I discovered that skating has its roots in Los Angeles and in the Latino community which, according to the U.S. Census Bureau, makes up 47.7 percent of the L.A. County population and 36.6 percent of the population of California. Tony Alva and Stacy Peralta, both Mexican-American, were two of the original members of the Z-Boys, a group of skateboarders from Venice, Calif., who are credited with popularizing and introducing aerial tricks to the sport.