Hard Knox Bikes is a specialty bike shop based in Oakland, California, that provides听workshops and clinics on topics like bike safety and听maintenance. Founder, owner, and mechanic听Binky Brown explains how she built her offerings听for, in her words, 鈥渁ll those who identify as women, people of color, trans, and all other gender rebels and allies.鈥澨鼳s told to Kathryn E. Styer.

In 2012, I was taking business classes in the Bay Area at the , through the听now-canceled Women鈥檚 Initiative program. At the time, I wanted to open an auto mechanic shop. Coincidentally, I didn鈥檛 have a car, because mine had just been totaled, and my girlfriend rode a bike everywhere. I have a physical condition that makes walking difficult and increasingly painful, yet when I began bicycling, the pain became less of an issue. I had a newfound physicality and the ability to self-transport. So I switched gears and began to focus my business plan on creating a bike repair shop instead.

is a mobile workshop that has been around, in some form or another, since 2012. It is an education resource for women, people of color, and different marginalized groups who might not have the same access or feel comfortable going to bike shops. I know so many people who were ignored or dealt with elitist attitudes by bike shop employees. That shouldn鈥檛 be the environment. You should be treated kindly, no matter what level you鈥檙e at. If you have a negative experience every place you go, you鈥檙e going to run out of places to go.

There aren鈥檛 too many shops that focus on serving women, femme folks, nonbinary folks, people who aren鈥檛 super masculine. Somebody asked me why I wouldn鈥檛 have an 鈥渆verybody鈥� space. Unfortunately, we鈥檙e not there yet. Right now, I want to be able to provide an alternative to the male-dominated shops.

Kitty Knox is the namesake of the business. She was a black听biracial woman who lived during the late 1800s. She raced bicycles听and wore men鈥檚 clothes because it made bicycling easier. Back then, you had to have so much courage to do that. Her experience seemed like my own, being a black biracial woman trying to do things in the bike industry. I am a light-skinned black woman, and the logo that I use is a more melanated black woman. People don鈥檛 realize how colorism听affects everyone鈥檚 experience. 听People consciously or unconsciously treat those with more melanin differently, usually more negatively. 听As a light skinned person, I will have more access to certain things, which is messed up.听The intentional use of a darker skinned image for my business was to create a feeling of welcomeness for black people right off the bat.听The term 鈥減eople of color鈥澨齞oes not always create space for black people or especially more melanin rich black folk. My mother is a dark skinned black woman and听I鈥檓 first generation light skinned on that side. I did not want to mislead anyone into thinking this business was only for light skinned people of color. 听I want all black people to feel comfortable in the space Hard Knox Bikes creates. Representation is important, and I wanted the image to reflect whom I wish to serve, not who I am.听

I like to use the tagline, 鈥淚t鈥檚 a hard-knock bike,鈥� because this work is not easy. It takes a lot to be the one chick in a dude shop. I鈥檝e had men come up to me when I鈥檓 doing workshops and ask, 鈥淲hat鈥檚 this tool called? What鈥檚 this part?鈥� to try and test me. Sometimes I鈥檒l lead a workshop in a skirt or a dress because I want to set the example that clothing shouldn鈥檛 be a hindrance. As long as it鈥檚 okay to get grease on it, wrench in it, and it鈥檚 not gonna get caught in your bike, it鈥檚 okay to wear. And I don鈥檛 want to have to dress masculine in order to be taken seriously. I鈥檝e found this problem in the bike industry, where people prefer a more masculine-looking mechanic, no matter the gender, and I don鈥檛 like that. I want it to be okay if one day you鈥檙e听presenting in a听masculine way and the next you鈥檙e presenting in a feminine way and then the next day, you鈥檙e a mixture of both. It鈥檚 all good, and it doesn鈥檛 lessen your ability.

I鈥檝e met a lot of people who just want to know basic bike maintenance. Some people don鈥檛 ride because they鈥檙e afraid of getting a flat tire, having no idea how to fix it. Simple things like that are a real barrier that can keep someone from riding. I also think it鈥檚 important to help people know how to ride safely on the road听by teaching them road skills and traffic laws. Some people have never driven a car or taken a course on how to ride in the street. If we all know how to flow together, we can all be safe.

I also want Hard Knox to be able to help people of color, women, queer folks, femme folks become certified mechanics through places like United Bicycle Institute. I was able to become certified by the UBI in 2015 with the help of the , because I worked at a bike shop called the Bikery at the time. When I attended UBI, I was surrounded by white men, except for seven other women who鈥檇 won a scholarship to attend the UBI Professional Repair and Shop Operation class听and one woman who paid her own way. Even all the instructors were dudes.

Before, you could apply for the scholarship听if you worked in the bike industry, but now you have to work at a bicycle shop that sells bikes and parts. This creates a pattern that makes it hard for people without the certification to get hired, but the only way you can get certified now is by working in a shop. Women and women of color are already less likely to be hired as mechanics. I would love to be able to lessen some of those barriers.

Eventually I would love to have a permanent shop. I would love Hard Knox to be a collective that can sustain itself. We live in a capitalist, consumer-driven society, which makes it hard to convince owners to do things 鈥渇or the people.鈥� That鈥檚 what Hard Knox workshops are: for the people.听It鈥檚 not as financially viable as a traditional shop. I don鈥檛 like charging for workshops, and I often undercharge. Marginalized people are already struggling with finding stable housing, a good-paying job, child care, or elder care for family members.

I鈥檓 currently looking for a fiscal sponsor so I can turn Hard Knox into a nonprofit听and apply for grants to help put on free workshops and classes. I hear of some people starting nonprofits听like they just snap their fingers and it鈥檚 done; most of the time, I notice, they鈥檙e either white or they have a ton of backup and people power. I鈥檝e been doing this alone since 2012. It鈥檚 not easy to get programs like this off the ground. I don鈥檛 want to say Hard Knox isn鈥檛 working, but it鈥檚 difficult to grow sustainably due to the economic pressure of the Bay Area.

As a queer black woman听and mother in the Bay, I also struggle with secure housing, with having enough money and food. While I鈥檝e gotten more attention from the media this year, I鈥檝e also considered quitting. I want to continue because I don鈥檛 see this model being replicated anywhere else, and I think it鈥檚 really important.

It takes a lot of intention and training before you can provide what Hard Knox Bikes does. It starts with intentional trainings for staff to recognize hurtful jokes,听assess staff鈥檚 desire to teach, and create space for people to feel welcome.

Racism is more often subtle than overt. As , most white people think racism is an individual, conscious, and intentional act.听Racism is as often, societal and unconscious.听 You can do or say something racist without being aware of the impact of your action or inaction.听To be inclusive, you must see what others see without being told to see it. One training , but it can open your eyes and ears to the things you were missing before. To be effective, trainings must be mandatory and ongoing.听They must be led by people from the听communities you intend to serve and include,听and you must be willing to remove high-level and long-term employees who refuse to get with the program. If you continue to employ people who are racist, sexist, or transphobic, you will never have equity.

Courtney Williams of 听provides consultation for听organizations seeking to improve their racial relations.听 does the same, and there are more.听But you have to seek them out.听Do your own legwork,听or compensate others for their time doing it for you.

And simply hiring a woman or a person of color is not enough. We need more spaces that are equitable鈥攕hops that are affordable and accessible, that pay their staff enough money to live and not struggle. Shops that have as diverse a staff as they do customers, so that any type of body can walk in and feel comfortable. It鈥檚 difficult to include everybody, but you should.

Hard Knox Bikes is what I am doing to better the world. I would love for people to come and learn and then build their own bike shops in their own way. I would love to see more听shops owned and operated by people of color! I believe in raising up the most marginalized people, everybody who is struggling and shouldn鈥檛 be, using bicycles as the catalyst.

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