Black Derby Collective won a regional playoff in May 2026 and became the first all Black team to reach roller derby’s world tournament, the WFTDA Championships in Malmö, Sweden.
It had existed for about a year. The skaters live across the United States, rarely practise together, and are not paid. The team is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit.
Maisha Cerqueda, a blocker who skates as Queen Loseyateefah and lives in Atlanta, put the argument against her own team’s success better than anybody. “You shouldn’t be able to just pull 20 people together and do amazing things if you don’t normally play together,” she said.
What she says they have instead is each other. “There is a rhythm, there is chemistry,” she said. “I intuitively kind of know what some players are going to do.”
Dariann Hewson, a blocker and pivot who skates as Diamond and lives in Indianapolis, said the sport took her in when others did not. “I’m a little bit of a weirdo, so I never fit in with the normal sports,” she said.
Erin Jackson, who won individual gold in speedskating at the 2022 Beijing Winter Olympics and has played roller derby since 2012, spoke about what it is worth to look across a locker room and see teammates who look like her.
The skaters say they want roller derby to be more welcoming, and they say plainly that some people do not want a Black team in it. They qualified for its championship.
