Immigrant Success
Thulani Ngazimbi is a Rad Immigrant Success Story
Thulani Ngazimbi and his family lived a comfortable life in Zimbabwe, but seeing the country’s economy heading toward a downturn, his parents made the ultimate sacrifice to uproot for what they hoped would be a better life in America.
“They both had really good jobs but I think the way the economy was going, if they stayed in the country we would probably just fall with the economy and wouldn’t have any chance for upward mobility,” Ngazimbi said during a sit-down interview in early February.
Over the span of a few years, starting in the early 2000s, the family eventually settled in Idaho where Ngazimbi’s mother was accepted to complete a master’s program at a local university.
Ngazimbi’s first day in America was the same day the country declared war on Iraq. He was 17.
He quickly took up sports like snowboarding to avoid being cooped up during the winter. It eventually led to longboarding which later served as inspiration for the company he would eventually launch in 2014: The Rad Black Kids, a sustainability-focused longboard and later streetwear company that aims to bring in faces like him to the world of action sports.
Thulani Ngazimbi, Co-founder, Creative Director, and Sustainability Coordinator. sat down with Long Beach Post reporter Stephanie Rivera at the Post offices to discuss his immigration to the United States and his project, The Rad Black Kids. (Story by Stephanie Rivera. Podcast produced by Antonio Ruiz, palaciomagazine.com).
Show notes:
00:34 Thulani’s immigration journey from Zimbabwe to America
09:53 Thulani fishes his studies in New York and gets inspired by NYC
20:04 Thulani moves to California and launches The Rad Black Kids
In college, Ngazimbi went from studying marketing in Idaho—a bachelor degree he finished in New York—to pursuing a masters in energy management, a field inspired by his grandmother’s respect for the environment.
With the popularity of The Rad Black Kids on the international level, Ngazimbi found himself traveling out of the country constantly. But with an African passport, obtaining travel visas and going through Customs made it difficult.
“If you’re an African immigrant there’s a presumption of you taking a lot of resources away from countries,” Ngazimbi said.
Late last year, Ngazimbi became a U.S. citizen and his traveling experience as an American passport holder instantly became easier.
Despite even facing challenges during his citizenship process, Ngazimbi carried on. He gave that same message to others.
“Keep going,” Ngazimbi said. “Things will get better.”
Note: Thulani Ngazimbi moved back with his family shortly after this interview was recorded due to the lack of affordable housing in California. He continues to run The Rad Black Kids from Connecticut.
Read the Signal Tribune’s feature on Ngazimbi here.
More on Thulani Ngazimbi
“Thulani Ngazimbi is the Founder of The Rad Black Kids. A native of Bulawayo, Zimbabwe, Thulani began snowboarding 6 months after he moved to the USA at age 17. Living in Pocatello, Idaho, the only way to stave off a winter bout of Seasonal Affective Disorder was snow sports. Outdoors became an addiction and summers became occupied with longboarding the hills of Southeast Idaho!
Thulani then moved to New York to finish his undergrad degree in marketing. His affinity for the environment, endowed to him through his grandmother through ideals of respecting the earth, inspired him to pursue a Masters in Energy Management and an Advanced Certificate in Environmental Management. Even though he developed micro-energy generation devices and water issues, his dream since age 14 had been clothing design.
He decided to start a company that not only would hold sustainability as its core principles but would also bring marginalized voices to the forefront in an area where they’re stereotypically not known to ‘exist,’ action sports. This is led to The Rad Black Kids. The Rad Black Kids engages sustainable measures from “uplifting garments” out of landfills; sourcing products within a 50-mile radius of LA; engaging in multi-stage sustainable initiatives that not only lead the company to be carbon neutral but “carbon negative.”
The Rad Black Kids also plant a tree for every product sold through an NGO that trains families to plant, grow and manage forest farms in various African countries. The Rad Black Kids began in 2014 and since inception is approaching 2000 trees planted.
Find out more HERE
