- Milton leaves at least 16 dead, millions without power in Florida
- Senegal set to announce breakaway development agenda: PM
- UN says 2 peacekeepers wounded in south Lebanon explosions
- Injury-hit Australia thrash 'embarrassing' Pakistan at Women's T20 World Cup
- Internal TikTok documents show prioritization of traffic over well-being
- Israel says fired at 'immediate threat' near UN position in Lebanon
- New US coach Pochettino hails Pulisic but worries over workload
- Brazil orders closure of 2,000 betting sites
- UK govt urged to raise pro-democracy tycoon's case with China
- Sculptor Lalanne's animal creations sell for $59 mn
- From Tesla to Trump: Behind Musk's giant leap into politics
- US, European markets rise as investors weigh rates, earnings
- In Colombia, children trade plastic waste for school supplies
- Supercharged hurricanes trigger 'perfect storm' for disinformation
- JPMorgan Chase profits top estimates, bank sees 'resilient' US economy
- Djokovic proves staying power as he progresses to Shanghai semi-finals
- Sheffield Utd boss Wilder 'numb' after Baldock death
- Little progress at key meet ahead of COP29 climate summit
- Fans immerse themselves in Marina Abramovic's first China exhibition
- Israel says conducting review after UN peacekeepers wounded in Lebanon
- 'Party atmosphere': Skygazers treated to another aurora show
- Djokovic 'overwhelmed' after 'greatest rival' Nadal's retirement
- Zelensky in Berlin says hopes war with Russia will end next year
- Kyrgyzstan opens rare probe into glacier destruction
- European Mediterranean states discuss Middle East, migration
- Djokovic proves staying power as progresses to Shanghai semi-finals
- Hurricane Milton leaves at least 16 dead as Florida cleans up
- Britain face 'ultimate challenge' in America's Cup duel with New Zealand
- Lebanon calls for 'immediate' ceasefire in Israel-Hezbollah war
- Nihon Hidankyo: Japan's A-bomb survivors awarded Nobel
- Thunberg leads pro-Palestinian, climate protest in Milan
- Boat captain rescued clinging to cooler in Gulf of Mexico after storm Milton
- Tears, warnings after Japan atomic survivors group win Nobel
- 'Unspeakable horror': the attacks on Hiroshima and Nagasaki
- Stock markets diverge before China weekend briefing
- Christian villagers 'trapped' in south Lebanon crossfire
- Sabalenka sets up Gauff showdown in Wuhan semis
- EU questions shopping app Temu over illegal products risk
- Kim Sei-young holds lead with late birdies at LPGA Shanghai
- Toulouse welcome Dupont 'boost' as Olympic star returns to Top 14
- Japanese atomic bomb survivor group Nihon Hidankyo wins Nobel Peace Prize
- Deadly Israeli strike on Beirut likely targeted Hezbollah security chief
- Bangladesh Islamist chief backs crimes against humanity trial for ex-PM
- Everest climber's remains believed found after 100 years
- 20 Pakistan coal miners shot dead in attack
- Clashes on South China Sea, Ukraine dominate Asia summit
- Han Kang's books sell out in South Korea after Nobel win
- Zelensky meets Pope, Scholz as whirlwind Europe tour ends
- Hello Hallyu: why is South Korean culture sweeping the globe?
- UK economy rebounds in August in boost to new govt
RIO | 0.71% | 67.315 | $ | |
CMSC | 0.32% | 24.67 | $ | |
CMSD | 0.6% | 24.919 | $ | |
SCS | 2.17% | 12.88 | $ | |
BTI | 0.24% | 35.195 | $ | |
BCC | 2.19% | 142.055 | $ | |
RBGPF | -1.03% | 59.49 | $ | |
JRI | 0.3% | 13.26 | $ | |
RYCEF | 1.71% | 7 | $ | |
NGG | 0.89% | 66.27 | $ | |
BCE | 0.44% | 33.005 | $ | |
GSK | -1.21% | 38.741 | $ | |
AZN | 0.4% | 77.175 | $ | |
VOD | -0.98% | 9.645 | $ | |
RELX | 1.04% | 46.845 | $ | |
BP | -0.42% | 32.205 | $ |
'Powerful and free': Black figure skaters take to the ice in New York
One by one, a line of young African American and biracial women dressed in ball gowns took to the ice in New York's Central Park to the soundtracks of "Barbie" and "Wonder Woman."
"Figure Skating in Harlem" (FSH) was staging its annual winter show before a delighted audience under a bright moon, its light reflecting off the glistening rink.
Most of the 300 students who participate in FSH's programs every year live in Harlem or the Bronx.
They are among the poorest corners of New York, a city of 8.5 million riven by inequality despite being an economic engine of the United States.
Adorned in mustard yellow, six of the amateur ice skating enthusiasts effortlessly twirled on the ice, moving together in a synchronized choreography reminiscent of ballet.
When the nonprofit FSH, located on the densely populated, multicultural north side of Manhattan island, was founded in the 1990s, figure skating was "not a sport that many Black and brown girls participated in," said FSH's founder Sharon Cohen.
FSH skater Nadia Neil, 17, told AFP the program was her "whole life."
"I don't remember a time in my life before Figure Skating in Harlem," she said, having joined at the age of six.
"I started to slowly learn and evolve and grow. And it was a really beautiful thing. I felt like a butterfly emerging from a cocoon," said fellow figure skating student Ashley Prentice.
"I just feel like whenever I skate, I feel so powerful and free," said Prentice, a Black teenager who described finding family and community through FSH.
- Opening doors -
The idea of bringing figure skating to Harlem dates back to 1991 when several Black families and Cohen, a white former professional ice skater now in her 60s, got together.
"It was really the community itself that built this program, year after year," Cohen said.
Tailored to school-age children, FSH also offers academic support.
"Education was really the foundation. That's what could open up many more doors for their future," said Cohen.
Almost all of its women and girls, aged between 5 and 30 years old, identify as Black, Hispanic or mixed, and more than nine in 10 are from low- or middle-income households, FSH says.
- 'Support they need' -
"Sometimes, young girls in Harlem don't get that support that they need," said Neil, adding that some get "led down a wrong path."
At FSH, she is able to take advantage of vocational evening classes to supplement her studies.
Cohen said that ice skating mirrors life's challenges: "You begin by failing. You get on the ice and you fall."
"It's uniquely about learning what you do once you fall, and how you get back up, and do it again. And that there's nothing wrong with failing."
The group says that success -- and failure -- on the rink, as well as the academic support, have lasting effects.
Almost 90 percent of FSH's enrollees go on to get top marks at school, with many going on to higher education, according to the organization.
O.Karlsson--AMWN