When us spoiled pro skaters from America would show up to Munster, Germany in the mid 90’s and complain about the warm sparkling sprudelwasser water he would be the first to remind us "hey, we are in their country, this is how they do it, you guys need to love and appreciate you're flying halfway around the world to ride your skateboard". It was a lesson I took to heart and years later would attempt to pass on to my friends carving the same path I did years earlier. Sasha gave so many deserving people in skateboarding opportunities. He would find the kid that nobody knew about, killing it in Marseille, Kuala Lumpur or Sao Paulo and help him get invited to the big contests in the States. And when the kid made it to the States, Sasha would let him crash on his floor. Now that he's passed I can share one I was going to take to the grave. One time he and I traveled together to a small exotic country for a skateboard contest. I was competing and he was judging. We had to get a visa to travel there, and in bright red letters on the visa in our passports it read TRAFFICKING IN DRUGS GETS DEATH PENALTY. We landed and went through customs and immigrations with more giant signs that said TRAFFICKING IN DRUGS GETS DEATH PENALTY. We joked about the severity of it, and how crazy someone would have to be to bring drugs there and then after we got through the checkpoints Sasha unscrewed his truck bolts on his skateboard and showed us the big nugget of weed in between his deck and his truck he smuggled in. Love you dude. taken in Prague, Czech Republic by @nealhendrix

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6 years ago

Skateboarding lost one of it’s most treasured ambassadors Mark Waters to Covid. Everyone has a Mark Waters story, and I want to share mine. Besides being an amazing father, husband and friend, I think it is worth stepping back and seeing how many amazing things that Mark did. He was a photographer at Transworld. One of the first directors at Woodward Skate Camp. He played in cool bands. He ran some of the best skateboard and shoe brands. Owned and ran an indie record label. Ran a music venue and worked with big touring bands, and ran a small punk rock space working with kids playing their first gigs. Ran huge skate events like the original Game of Skate,Goofy vs Regular, Maloof Money Cup, and Kimberly Diamond Cup. He wrangled skaters together for Wild in the Streets, Skate Rock tours, and Death Match events. He was the first TM for USA Skateboarding. Ran the International Association of Skateboard Companies and ran the Skateboarding Hall of Fame. And that's just off the top of my head! My favorite memories and these photos I'm sharing are when I was able to show Mark and his wife around China the first time they visited and Mark repaying the favor by showing me around South Africa on my first trip there. Mark had gone down a couple weeks early to help prepare and market the Kimberley Diamond Cup event, so by the time the rest of us landed he knew his way around, had met everyone and knew all the spots. When I got there he told me he had an amazing place to show me, and we bailed on work for a few minutes and he drove me outside of town to an amazing township. It was so poor, dirt roads, and houses made from scrap. Mark and his team had been coming out and giving away free boards, skate gear and tickets to the weekend event. I spent the weekend going out there every chance I could, and took some of my most cherished photos. Everyone in the township, from kids to old ladies were so nice to the lost tourists, whose cameras were probably worth more than their houses. It was only when I came back and downloaded the photos I realized that the smiling little girl had on a Nike SB beanie, which means she probably got it from Mark and his crew. Mark touched everyone. by @nealhendrix

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6 years ago

I saw this palm tree that survived the giant Silverado fire this week and I feel like it’s a perfect metaphor for 2020. For this year, for this country, for me, for all of us. by @nealhendrix

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6 years ago

So are you wearing your mask because of the global pandemic or because the whole West Coast is ablaze? taken in Orange County, California by @nealhendrix

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No, I don’t really think your gym being closed and having to wear a mask is equal to slavery. Not even close. taken in San Clemente, California by @nealhendrix

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The first big break I got in skateboarding happened because it rained. No, seriously. Let me explain. Back in the 1980’s and early 1990’s there used to be some legendary annual skate contests in Texas called Shut Up and Skate. I wore out the VHS tapes of the ones from the mid 80’s when I started skating. Those contests were the first time I ever heard The Misfits and it blew my mind! The first year I competed there was in 1990, I was amateur and they had amateur vert on Saturday and pro vert on Sunday. I had been skating big am contests all over the country that year and Shut Up and Skate was the last big one of the year. The couple days before the contest were one of the first times I skated with some of the top pro vert skaters as the practice sessions were a mix of ams and pros. Anyway, I won the Am contest on Saturday and the pro contest on Sunday got rained out. So all of the skate mags only had photos and content from the Am contest and I ended up with a ton of coverage in the mags since the Pro contest didn’t happen as planned. That was my last am contest and the next spring I turned pro. Thanks for that one Mother Nature! taken in Houston, Texas by @nealhendrix

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6 years ago

The current cultural divide in the United States captured in one suburban snapshot. July 22, 2020. Orange County, CA. taken in Orange County, California by @nealhendrix

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I saw this lady at a protest in Los Angeles. People were completely surrounding her car, and when she rolled her window down at first I thought it was in a confrontational way. Then I saw her sign. She is probably older, at higher risk, and didn’t want to risk being in a crowd. But she wanted to support.

Change is hard. Change can be messy. It doesn’t come quick, and it’s never easy. People have different ways to enact change. Some organize or go to protests. Some donate money to causes to lead the fight. Some use their voice either on social media or talking about the issues with friends and family. Whatever you can do, keep making noise. (And vote. Duh) by @nealhendrix

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X Games turns 25 this month and a lot of people are sharing their favorite memories. I don’t have a ton of photos or videos of all the years that I competed at X Games but I have a million stories and memories. Here are some of my favorite personal recollections, co-starring @mfrazier72 @dannyway @tonyhawk @busterbiofuels and skater x not to be named. by @nealhendrix

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When you watched NFL players kneel before the flag, you complained that it was an offense to your patriotism.

When you were asked to wear masks, you complained that you couldn't breathe.

When you were told to wear a mask in businesses, you complained it was oppression.

When you were told to stay at home, you complained it was tyranny.

When you saw those stay at home orders enforced, you complained it was fascism.

When you saw people storm a state capitol building w/rifles, you celebrated their freedom to exercise the 1st & 2nd amendments.

When you saw a white man wearing a badge and an American flag kneel on the neck of a black man for seven minutes until he was dead... You said nothing.

And when you saw thousands take to the streets to protest this overt act of oppression, tyranny, fascism, and stolen breath, again you complain - on behalf of the business owners, and the police, and your patriotism, and your rights.

But not their rights. Never, ever their rights. Not to assemble. Not to define the terms of their own oppression. Not to express their patriotism. Not to breathe. Not to live free.

You are why they protest. - Alex Schiller by @nealhendrix

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Inspired by this young black queen and her father that I saw peacefully marching in LA. by @nealhendrix

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♥️♥️♥️♥️ taken in Pan Pacific Park by @nealhendrix

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