• • •  After many years of hard work and consistency, Rhonda Harper’s community, Black Girls Surf, is getting the recognition it deserves. But this is just the beginning. From surf coaching foster children at her local break, to working with Olympic 2020 hopefuls, Coach Rho has changed the landscape in surfing and is breaking down barriers for good.

Hi Rhonda, it’s so great to connect with you. Tell me about how you felt when you surfed your first wave?

My first wave. It was chaotically beautiful. I was watching surfers on a concrete beach at the Turtle Bay Hilton. At that time, Magnum P.I. was filming at the hotel. One of the guys noticed me sitting there for hours and walked up while I was daydreaming and kicked my Flojo.

He asked if I wanted to try surfing and of course, I said yes. When I moved to Hawaii, the only things I brought with me were a green trunk full of surf magazines…