Sean McInnis
WE WERE JUST KIDS
After fleeing an abusive family situation in rural Kentucky, skater Dray Moppins rebuilds his life through community and friendship and finds an alternative to the hardship that shaped his childhood.
“Idie for this shit,” Dray Moppins said shortly after falling while attempting a trick off a steep ramp during one of his many sessions at his local skatepark.
Dray is a skateboarder in Bowling Green, Kentucky. He can be seen at the skatepark almost every day, and is deeply embedded in the local skate community, attending punk music shows and working at the skate shop where the shows are hosted. Dray is a senior in high school on the edge of the rest of his life.
Dray is a skateboarder in Bowling Green, Kentucky. He can be seen at the skatepark almost every day, and is deeply embedded in the local skate community, attending punk music shows and working at the skate shop where the shows are hosted. Dray is a senior in high school on the edge of the rest of his life.
Dray grew up in Central City, a small town in Muhlenberg County, Kentucky with a population of just under 6,000. There’s not much to do in such a small place, Dray said. Members of his family and friends struggled with the rural isolation and declining economy, witnessing drug abuse and criminal behavior overtake his friends and family.
“It’s stuff that you’d only think you’d see in a big city, when in reality, that stuff happens more so in a small town,” Dray said.
“It’s stuff that you’d only think you’d see in a big city, when in reality, that stuff happens more so in a small town,” Dray said.
During Kentucky’s coal boom in the latter half of the 20th century, the Peabody Coal Company had an immense presence in Muhlenberg County. In 1972, the company was responsible for 26% of all coal strip mining in Kentucky, and in the same year, employed 23,000 people with an annual payroll of $26 million dollars, as reported in a 1973 issue of Southern Exposure. As the demand for Kentucky’s coal dropped following the turn of the millennium, so did the economic opportunity in Muhlenberg County. The median household income for Muhlenberg county in 1979 was $14,540, which sat close to the national average of $16,841 roughly only a 14% difference (US Census).
In contrast, today Muhlenberg County’s median household income resides at $51,927 with the national income at $83,730, a 38% difference below the national average according to the US Census. In Dray’s hometown Central City, 25.6% of people live below the poverty line, and 62% of children under the age of 18 live below the poverty line, reported by Census Reporter.
In contrast, today Muhlenberg County’s median household income resides at $51,927 with the national income at $83,730, a 38% difference below the national average according to the US Census. In Dray’s hometown Central City, 25.6% of people live below the poverty line, and 62% of children under the age of 18 live below the poverty line, reported by Census Reporter.
Dray was introduced to skateboarding from a childhood friend. Upon witnessing his friend land a couple tricks, Dray said he thought it was the coolest thing he had ever seen. Within Central City, Dray began skating random abandoned concrete staircases that lead to nowhere, cracked patches of pavement, shrubby overgrown sidewalks, and trash-ridden concrete pads. There were others like Dray in Central City, and he managed to keep a close group of fellow skaters who frequented the limited skate plaza in Central City Park.
While dealing with the limited resources in his community, Dray’s home life also suffered. His father was abusive to him and his mother. Dray moved to Bowling Green in 2022 with his mom, fleeing the abusive relationship between his parents.
“Arguing and fighting built up between them," Dray said. For the first six months they lived in a domestic violence shelter.
Dray and his mom "were arguing 24/7,” but living together in the shelter was their only choice. But his mom noticed another teen where they were living and encouraged Dray to meet him.
“There’s someone here that looks like you,” Dray’s mom had said to him. Lathan Terry anad Dray became quick friends.
“It was like I was living with my best friend,” Lathan said, and Dray helped inspire Lathan to get back into skating.
While dealing with the limited resources in his community, Dray’s home life also suffered. His father was abusive to him and his mother. Dray moved to Bowling Green in 2022 with his mom, fleeing the abusive relationship between his parents.
“Arguing and fighting built up between them," Dray said. For the first six months they lived in a domestic violence shelter.
Dray and his mom "were arguing 24/7,” but living together in the shelter was their only choice. But his mom noticed another teen where they were living and encouraged Dray to meet him.
“There’s someone here that looks like you,” Dray’s mom had said to him. Lathan Terry anad Dray became quick friends.
“It was like I was living with my best friend,” Lathan said, and Dray helped inspire Lathan to get back into skating.
Lathan’s mother had also been through a difficult relationship, and they had moved to Kentucky from Houston. Lathan remembered physical fights as well as arguments between his mom and her partner.
“Her moving me away from there was her trying to save me and also to start a new path,” Lathan said.
After they had both left the shelter, Dray and Lathan kept skating together and began traveling and meeting with other skaters who shared their same passion for fearlessness and personal growth.
In Kentucky, 44.5% of women and 32.9% of men experience contact sexual violence, physical violence and/or stalking by an intimate partner during their lifetime (2024), reported by the Kentucky Lantern. This is compared with the national average, which suggests one in three women and one in six men experience intimate partner violence according to the CDC. In Kentucky, from 2016 to 2021, almost half of all crimes are related to domestic violence and intimate partner violence (Kentucky Lantern).
“Trauma can have a significant impact on you,” said Dr. Monica Hines, a social work professor at Western Kentucky University.
Dr. Hines said that when young people find others in like-minded settings and have shared experiences, it makes it easier to connect and engage. In her experience working in rural counties in Kentucky, there are lack of resources for people seeking help for domestic violence.
“Domestic violence is a lot, and it can wear down anyone, at any given time,” Dr. Hines said.
Reflecting on his experiences, Lathan said he would have probably moved back to Houston if it wasn’t for Dray and his ties into the community here.
Dr. Hines said that when young people find others in like-minded settings and have shared experiences, it makes it easier to connect and engage. In her experience working in rural counties in Kentucky, there are lack of resources for people seeking help for domestic violence.
“Domestic violence is a lot, and it can wear down anyone, at any given time,” Dr. Hines said.
Reflecting on his experiences, Lathan said he would have probably moved back to Houston if it wasn’t for Dray and his ties into the community here.
Dray and Lathan managed a trip to Florida together to meet other skaters. The trip was a bonding adventure for the boys.
“My whole life I had to see people go on trips, like Cali, Florida, shit like that, and actually being here and chilling in this environment, like I am literally at bliss,” Dray said during a trip with other skaters in Pensacola, Florida. Dray and Lathan watched the sunset and took pictures on the beach..
"The trauma brought us together, but we always had the skating in common," Lathan said.
Despite his challenges growing up, Dray plans to move to Nashville and become a social worker to help children who have had similar situations as himself.
“It feels like we were just kids,” Dray Said.
"It feels like we were just kids"