The Boston-based skateboarding group known as LonelyBones have become trendsetters for current and future skating collectives. The inclusive and safe space radiates positive messages about originality, identity, sexuality, and confidence. LonelyBones has garnered media attention for their close-knit community that meets up at parks throughout the Greater Boston area and hosts skate jams for women and nonbinary friends.

However, the question lies within the future of LonelyBones: where is the collective going, and what can we expect? In an interview with founders Rayven Tate and Claire Lee, they explored their aspirations and provided insight to what they’ve been planning during the offseason.

Skating is a white male-dominated sport that leaves little room for representation; women are often discouraged from or ridiculed for their skating due to gender norms. Since LonelyBones was made to include women and non-binary skaters, the collective urges non-skaters and cisgender heterosexual men who want to partake to foster spaces for those who are overlooked and remind themselves that they don’t need to take up space everywhere.

“It defeats the purpose of intentionally creating that space—they want to pass off this knowledge and stuff, but you can do that from the backseat,” Tate said.

The LonelyBones collective, previously known as LonelyGirls, was created by Tate and Lee in July 2020 at the height of the COVID-19 pandemic. LonelyBones gets its name from the lonely feeling that many encounter in their late teens into adulthood. Lee and Tate hope that what they’ve been implementing for the community to come together, make friends, or learn something new can make it all a little less … lonely.

Tate described the birth of LonelyBones as a highlight during a time of great loss. Tate explained that the support has been overwhelming in the best way possible. Growing and gaining exposure proved to be difficult, but both girls agreed that the skate group changed their lives for the better.

Coming to terms with being the face of LonelyBones posed an unexpected challenge that morphed into overcoming fears, anxiety, and their introverted personalities.

“Sometimes having to stand in front of a group of 100 people and mak[ing] an announcement, whatever [it] may be, [is] terrifying,” Tate said. “I don’t even like ordering things sometimes, let alone speaking to a huge group of people.”

“Be a little brave, get 20 seconds of courage, and just do it. Someone will find use for it,” Lee said.

Lee and Tate encourage other college students and young adults who have sat on an idea for a new club or community to simply go for it.

Since graduating from Northeastern University last May, the founders have been working full time as engineers. Lee is a bioengineer at a cell therapy company, while Tate is a software engineer at Capital One. Last summer, they won a grant from Skate Like a Girl, a 501(c)3 nonprofit organization based out of Seattle. Funding and mentorship from Skate Like a Girl has led many of their aspirations to be realities, though their priority and heart remain in their community here in Boston.

“It’s become so much bigger than ourselves,” Tate said in agreement with Lee while reminiscing on the momentum the collective has gained.

While enjoying their current jobs, art-lovers Lee and Tate lack space to play creatively and bond with like-minded people on a raw level, so encompassing music, fashion, and other mediums into LonelyBones is the next step.

By creating their own fashion or merch, Lee and Tate hope to encourage the attitude of a free-spirited skater who uses fashion as a form of self-expression. The founders recognize that skaters want to look good, and the stigma that surrounds that. Skating fashion that currently exists, such as Thrasher and Dickies, are restrictive of a much larger range of styles skaters have.

“We want to be the first nontraditional skate brand,” Lee said.

Building an intersection between the arts and skating has become an ambition for both Lee and Tate, but they don’t want to stop there. Giving back is essential to both women. In the future, they hope to create scholarship funds, volunteer opportunities, and school clubs.

“We want LonelyBones to outlive us, and we want there to be enough resources where that can happen. We want to be a household name,” Tate said.

No Judgement Zone