“Cycles of Resilience: A Journey Through Austin’s Black History” Documentary Celebrates Austin Premiere This Week, Just Ahead of Juneteenth
In the summer of 2020, local Austinite Talib Abdullahi posted on Instagram about organizing a bike ride in celebration of Juneteenth and the city’s local Black history. Initially, he figured a few of his friends might show up, but he was blown away when over 400 people came out.
Since then, Abdullahi has grown it into a nationally recognized nonprofit with hundreds of active participants dedicated to “bringing Black history to life through community cycling, education, and documentary film,” per the Black History Bike Ride’s mission statement. One of these documentaries has begun making its way through the film festival circuits, with the aim of shedding light on Austin’s Black history through interviews with community leaders and archival materials that show the true, and often overlooked, story of Austin’s legacy.
Going into its 6th year, the annual Austin Black History Bike Ride (BHBR) is gearing up to be bigger than it’s ever been before, and acclaimed documentarian Ya’Ke Smith has resolved to use his platform to spotlight the celebratory bike ride and nonprofit with the documentary, “Cycles of Resilience: A Journey Through Austin’s Black History.”
Smith, a professor of film at UT Austin, has had films screened across the nation in over 150 different festivals, and has won more than 60 awards for his work. Before its Austin debut, the film had its world premiere a couple weeks ago at the American Black Film Festival in Florida, which marks Smith’s 6th appearance at the globally recognized festival.
Much of what has made the BHBR so prominent is its emphasis on community engagement and the exploration of the city’s under-told history through movement. A lot of the organization’s marketing centers on the idea that “movement is freedom,” a slogan that shapes the very core of the BHBR’s ideals.
The ride itself moves through various historic areas across the city, including former plantation sites and freedom communities, as well as places that have been outlined by forced segregation and unfolding gentrification. As the founder of the BHBR, Abdullahi executive produces “Cycles of Resilience,” and (in a recent interview) said, “We ride together – all of us – through neighborhoods that were built by Black people, erased by policy, and forgotten by design…This film is proof that public education built outside the walls of academia, built on two wheels, in community, can change how a city sees itself.”
Not only does “Cycles of Resilience” honor the Black leaders and community organizers who shaped the city, it demonstrates the importance of upholding these traditions through storytelling and active, collective engagement.
The film will screen in Austin on June 17th, arriving just in time for the Black History Bike Ride’s annual Juneteenth ride. The organization hosts other rides throughout the year too, and since its inception has organized over 55 rides with the goal of preserving, and celebrating, Austin’s Black history. For more info, visit blackhistorybikeride.com.
