The revolution will not be televised.

So it was imperative that I be present.

But extenuating circumstances prevented my presence at the event. I made a late attempt with the wild hope of discovering any sign of the performance. Instead I found an empty slab of concrete in the night.

Watching the recording the next morning via Ustream.com a thought occurs to me: I’d be hard-pressed to identify 100 Black women in Austin.

How real are these Black women by distributing their performance through the accessibility of the Internet? Or conversely, how fictional does the lens of the camera/media keep these Black women to the audience?

From a redeveloped gentrified neighborhood in east Austin, the performance was broadcast live in the Clarksville neighborhood. The transmission here, acting as a memory or a love letter to home.

Directed by the artist Wura-Natasha Ogunji, this group begins its actions in a bent over posture, “holding their breath under water”. Collectively, the group conducts actions that move from prayer-like solemnity to joyful playground games. The group expressed solidarity through their military-like conditioning and flash mob dancing. These exercises recall jihad training videos for their search of empowerment and empowering Black women against a world that makes life difficult. Unlike firearms training though, the group is given weapons such as laughter, recognition, and community. And unlike the anonymity of would be terrorists, the group concludes the 100 Actions by identifying themselves.

Exhale.

The revolution will be live[streamed]