By Elizabeth Sine, History Professor, Cal Poly State University

Cori Schumacher has a reputation as an iconoclast. From her 2011 boycott of the ASP to her 2013 protest against the notorious Roxy Pro Biarritz ad, the three-time World Longboard Champion has captured widespread attention over the years for her willingness to speak out against the surf industry. Less known within surfing, however, is that her activism reaches well beyond that world.

Since being elected to Carlsbad City Council in 2016, she has spent as many years as a government official as she has as world champ, and while she continues to advocate for greater inclusivity and equity in surfing, she is also at the front lines of tackling a whole host of other issues — from the homelessness crisis in her hometown to climate change. As she sets out to show how the arms of government can be channeled to serve the people they are supposed to represent, she is also setting an example of how surfers can be unique — and uniquely powerful— political actors.

Read more at The Inertia

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