How does Eli Reed make a living?
he's not on the Cons team page anymore and I don't even remember what his last board sponsor was... was it Organika? did he go back to Zoo after that? can't really recall the timeline but it doesn't seem like he's on a board brand right now. he's on the team pages for Satori Wheels and Ace Trucks but can't imagine he's raking in much from either of those. i know he started throwing parties recently but that's also not really much of a reliable income either and he just started that a couple months ago. always interesting to ponder how people who have (to some degree) moved on from professional skateboarding survive. he was also in an episode of that HBO show "Betty" lol so maybe he has random gigs like that bringing in some decent money
that being said, i back Eli and the dancehall thing. he's obviously put in the time and work to immerse himself in the culture and he genuinely seems to love it and gives back to it in whatever ways he can. there are probably some people that think that if you're white, there isn't really an ethical way to participate in a culture like this without it being appropriative, and i wouldn't necessarily argue with that, but i think Eli's doing it just about as respectfully as you can given the circumstances