Andrea Kabwasa: The Queen Of Steez You've Probably Never Heard About.

By: Chelsea Woody

Andrea is a mysterious Californian legend. She is admittedly very private and reserved especially when it comes to surf media. We respect that, but are also super excited when we can catch a glimpse of her surfing style. When an image of her does emerge, it is pure magic and a complete mastery of dance on waves. To us, she is an icon and role model in the African American Female surf community who possesses unparalleled style. Some might ask why is she important? She isn’t on the world stage, and doesn’t have any world titles that we can think of? To that we say, simply knowing our history is important because it allows us to imagine greater possibilities for our own lives. It allows us to understand the legacy of African American females in this country. Plus, she just rips!

Photo courtesy of Liquid Salt

Photo: Ruben Pena

Andrea, along with two other black women (Sharon Schaffer, and Mary Mills) may be some of the first African American female surfers ever photographed on the mainland. Yet many don’t even know they exist. That alone should be a painful truth to face, that makes us stop and question why there are so few black female surfers in our country’s history. If you know any women that come before them, we would love to hear about it! Younger generations need to see that we can, and have participated in aquatic and oceanic activities. Visibility does in fact matter. I highly suggest listening to this beautiful podcast where Andrea is interviewed by Maia Dery. Here’s a link to Maia’s —>blog and podcast where you can listen to the interview! Podcast found on the the Waves to Wisdom blog!